zlacker

You need to state your premise to enable a reasonable discussion. I've been talking about energy or fuel efficency when it comes to public transport (I see you don't have any return for this, because the facts are indesputible).

However, your premise is that "people must use (I assume, electrified) HSR to stop burning oil". This is an entirely different discussion. In many ways, it is significantly less efficient when looking purely at an energy usage perspective, especially when considering new routes across sparsely-populated expanses with relatively low demand.