Is it time for a major expansion of the U.S. passenger rail system?

Question

With gas at $4 a gallon?

I keep reading about "hey, Europe as been at more than $4 a gallong for years", but they have a much more expansive train system than the U.S. does. And with high-speed "bullet" trains on some routes. Ditto Japan, I think.

Answer 1

Expansion isn't the complete answer. Restoration of stops between Major cities is where it would do the most good. In order to take train East I have to go to Salt Lake City. From there it's on to Chicago, New York and finally Philadelphia. That still doesn't get me to my home town!

We enjoy the luxury of being able to come and go as we please. Spur of the moment decisions are the nexus of the American mindset. Planning too far in advance deters us from going to those places we want to.

Answer 2

How would I take the train to the supermarket?  And to the school to pick up the kids?

The trains are great for commuting (like in NYC), but we are addicted to cars and oils.

No our problems are much deeper than that.

Good Luck...

Answer 3

European fuel is higher because of extremely high taxes ($4/gallon) on it.  The high taxes paid for the decent rail system.

America doesn't have the population density needed for high speed rail to work, but we need it anyway.  First to provide fuel-free transportation and second to relieve the overcrowded freight rail system - let the hotshot freights run on the high speed rail and help pay for it, using its surplus capacity.

Answer 4

I think the U.S. would benefit from more high speed rail links between major population centers, like the North East Corridor route between NYC, Boston and Washington. These trains would have to be powered by nuclear-generated electricity for this to be viable.

Other than that, U.S. drivers may need to adjust their expectations and drive smaller, less powerful cars. Car makers need to support this, too. For example it makes me laugh that the Focus is the smallest car that Ford offers in the USA. In Europe, the Focus is considered a middle-sized car and there are actually two Ford models below that.

Even for similar sized cars, the models sold in the USA tend to have more powerful (=gas hungry) engines than those sold in Europe. And that's before you even consider alternative power sources such as fuel cell, electric power, etc.

Unlike Europe, the U.S. has some way to go before driving becomes completely unviable for the average citizen.

Answer 5

@mariner31: Europe is a bit larger than only Germany, France, Spain, Holland and Italy. You completely forgot about (in alphebetical order): Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom - plus several dwarves.

Total: 3,930,000 sq mi - larger than the US :-)

Answer 6

Let's not do that.  The congestion of frieght on the rails is a critical problem right now.  

With passengers, you've always got the option of staying home.  Bananas and coal can't do that.

Answer 7

Yeah, it's about time.  

California is proposing a high-speed train from LA to SF... vote for it in November!

Answer 8

Yup

definitly

the routes are there

and in most cities even the passenger depot buildings are still there

our present system in actually an embarassment

ridership is up in every sector of Amtrak, proving postitively that people will and do ride the few available routes

we may never have the system they have in Europe because we dont have near the population density in most parts of the country Thank God.

But we can and should have much more than we do now, as the world becomes more aware of the devastating effects on the planet of our addiction to personal automobiles trains are going to emerge more and more as a very viable even necessary alternative.

In Europe, and places with good public transportation systems, many people dont even own cars, not because they cant but they choose not to.

Answer 9

It should have been done yesterday.

Answer 10

YES, it is time for expansion of the US passenger-rail system.

However, comparing it to Europe or Japan is just wrong. Europe (France, Germany, Holland, Spain, and Italy for simplicities sake) is 726,181 sq miles while the USA is 3,794,066 sq miles.  OVER FIVE TIMES as much AREA.

Answer 11

For high-speed rail to become a reality simply ask your congressman/woman why more money has not been appropriated for the service. Over the last ten years or so, particularly recently as airline service has virtually crumbled away, we have been asking for better rail service (just look at Amtrak's ridership, which broke an all-time record during 2007) but the money has simply not been provided. Why? I have no idea although building more highways certainly isn't the answer... (For instance, Amtrak's annual subsidy of $2 billion is comical compared to what highways and airlines receive.)

So, until Uncle Sam decides to step up and make passenger rail a priority it will be left up to the states and proponents (like the National Association of Railroad Passengers, NARP) to push for future upgrades and improvements (this is happening as we speak as more and more folks are seeing the advantages rail provides although if Washington would ever get involved and truly back such a project it would do so that much faster).

Of note, if one wants to truly see how a passenger rail system should be properly planned and developed simply look at what the State of North Carolina has been doing for the last few decades (their website is posted below, ByTrain.org).

And lastly, passenger rail systems are rarely profitable (even when the private sector operated passenger trains), it is simply the nature of the business so for a well integrated, high-speed system to be put in place it must be funded federally funded.

Answer 12

yes it is. with gas getting higher and higher the likely hood of the system being expanded and Improved is come close to existence. I hope it happens soon (so I can take at train to visit Family in Fond du lac) but it mite be a few years.

Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2007 S.294