Sir - A recent report to the International Civil Aviation Organisation-CAEP, High-speed trains - competition and competitive power, written by Jan Veldhuis (Netherlands Civil Aviation Authority), Alf Schmitt (Germany) and myself, provides minimal support for the apprehensions put forward by "name withheld" and Haluk Taysi of Airbus (Flight International, Letters, 28 June-4 July, P54).
Firstly, of 25,000 city pairs flown by the world's airlines, only some 420 are even theoretical candidates for high-speed trains. These represent 6% of all seat miles flown, the bulk of which will remain in the air, as most of the 420 will never see a trace of a high-speed track.
Secondly, in general, the train is the friend of the aircraft. The aviation community should rather rejoice at the prospect of transferring precious airport, airspace and environmental capacity in London and Paris from commuter to long-haul traffic.
Thirdly, most high-speed-train maps which are upsetting aviation managers include a lot of wishful thinking - eg, some 1,000km (620 miles) of new high-speed track in southern Sweden, which, in all probability, will never be built. It has not even been started within the present ten-year rail plan. Aviation has more salient problems to worry about.
The report is available from the Swedish CAA.
ARNE KARYD
Civil Aviation Authority
Norrkoping, Sweden
Source: Flight International
