Costs will be cited by some as a limiting factor, maybe even prohibitive ones, by some, and certainly in some instances that’s a consideration. For instance, I live in Bangkok, and while we do (finally) have a hugely popular Skytrain and subway system, only the first phase is complete, largely because of the expense. (And those aren’t even high-speed, of course.)

Back in the 1960′s, I went to a boarding military high school (rather briefly and ingloriously, but that’s another story!) in north-central Oklahoma. Driving there from my home was a 5-6 hour trip. But a reasonably high-speed train passed near my home (about 20 miles away) that went through the Oklahoma town — making the trip in about 2 hours or a little over, counting one stop in Oklahoma City. Throw in half an hour on each end, and I could walk out the door and be at the other end in about 3 hours. Plus, if was safe and comfortable; the train had a club car with a domed glass roof affording wonderful views.

For me personally, the Spanish train transplanted on, say, the Dallas, Texas-Los Angeles route would be an attractive alternative to air or car travel. It’s somewhere in the range of 1350 miles between the two, so a [non-stop] trip would take somewhere around 6.5-7 hours or so. Even adding in a few hours for stops, I’d consider it even at 11-12 hours.

I’ve long wanted to go to Spain, a country I’ve never visited, and this gives just that much more reason to visit it.

Advantages: By train you are just in the city center, you can use your laptop to work or do whatever you want (there will be mobile connection too).
– Refund for delay: now 15 minutes delay 50% back, 30 minutes late 100% (In the future will be probably 10 minutes delay 100% back, as in Madrid-Seville train)

Disadvantages: flights frequency is higher

That aside, this is awesome news. I hope it does beat out the plane, and that similar transportation is adopted on the other side of the world.