Quote:
Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA
Eurail seems to think otherwise
European Railway Map | Eurail.com
Istanbul to London looks like the longest route.
Google says that's 3,038.2 km
Google says that's just under 1,888 miles.
#JusSayin |
I corrected that above. The EU itself is larger (3.931m square miles to 3.797). Eurail covers much of it and connects to trains in eastern Europe that take the overall distance farther than the US. Also, London to Istanbul is not the farthest trip as there are stops in northern Finland and Sweden. There are also trips from Portugal to Istanbul. The trip from Kiruna (northern Sweden) to Istanbul is about 4500 kilometers or just under 2800 miles.
Now remember that what I'm suggesting is the infrastructure be built out to chop off a lot of the short range flights and it makes much more sense. A train from Philly to Denver (which is about 1600 miles, so less than London to Istanbul), or maybe even Kansas City, isn't really different than a flight. A train from Philly to Pittsburgh or even Indianapolis for business is. Eliminate the flights that are going 200 miles, and even the ones that are going 500-600 miles, and replace them with a much better transit option whether that's a real rail system, hyperloop, self-driving cars or whatever.