On Wed, 10 Jan 2007 03:31:49 +0100, Wolfgang Schwanke
wrote:

Larry Dighera wrote in
:

If trains were battery powered, like the electric cars we are
talking about, you might have a valid comparison. Batteries are
still the weak point.

The railways fixed that problem by installing an extension cord above
all but the remotest routes. The same will be extremely difficult to
do for road vehicles

You must be referring to street cars. :-)

No mainline. I understand US rail is mainly diesel(?) but in most
European countries it's electric. German railway lines are 90%
electrified. You can't have 200 mph with diesel traction.
On topic: My airport is next to an ICE line, the runway (grass strip)
is parallel to the tracks. Our microlight does 80/90ish knots cruise,
we have no chance of keeping up with the trains, not even the faster
C172s etc. (Someone in Paris will now point out that the TGV is much
faster, I'll do it first

There is a substantial difference in SCALE -- North America is quite a bit
larger! Electifying long haul routes is not cost effective. Europe has no
"long haul" routes by comparison. :-)

Note that the east coast Boston-Washington corridor is electrified. That
area is somewhat comparable to Europe for distance and population density.


Regards