High-speed rail
HSR Advantages
#### HSR Advantages

* Less boarding infrastructure: Although air transit moves at higher speeds than high\-speed rail, **total time to destination** can be increased by travel to/from far out airports, check\-in, baggage handling, security, and boarding, which may also increase cost to air travel.
* Short range advantages: Trains may be preferred in short to mid\-range distances since rail stations are typically closer to urban centers than airports.[http://www.techthefuture.com/mobility/high\-speed\-train\-vs\-airplane/](http://www.techthefuture.com/mobility/high-speed-train-vs-airplane/)  from <http://www.techthefuture.com/>  as of 10 May 2014 Likewise, air travel needs longer distances to have a speed advantage after accounting for both processing time and transit to the airport.
* Urban centers: Particularly for dense city centers, short\-hop air travel may not be ideal to serve these areas as airports tend to be far out of the city, due to land scarcity, short runway limitations, building heights, as well as airspace issues.
* Weather: Rail travel also requires less weather dependency than air travel. A well\-designed and operated rail system can only be affected by severe weather conditions, such as heavy snow, heavy fog, and major storm. Flights however, often face cancellations or delays under less severe conditions.
* Comfort: High\-speed trains also have comfort advantages, since train passengers are allowed to move freely about the train at any point in the journey.[http://www.amtrak.com/the\-unique\-amtrak\-experience\-with\-many\-benefits](http://www.amtrak.com/the-unique-amtrak-experience-with-many-benefits) from [Amtrak](/wiki/Amtrak "Amtrak") as of 10 May 2014 Since airlines have complicated calculations to try to minimise weight to save fuel or to allow takeoff at certain runway lengths, rail seats are also less subject to weight restrictions than on planes, and as such may have more padding and legroom. Technology advances such as [continuously welded rail](/wiki/Continuously_welded_rail "Continuously welded rail") have minimised the [vibration](/wiki/Hunting_oscillation "Hunting oscillation") found on slower railways, while air travel remains affected by [turbulence](/wiki/Turbulence "Turbulence") when adverse wind conditions arise. Trains can also accommodate intermediate stops at lower time and energetic costs than planes, though this applies less to HSR than to the slower conventional trains.
* Delays: On particular busy air\-routes – those that HSR has historically been most successful on – trains are also less prone to delays due to congested airports, or in the case of [China](/wiki/China "China"), airspace. A train that is late by a couple of minutes will not have to wait for another slot to open up, unlike airplanes at congested airports. Furthermore, many airlines see short\-haul flights as increasingly uneconomic and in some countries airlines rely on high\-speed rail instead of short\-haul flights for connecting services.Examples of this include SNCF who codeshares with Air France and Lufthansa's AIRail in cooperation with DB
* [De\-icing](/wiki/De-ice%23Aircraft "De-ice#Aircraft"): HSR does not need to spend time deicing as planes do, which is time\-consuming but critical; it can dent airline profitability as planes remain on the ground and pay airport fees by the hour, as well as take up parking space and contributing to congestive delays.
* Hot and High: Some airlines have cancelled or move their flights to takeoff at night due to [hot and high](/wiki/Hot_and_high "Hot and high") conditions. Such is the case for [Hainan Airlines](/wiki/Hainan_Airlines "Hainan Airlines") in [Las Vegas](/wiki/Las_Vegas "Las Vegas") in 2017, which moved its long haul takeoff slot to after midnight. Similarly, [Norwegian Air Shuttle](/wiki/Norwegian_Air_Shuttle "Norwegian Air Shuttle") cancelled all its Europe\-bound flights during summer due to heat. high\-speed rail may complement airport operations during hot hours when takeoffs become uneconomical or otherwise problematic.
* Noise and pollution: Major airports are heavy polluters, downwind of LAX particulate pollution doubles, even accounting for Port of LA/Long Beach shipping and heavy freeway traffic. Trains may run on renewable energy, and electric trains produce no local pollution in critical urban areas at any rate. Noise also is an issue for residents.
* Ability to serve multiple stops: An airplane spends significant amounts of time loading and unloading cargo and/or passengers as well as landing, taxiing and starting again. Trains spend only a few minutes stopping at intermediate stations, often greatly enhancing the business case at little cost.
* Energy: high\-speed trains are more fuel\-efficient per passenger space offered than planes. Furthermore, they usually run on electricity, which can be produced from a wider range of sources than [kerosene](/wiki/Kerosene "Kerosene").

Are airports typically closer to urban centers than train stations?