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> If flying is not profitable enough, then we need to plaster the country in passenger rail.

These solutions are targeted at 15+ hour flights - I don't think anyone's building high-speed rail from London to Sydney anytime soon.

Europe is more densely populated and has rail. Train often isn't cheaper than flying.

I like the idea of plastering the US with passenger rail, but I think that'll be very expensive to install and run.

Taking a night train in Europe, especially if it involves a sleeper car, is absolutely not cheaper than flying a budget airline. (Although it may be if you count saving a hotel room.) But trains generally are not cheaper than flying in much of the world.

Or just accept the reality that we can travel less. Rails are not very cheap either, at least if they are maintained for reasonable speeds.

plastering the ocean with passenger rail is a bit complicated tough