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> Company officials said they hope this new overnight passenger rail service would give Californians and other travelers a more comfortable, convenient and Earth-friendly alternative to short-haul flights.

The renderings and anecdotal knowledge about that rail route make me think this is not going to be an electrically powered train. What fuel would it use?

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Even a coal-fired train has a lower carbon footprint per passenger-mile than a plane.

A wood fired steam train is carbon neutral.

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/cant-argue-with-that-technica...

Not always the case

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/04/climate/trains-planes-car...

Diesel, like the vast majority of trains in the US. Even if the US performed electrification of trains, this would be a low-priority to electrify because it's not a major shipping route.

> Even if the US performed electrification of trains,

It does.

> this would be a low-priority to electrify because it’s not a major shipping route.

US rail electrification is more focused on passenger routes than shipping routes; an electric freight engine for mainline use has been introduced (just last year), but its not intended as the sole power source for a train, but rather to improve efficiency by being used in a consist with diesel engines, recharging with regenerative braking, reducing overall fuel use.

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