From the perspective of responding to climate change, we absolutely must see a shift of people out of cars and out of planes. There are some clear reasons for that.
One is that there is overwhelming evidence that automobiles and planes pollute at far higher levels both in terms of particulate pollution and in terms of carbon pollution than do trains, especially when those trains are electrified. From the perspective of responding to climate change, we absolutely must see a shift of people out of cars and planes.
That is even true when we think about electrifying individual cars because, number one, that electrification process is going to take several decades to be complete; number two, the cost of electrification is substantial in terms of the mineral resources required; number three, you still have this problem of particulate pollution on the surrounding communities produced by tire and brake wear from cars. All these issues together suggest that there's a real environmental reason to invest in rail service all around the world in virtually every country.
From an economic perspective, there are clear reasons to invest in rail as well. We have seen amazing evidence from all over the world that investment in improved rail service results in concentration of investment in existing areas like the downtowns of our cities. That concentration of investment is also good for the environment, because it means less sprawl in suburban areas or in currently agricultural or natural areas.