Yes, due to our Compassion and our Morality, we would like to be as simple as we can, so that we don't cause unnecessary harm, understanding that everything is interdependent. However we have to balance this Morality with Wisdom, to understand that it is not possible for us, personally, to make Samsara totally satisfactory. That it is not possible for us to make all Dukkha in the world to disappear just through our personal actions. So here is walking the "Middle Way."
Now if one happened to be an ordained person, one could take one's level of Renunciation to much deeper and higher levels, so that one doesn't drive in vehicles, one doesn't use anything but the 4 requisites, shelter, robes, etc. However as lay people this is usually not possible, and also, most monks and nuns need monasteries for shelter and many other things as well. So it's a matter of understanding the middle way here, and one's intentions for using certain items. Trying as much as possible to not waste things, understanding that everything is interrelated and everything that we do will act like ripples in the world.
Having used technology, sometimes for benefit, for the spread of Dhamma, my views have changed over the years. I understand that technology often enables closer communication between people and helping in many ways. So when we do consume, we have to try to look at our intentions, and see if it's really just through a desire or whether we really don't need it. And sometimes we also have to see that if we try to let go of all desires all at once, it may bring about a harshness towards who we are now and interfere with being compassionate toward our limitations.
As far as it's less polluting to use the train than the plane, I don't know. I'd have to look at the amount of sleepers needed for the tracks, I'm not quite sure about that. Because as far as putting down train tracks around many, many miles of land, I'm not too sure. I'd have to look into that statement more before I could accept that. Certainly the plane allows us to come back to Thailand more quickly, and certainly we couldn't take the train. So it does get you in contact with cultures which were usually inaccessible to most people a couple generations ago. And that is actually very helpful for many people to come in contact with Buddhism, Westerners especially.
I think it's a personal investigation into one's intentions for using these things, rather than getting too lost in idealistic views of materialism. Because I also had the experience of living in a community where some people were too concerned about materialism, and it actually hurt the development of Compassion and Lovingkindness. Many people who didn't use things would start to judge the other people who did use them, and they would start to aggravate themselves about others, and the normal people in the world. So it often hurts the development of Compassion, if people are too carried away with idealism.