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Why don't Americans ride trains?
The Economist ^ | 29 Aug 2013 | Economist

Posted on 05/09/2014 9:49:39 PM PDT by Cronos

AMERICA has by far the largest rail network in the world, with more than twice as much track as China. But it lags far behind other first-world countries in ridership. Instead of passengers, most of America's massive rail network is used to carry freight. Why don't Americans ride trains?

..the Japanese, the Swiss, the French, the Danes, the Russians, the Austrians, the Ukrainians, the Belarussians and the Belgians all accounted for more than 1,000 passenger-kilometres by rail in 2011; Americans accounted for 80. Amtrak carries 31m passengers per year. Mozambique's railways carried 108m passengers in 2011.

There are many reasons why Americans don't ride the rails as often as their European cousins. Most obviously, America is bigger than most European countries. Outside the northeast corridor, the central Texas megalopolis, California and the eastern Midwest, density is sometimes too low to support intercity train travel. Underinvestment, and a preference for shiny new visions over boring upgrades, has not helped. Most American passenger trains travel on tracks that are owned by freight companies. That means most trains have to defer to freight services, leading to lengthy delays that scare off passengers who want to arrive on time.

(Excerpt) Read more at economist.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: carsstink; governmentstinks; planesstink; rail; trainsstink; trucksstink
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To: jjotto

What does that have to do with EFFICIENCY??????????

I guess that with your warped sense of logic that Houston, LA, New York City and other large cities with public transportation should have crappy, wasteful and woefully inefficient public transportation systems.

I bet the U.S. Postal system is your model of efficiency too.


181 posted on 05/10/2014 7:12:56 AM PDT by DH (Once the tainted finger of government touches anything the rot begins)
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To: Cronos

The reason people here don’t ride trains is that they are not profitable. If they were, there would be passenger tracks next to the freight tracks. The Interstate system shut down most passenger trains. Trains only go on the rails, and not where people want to go.

I had a coworker who went to pick his son up in San Diego after he finished his military training. Took him over three days each way. He had to go through St Louis from Texas to get there. He later said “I wish I’d have driven to get him”.


182 posted on 05/10/2014 7:13:12 AM PDT by Arrowhead1952 (The Second Amendment is NOT about the right to hunt. It IS a right to shoot tyrants.)
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To: Army Air Corps; Paladin2
Willie Green Memorial Ping.

LOL.

183 posted on 05/10/2014 7:14:08 AM PDT by Arrowhead1952 (The Second Amendment is NOT about the right to hunt. It IS a right to shoot tyrants.)
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To: DH

exempli gratia


184 posted on 05/10/2014 7:17:36 AM PDT by jjotto ("Ya could look it up!")
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To: SamAdams76

I firmly believe “rail trails” are just another example of government violations of the laws.

That land was supposed to revert back to previous owners or title holders if the railroads stopped using it.

Nor does throwing millions of taxpayers dollars into a place where you can walk your dog or people ride bicycles thill me.


185 posted on 05/10/2014 7:19:20 AM PDT by hoosierham (Freedom isn't free)
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To: Cronos
When my son was interning in DC, we took the train from Charlotte up to see him.
It took 10+ hrs Clt to DC. The trip back took 12 hrs.
I can drive it in 6 hrs
Amtrak sucks
186 posted on 05/10/2014 7:20:32 AM PDT by Robe (Rome did not create a great empire by talking, they did it by killing all those who opposed them)
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To: Lmo56

If I added correctly, you spent 10-1/2 days on a train. That sounds like a wonderful once-in-a-lifetime adventure. But it’s hard for train corporations to build a solid business case around people taking once-in-a-lifetime adventure joyrides.


187 posted on 05/10/2014 7:21:51 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: gunsequalfreedom

Freight trains are owned by private industry. Amtrak has a monopoly on passenger train travel. If there was competition and private passenger train service, I would gladly travel on Taggart Transcontinental.


188 posted on 05/10/2014 7:25:14 AM PDT by sportutegrl
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To: Cronos
Why don't Americans ride trains?

My son won the county geography bee when he was in middle school. The prize was a free Amtrak trip to the state finals in Chapel Hill. To get there from our Western NC county via Amtrak required driving to Greenville, SC, catching the train to Washington DC, changing trains and then heading back south to Durham, NC.

Amtrak is geared to benefit the NE Corridor and residents thereof who want to get to south Florida. I suppose the LA to SF and NE Corridor to Chicago get a bit of traffic. Amtrak is useless to Flyover country and too expensive.

Put good high speed buses on an express lane on the Interstates with terminals at major shopping malls and they would dominate the less than 200-250 mile intercity travel. At least until the TSA screwed things up.

189 posted on 05/10/2014 7:25:21 AM PDT by BwanaNdege ( "...[willful] ignorance is the opiate of academic elites." - Mike Adams [BN edit])
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To: sportutegrl

People used to ride freight trains between small towns, in a caboose or passenger car. Lawsuits and government regulation ended the practice.


190 posted on 05/10/2014 7:28:00 AM PDT by jjotto ("Ya could look it up!")
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To: wideawake

In Europe, it’s actually less expensive to fly between cities than taking a train.


191 posted on 05/10/2014 7:29:45 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: BwanaNdege

The people who are changing the world are the people working on self driven automobiles. That’s the future of transportation. Not these gussied up 19th century rattletraps.


192 posted on 05/10/2014 7:30:48 AM PDT by DManA
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To: Lmo56

Next week we are s off on an adventure

We are drIving up I 81 two Syracuse and Amtrak to Toronto,thence on the Canadian to Vancouver then from Victoria across the ferry to Washjington,thence after four days in the national park by bus to Seattle and Amtrak back to Syracuse

I’ve lost trAck of the cost but it is what she wanted for our 50th anniversary


193 posted on 05/10/2014 7:31:23 AM PDT by bert ((K.E. N.P. N.C. +12 ..... History is a process, not an event)
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To: DManA

I’m waiting for the Jetson’s car, that folds up into a briefcase.


194 posted on 05/10/2014 7:32:28 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: Cronos
Why don't Americans ride trains?

Because it is cheaper to go some other way. I have checked into train travel a time or two. It has always been even more expensive then going by air. And since, unlike many of the countries mentioned, we own personal cars it is also easier to drive.

195 posted on 05/10/2014 7:41:19 AM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (Proud Infidel, Gun Nut, Religious Fanatic and Freedom Fiend)
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To: Cronos

Well...cause we have had FREEDOM?


196 posted on 05/10/2014 7:41:29 AM PDT by goodnesswins (R.I.P. Doherty, Smith, Stevens, Woods.)
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To: bert

Have fun...I plan for us to do similar 20 years down the road..
Only in the opposite direction...what national park are you visiting?


197 posted on 05/10/2014 7:45:41 AM PDT by goodnesswins (R.I.P. Doherty, Smith, Stevens, Woods.)
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To: Kackikat

Today there’s only one rail line running down the San Francisco Peninsula. In the early 1900s, there was a number of spurs around the south bay in addition to inter-city electric lines which made it easy to get around. By 1931, the system had 34 streetcars on 90 miles of track. Then the automobile took off and that was the beginning of the end of the rail lines. The “Vasona Branch” connected Palo Alto to the Saratoga area, but it was ripped out in 1964 to build Foothill Expressway. There were rumors that Goodyear had something to do with the decision to end rail service. The old station in Los Altos is a gorgeous building and has housed a number of businesses since train service ended. It was just renovated and looks great.


198 posted on 05/10/2014 7:47:36 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: Olog-hai

After reading this whole thread, I want to say that your comments are the ones that I totally agree with. I’m not as savvy on train historical information, but I know that if the Federal Government was not in the way...we could have great rail transportation. Both passenger and freight.

I’ve seen about 70% of the USA, but there are a couple of places like Maine, and Washington State, etc, that I would like to visit.....and I don’t want to fly or take my car.

That said, it isn’t a matter of autos vs trains as some make it sound. We need both, our independence with small economical cars, and we need a great system of travel without having to expose our bodies to the TSA.

For me travel is about ‘the journey’ and not just ‘the destination’, which is what the latter... Airline travel is about. A Train can give you comfort and a visual trip without the road rage traffic and the stress of driving.

Your explanations really are what could change a negative into a positive. Amtrack is being made by our government to be like the Orient Express, an elite form of travel not everyone can afford. That’s not what we need....but it’s what they want. It’s a disappointment and money pit.

I believe Ireland has had a problem with loss of train and bus service, and with gas so expensive there, it has caused a hardship for their people to get around....government being the problem as well? Some bus and train service to Dublin, but not the real daily services needed.

Thanks for all the information because we need to see where the US missed it, and how it could be fixed with the right people in our political environment. Too many see public transportation as becoming more like EU, when it’s a practical matter. Cars are not necessarily more cheaper to operate, and young people need a way to get around without a vehicle, in towns big enough to handle a system of public transportation that makes sense.


199 posted on 05/10/2014 7:49:22 AM PDT by Kackikat
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To: RaceBannon

200 posted on 05/10/2014 7:52:39 AM PDT by dfwgator
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