Now Italy is the site of the latest high-speed rail service. It seems that the new rails will highlight how trains can really put a dent in the air travel industry.



The service, launched next year, will connect Milan and Rome. The trip will take just under three hours. The announcement of the high speed train's launch comes as a group of Italian entrepreneurs try to resuscitate Italian domestic air giant Alitalia, which recently suffered through bankruptcy. The Rome to Milan route was a mainstay of the airline during its heyday. Major European carriers Air France and Lufthansa were both interested in forming an alliance with Alitalia because of its past performance on the Milan-Rome route.

The train now puts all of that in doubt. The CEO of Ferrovie dello Stato, the company behind the rail service, has said that he hopes for a 60% share of passengers on the route within 2 years. That would more or less be a death knell for Alitalia.

So could the high-speed train phenomenon become a worldwide trend?

Along major travel corridors, the answer is, seemingly, is yes. For the foreseeable future, routes like Paris to London and Rome to Milan will be highly trafficked. However, unlike airlines, which can easily pick up and move to a new routes if their passenger numbers drop, trains are tied to their rails. For that reason, high-speed service between major US cities is a possibility, but also a risk. While a New York to Chicago to L.A. rail service might be attractive, routes to secondary cities might have trouble getting off the ground.