Completely true. Although if the planes had merely been blown up with the people on them, I don't think we'd have as much security theater as we do from the planes having been used as weapons to cause serious harm to a lot of people in NYC. Harder to do that with a train.

However, yeah, high speed rail isn't a substitute for fixing the security theater. And I do support fixing it. It's just the worse it gets, the more I wish for better options. Plus, I and one of my family members have a sensitivity to air pressure changes. You get those even in cars and on trains, but it's not as bad as with planes. So, having better train options would be really nice.

I'd like both less security theater and better trains. I am likely to get neither. But so it goes.