by Roger Bourke White Jr., copyright February 2017
The two articles of assigned reading on transporation technology are short ones talking about the possibilities of using Hyperloop technology. The first describes using it to connect Helsinki, Finland and Stockholm, Sweden and the second to connect Pune and Mumbai in India.
In modern times the prime virtue of railroading technology is carrying heavy loads of cargo between places that have a lot of routine traffic. An example would be carrying ore from a big mine to the smelter where it gets transformed into raw metals.
Carrying heavy cargo over land routes is a railroad virtue, flexibility in destinations is not. A rail line must be laid down and this takes a lot of effort and it can't be changed quickly or easily once it is in place. To make a rail line suitable for high speed trains means making it even more expensive to install.
Given these characteristics fast trains don't make a lot of sense.
What makes more sense is improving roads and getting driverless vehicle technology perfected. Likewise, investing in improving commercial air travel makes more sense than investing in fast trains. Planes are much more flexible about where they can fly than trains can ever be.
In sum, Hyerloop is wishing-and-dreaming technology. Yes, it can be done, but it will not be the most cost effective way of solving the problem it is designed to solve -- moving people from Point A to various Points B quickly and conveniently.