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Comment by cortesoft | Hacker News Reader

What is the alternative to commercial airlines for someone who isn't crazy rich?

High speed rail would kill off a lot of shorter routes, but it just doesn't work in the US for some reason.

When I was in the UK, I took the Virgin Rail from London to Manchester. The additional room and ability to walk around made it so much better than a flight. I would have paid more. The time difference was negligible once you count all the extra screening time for airports.

It doesn't work because it's crazy expensive to build tracks, and not cost effective unless you have massive density.

Airlines are better, not just because planes are faster, but because of flexibility. You can find a space somewhere and build a new airport, or add a new runway to an existing airport and use less than one thousandth the land the rail line will require. The planes you fly to one destination can suddenly be switched to fly to almost any another destination, in a day.

Yea, the comfort of trains is better, but thats about it.

It's not just about the comfort of seating in a train. It's about not having to queue for 1h at security, being abused by TLA officers, queue again, getting checked, queue again, getting checked, etc. Flying today feels like going to jail.

If you have as much commercial pressure in trains as you do in flights, then I'm sure you will be asked to do the same sort of checks, and standing in queues. This happens because flights are an easy target (due to high costs, visibility and more favored view in the public eye). If we had someone attacking train lines because they carried a lot of people, you would have correspondingly sever safety regulations too.

I feel like a lot of the security for flights is basically theater now. 9/11 worked because the passengers believed they were being hijacked, and had a reasonable chance of surviving. Most of the procedure is chasing terrorist strategy that isn't going to be used. They've already switched tactics (laptop bombs, for example), and our current approach isn't helping much.

I think you already forgot one of the most deadly terrorist attack on the European continent: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Madrid_train_bombings

Nevertheless, we don't have the same security circus when boarding train.

High speed passenger rail doesn't work in the US because freight is prioritized over moving people. That's the short version at least. I found this video to be a pretty good walkthrough - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbEfzuCLoAQ

> High speed rail would kill off a lot of shorter routes, but it just doesn't work in the US for some reason.

Looking at what is happening in California, cost is the largest issue[1]. The other reason is the US optimized its rail for cargo which it does well.

Frankly, I do believe that automated cars with solve the less than 50 mile commute problems better than light rail. I actually am a little optimistic that one of the hyperloop companies will get it together to create a short elevated line that can actually start a new building phase for rail (well, tube) transport. The danger is that they realize they will probably make more money on cargo and go that way.

1) the compromises on speed are going to make for a lot of controversy if it ever does get done

Good to know! I just booked round trip Manchester <-> London on that rail in June.

It was great. Not posh or anything, but better all around. You can use a laptop, eat actual food at an actual bar/table, see some pretty countryside views. And even if the train is packed, you aren't crammed into the passenger next to you. Not to mention the relaxed boarding experience.

UK rail isn't high speed and probably the worse in Europe outside of the old com block countries.

London to Manchester is somewhat still OK but London to Newcastle takes longer and costs more than London to Brussels via the Eurostar.

The Virgin train was definitely faster than a normal train . I'm not 100% clear on the semantics of what counts as high speed rail. I believe they are 100-120mph or so.

The thing that mattered to me is that it was 2 hours, because a 1 hour flight isn't really a 1 hour flight after you deal with the airport.

Virgin is doing 125mph, Eurostar is doing 186mph :)

IIRC the barrier of entry for "High-Speed Rail" in Europe (or in general) is 150-155mph

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-speed_rail_in_Europe

The UK has only 1 line with a speed permit of upto 300km/h (186mph) which is used for the Eurostar.

It has 4-5 other "fast" lines with a speed limit of 200 km/h (125mph) which doesn't technically count as highspeed.

PPL ASEL will cost you about $8k (doable if you really want it) and a 172@$105/hr wet to travel around in at 110kts. Take two fearless friends and you have yourself a private airline.

Whats the time commitment like? is it full time for 3 months or a couple hours every weekend for 6 months ?

It took me 13 months all told but I had a lot going on at the time. If your expenses are low you can do it in 8 months or so but that's unusual. Note that I say expenses and not income, it's usually best to pay as you go and not go into the red month to month.

That said, if you live somewhere with a convenient airport and a decent rental fleet (more places than you'd expect) it's highly liberating. I live near Denver and have gotten bored and flown to Canon city and surrounding areas for the day. Also, Pilots n Paws is awesome

The best advice I've received while earning my PPL is: "fly for fun, not for transportation". When you add the stress of "I/we need to get to our destination on time", mistakes get made.

Yes and no. You can definitely travel with it, just make sure you continue your training (IR), plan carefully, and don't put yourself in a position where anything worse than some PTO usage will occur if you don't make it back on time. Also, start small and get used to FBO operations. Nothing like being stuck somewhere after hours

What do these acronyms mean? Google is not helping me.

Private Pilot's License? ASEL is a commercial pilot's license, apparently.

Nope: https://www.faa.gov/training_testing/testing/acs/media/priva... taloft explains it well. You can have a PPL or CPL (or ATP) in the ASEL, AMEL, ASES, AMES, etc.

Airplane, single-engine land. It's a rating added on to a pilot certificate, and says what kind af aircraft you may fly. The "land" part means an airplane that lands on the ground, which is different from "sea", for airplanes that can land on water.

Also, note that minimally you would need a commercial certificate to fly for hire. Even then, there are some restrictions on how you can do that. A private allows you to fly with friends, but you may not charge them. You can share expenses for the flight with friends, but need to be careful that it's legitimate sharing.

My comment was tongue in cheek but you can share expenses if you are traveling for a "common purpose" and not "holding out". In other words, fly with friends to somewhere you all want to go together. You basically just can't create an airplane Uber (naturally, people have tried).

Yeah, that isn't going to work very well for getting me from California to my family in New York.

Assuming you have no fear of death: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutan_Long-EZ

Surprisingly economical too, 2000mi on ~$200 in fuel. Probably around $60k to build right now (depending on avionics)

Edit: 100LL (aviation gasoline) is around $4/gal right now, hence the $200 for 52gal

Unfortunately, it seems to be bus or car, and I don't think that Greyhound is what it was 40 years ago.

Bus and car are not suitable replacements. I can't add 6 days of driving to my work trips to the East coast, or to my family visits to New York.

Greyhound is super sketchy. Service is terrible. About 10 yrs ago, I made the near-mistake of taking a Greyhound to a different city to catch a cheap international flight. I was going from a remote city to a big one. Luckily I had given myself a buffer of 8-12 hours. The bus was initially a couple of hours late for a 5 hour trip. Then, at a transit point we had to change buses and we were told that ticket doesn't guarantee seat and it's first come first serve! And there's only one bus per day from the less remote connecting city! I was lucky to get into the bus that day and not missing what turned out to be a memorable vacation. I only rode Greyhound one other time. Other observations: Greyhound stations are super sketchy in many cities. Buses are sometimes poorly maintained. Tickets are pricey. Etc.

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