The slower the transportation, the better the cost efficiency. Transport by ship = much slower than train and generally cheaper.
When it comes to transporting passengers, these cheap options present you with other problems. A parcel from Amazon doesn’t have to go to the toilet. You also don’t have to wet and dry it in front of the beak every few hours. In addition, it usually does not matter if the temperature fluctuates between 0 and 20 degrees, while people often see 20+ as comfortable but also not 25+.
The train is expensive in the Netherlands, but that does not mean that “train” is expensive as a concept. In the Netherlands we have a ridiculously outdated rail network (that was partly it). Distances of up to several hundred kilometers should be less and cleaner by train.
It is difficult to beat a plane at longer distances. A return ticket to New York for 400-600 euros will not yet be possible with a direct motorway by car. You’ll also lose a lot to each ship because you’re on the road for days, and as mentioned above, you have to be taken care of all the time.
The risks of carrying passengers are also slightly different from parcels. Who cares if your Timbuktu sneakers break in an accident, too bad but they can be replaced.
Take that crazy hyperloop, how are you going to make it cost effective? The Netherlands in particular will benefit from the metro system, as it should be underground and with 80% coverage of the Netherlands. This would solve the problem of traffic congestion, carbon dioxide and many other environmental problems suddenly become a thing of the past. However, this will not happen either, it also costs a lot of money but it seems to me much cheaper than a hyperloop.