Hi Frugal,

I think the point was - will there be the capital for high speed?

Still, just anecdotal, but personally I know many people who would love to take the train but don't due to things that seem within the realm of "doable" - better reliability, schedules, cost (depends on trip), connections, a little more attention to safety/health features.

I wonder if the "point-to-point" can be helped in some way. Planes often also involve "point-to-point", depends on how far. For many purposes, all three are options, and train is out of the question at present, which seems "fixable".

I think we should be looking beyond the next few years. For now it appears essential that you need a 150mph service, but I am sure the capital costs greatly increase for higher average speeds. Also there will be a time in the not too distant future where air travel costs will go up so much that a decent long-distance rail system will be very competitive

I think the aim should be "moderately high speed" i.e. from 75mph-100mph. This will put it way ahead of any bus service. Also consider the maintenance costs, I am sure that such costs will increase if you need to maintain 150mph speeds.

and remember a good rail service will start and finish in a city center, not at an airport which requires a longer car/taxi/bus/train journey to get to any destination.