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 ...
Agree
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Agree... ad infinitum... Agree....
Agree
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Agree... ad infinitum... Agree....
True! Europeans are obedient little serfs when it comes to owning automobiles and using trains
correct.
Yes, it was the Marriott right on Times Square. He is a jerk anyway.
we might not want to copy France: OECD data also show that in 2012 France’s per person GDP was 70 percent of per person GDP in the United States.
Maybe even Chicago-NY, but nothing further. For these short distances you can stretch, relax and work, maybe even walk around.
But if you get government designing or regulating, then you end up with the US passenger train system -- what a pity.
it shouldn’t be an “or” situation, but an “and” situation — people’s right to choose. Right now cars make the best option, but that’s because, as olog points out, govt has regulated out the train services effectiveness
it’s a pity that we’ve let government and unions destroy the potential.
well, I wasn’t looking at it as an environment thing — more like giving people more choice: car or plane or train.
Yes, the article seeks to provide an answer to the question posed by the title. As witnessed by answers here, we see also the effects of government interference and regulation that killed off passenger rail
Depends on the city and the country.
If you live in Rome or London you don't have a car, but if you live in Poland you need a car to get around out of town as the inter-city options are bad (except for Warsaw-Krakow the rail lines are bad -- a hangover from the pre-1920 partition railways
Exactly. Polish inter-city roads are bad -- the highways are smaller than US city roads, and I get bus-sick, so prefer the train if I don't take the car (to Poznan or Wrocław), but the train schedules are getting worse. Except Warsaw-Krakow it is bad -- Warsaw Gdansk takes 7 hours
There is the option of a new bus -- Polskibus that is MUCH cheaper and has trains at reasonable hours and frequent
I don't understand railways tolerating this -- it's a vicious circle: the more people they lose, the more justification to reduce trains and the more justification for people to stop using trains
Government killing an industry at work...
In high school I knew a pom pom girl that pulled a train once. She was American.
you can go by Ghan train to Alice Springs..
good points.
no shower facilities? why?
In coach, you can use the bathroom facilities to wipe down with towels - but, I wouldn't use their water supply. I would use bottled water.
With the sleeper cars in First Class, depending on the size, you have a stand-up shower, a toilet stand-up shower [tricky to use], or there is a separate full bathroom w/full shower for use by "Firsties" [but you have to share the bathroom with others] ...
I took a 4 hour Amtrak from Deland to West Palm Beach awhile back. Next time I’ll walk. I will never ride Amtrak again , another subsidy success. /s
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