High speed autotrains to Europe, will they ever happen???

So there's a growing movement of people swearing off flying because of the environmental impact. I feel like while this is very noble and I approve in principle, it's quite difficult in reality, particularly for Ireland (and Britain) because we're islands. People on continental Europe on the other hand could theoretically drive anywhere on the Eurasian or African continents


So what are the options for going to Europe without flying?


Well there's the ferry to France, or the land bridge across the UK. The problem of course is time, it takes at least a day to get to Europe, and depending on where you're going you could have several days of journey time ahead of you. This works for some people, but realistically it isn't a solution for everyone



And that's all the options really


There's also the argument that the ferry and driving, although less environmentally damaging than flying, still aren't great


So here's my dream:


A network of high speed railways interconnecting Europe (and farther) allowing travel times considerably faster than driving. Still slower than flying, but vastly quicker and arguably safer than trying to drive across Europe for several days


And then, add autotrains (car carrying trains) to this service. They still exist in the low speed variety in some parts of Europe. A lot of people still like to bring their own car to stay mobile, and this gives them that options


There's also an advantage for hauliers, since they'll be able to move faster across Europe, use less fuel (which would partially offset the cost of the train ticket), and get around driving time restrictions since they can rest on the train while still moving


Ideally, we'd also build that bridge to the UK (we can call it the BoJo bridge if the UK pays for it) and have out own high speed rail network (ha, I know), and link into the UK high speed network (I'm sure they'll build it eventually) so that you can bypass the ferry entirely


Electric high speed trains already exist, so it's very easy to power such trains from renewable sources. Since the trains will be linking nations, you could also build electric inter-connectors along the same path to allow renewable energy to be exported and imported, something which is critical for renewables to succeed


So you can get around relatively quickly, in comfort, with the luxury of bringing your own car, all without causing undue harm to the planet.



And probably fairly cheaply since electrified transport is typically cheaper than fossil fuel equivalents, and is somewhat immune to fuel price changes


It all sounds very ideal


And of course, none of it will ever happen :mad: