Just from my experience of catching high speed trains in Japan. A ticket for a train ride similar distance of sydney to Melbourne costs nearly the same as a flight and it takes 4 times longer too. The only reason they have high speed trains in Japan is because of the high population which Australia doesn't have. Not only that, Japan's airports probably couldn't handle all the domestic movement without these high speed trains so they have no choice but to build a high speed rail network.
Last edited by pull-up-terrain; 11th Apr 2013 at 08:17.