[RWebb]

Rail can be faster than flying over "medium distances" and is less susceptible to terrorist attack impacts.

I dunno if a medium distance is 500 miles - likely it is affected by travel time to an airport.

In Germany, you need a real fast 930 to compete with high-speed rail...

I do think we should improve & develop a few more fast inter city rail lines in the US. One biggie is to get them tracks where freight trains do NOT have priority - really! This plays havoc with rail travel times in the PNW.