The transportation officials aim to relieve congestion in the airspace near a major airport. Their proposal is to use rapid trains to transport passengers between the major airport and several small cities, even though the congestion problem is at the major airport and not at the smaller city airports.
Given this, the best way for the plan to relieve congestion would be to have a situation where redirecting traffic to trains would have a significant impact on the number of flights going in and out of the major airport.
Let's assess each of the answer choices:
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(A) Rail tickets between the airport and the small cities will most likely cost more than the current air tickets for those routes.
This suggests that passengers might not opt for the train if it's more expensive. It might not help in reducing congestion.
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(B) Most passengers who frequently use the airport prefer to reach their cities of destination exclusively by air, even if they must change planes twice.
This choice suggests that passengers prefer to fly rather than take a train. This might deter passengers from using the proposed train system, and it might not aid in reducing congestion.
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(C) There are feasible changes in the airport's traffic control system which would significantly relieve congestion.
This option is suggesting an alternative solution to the congestion problem. While it could help, it doesn't directly tie into how the rapid train proposal would impact congestion.
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(D) Some of the congestion the airport experiences could be relieved if more flights were scheduled at night and at other off-peak hours.
Similar to (C), this choice is suggesting an alternative solution. It doesn't help us understand how the train proposal would be effective.
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(E) A significant proportion of the airport's traffic consists of passengers transferring between international flights and flights to the small cities.
This choice implies that a lot of the congestion at the major airport is due to passengers transferring from international flights to flights destined for the small cities. If these passengers were to use the rapid trains instead of the connecting flights, it would likely have a notable impact on reducing the number of flights and, consequently, congestion.
From our analysis, the answer choice that most directly supports the efficacy of the plan to relieve congestion by using rapid trains is:
(E) A significant proportion of the airport's traffic consists of passengers transferring between international flights and flights to the small cities.