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 ...
That's not strictly correct -- the US had railways well before most of the continent
There are places in Europe that were not bombed as Axenolith says, to make way for railways terminuses
I give you London or Paris or Rome or Florence as examples
Also, NY has a terminus right in the heart of the city, so the US was a leader in railways technology and accesibility for quite a while
Correct olog — most large airports are govt owned and suck in comparison to privately run ones.
One reason is these days it takes so long in a crappy car on a crappy seat. Take the “light” rail from the Portland, OR airport out to Beaverton and it’s at least an hour. You have to stop a lot.
If the feds would leave rail alone you can’t convince me with existing lines and new ones small rail transport companies can’t work. I’d like to see a fast, limited stop rail in TN, priavtely owned. Memphis to Jackson to Nashville and break off to Knoxville and Chattanooga. Give me a bar and food car and I’m in. lol
yes, but the question is why is that option removed. people should have the option of car or air or rail or anything else. Right now rail makes no sense in the US, but as this thread points out, the reasons for that nonsense is governmental interference.
Outside of commuters into NYC, what’s gained by taking a train? Is it faster? No. Is it cheaper? No. Is it easier? No. Is it more comfortable? No.
Address these problems and ridership will increase. In the glory days of US passenger trains, the trains were beautiful, there was a sense of style, inside and out. Now, they’re quite obviously government issue, a whole lot of gray. Nothing memorable about them, they’re slightly faster subway cars with upholstery, or a Grayhound bus on rails.
Depends
Firstly, "europeans" is a wide term -- Romanians and Bulgarians are definitely poorer than Americans by nearly all standards. Poles as well, mostly. Also, I'd say the English (after living there for a few years) except for history (they have no culture now, despite them berating Americans for not having any....)
But Luxembourg and the Swiss have a high standard of living
Also, the size of the homes, while important, is not the sole criterion for comparison
I didn’t say they were bombed to make way for them, my phrasing was an indication that they were able to [re]build their rail infrastructure at that level in many areas because much was pounded to rubble.
TSA — helping America get worse, every day...
I’ve moved around a lot and quite frankly I”ve learnt that we don’t use most of the stuff we have. Keeping stuff in the garage or worse, a paid storage box is a waste
That’s utterly insane.
Also, most European cities pre-date the railways by centuries or even millenia. Yet you have for instance in case of Rome, Stazione Termini which is 5km from Vatican city or 3 km from the Forum
well, that’s true of Warsaw... :) 70% rubble in 1944
As I posted, a limited stop, private train would be a good idea in TN from Memphis to Knox/Chatt. It would be fun to do a weekend without driving and hit the sights.
You can take a train from Memphis to NOLA for around $40.
I like trains, and isn’t there lay overs where one can take a break anymore between trains...?
Too slow, do not go where I want or when I want and too expensive. I have already sunk considerable investment into cars because I have never lived anywhere that trains were sufficient transportation. The incremental cost to this far more flexible mode of transport is far too low to be bothered with trains.
That’s how bad it is here in Chicago. You and I can see it’s crazy. Why can’t a plurality of the voting public here see it?
How about stick shifts and clown cars as a measurement?
not relevant either — quality of live measures including size of home + free time + access to clean, fresh air etc. are indicators of quality of life
You’re committing single entry accounting. How much does all that cost? Europe is poor because they have a lot of overhead aka socialism.
thx for the details my older bro is a railroad buf. i’ll bring this up with him
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