Who thinks railroads will become obsolete within the next 50 years?

Question

I am wondering because I was considering working for CSX and I wasn't sure about the future of railroads and whether or not I would still have a job and be able to retire after a number of years or if we wouldn't need railroads anymore in the near future.

Answer 1

I think that notion is impossible. Railroads have been expanding like crazy lately - I just got in from chasing one of the first trains on a recently re-opened mainline here in CT on the P&W (two friends were on the crew). The line is being opened for auto-rack and ethanol traffic - both commodities need trains because of the amounts being transported. Railroads will never be obsolete - there is no other form of transportation that can move so much bulk commodity so efficiently.

Answer 2

I do not believe that railroads will become obsolete within the next 50 years. They may well evolve, as technology developes, and new types of train and poss. railbed will come into being, but as to the future as a whole of railroads, I can't see it ending.

The railroad is by far the most efficient form of land transport and the safest form of transport anywhere so given this I think your job is safe.

Answer 3

They may. But, there are an awful lot of operations that take place on railroads, and we still need them today. Unless, the tracks are replaced by mag-lev tracks and they are more

"European", then we can keep them.

Answer 4

It will come back soon bro.

They tried to kill it so that the big automakers can sell more cars and big oil companies can make more profit. But it will all change because the same people are making the common men and women poor.

So the rail will be a good way to travel. They will try hard not to fund amtrak I hope someone gets it going.

High speed rail is the best way to travel.

Answer 5

I thought about that for a few minutes before I posted this and I really think that yes, they will be around. I don't think that railroads are going to tear apart the millions of miles of lines they have up and spent money on.  I have a friend who works for UP and he is always on the road teaching new people how to do different jobs.

Answer 6

Well, lets see.  177 years qualifies for "always been there" in my book, and they always will be.  I think you're good to go.

Answer 7

I think that there will be an increase in railroads in the next 50 years, rather than them become obsolete. As Governments in all countries realise that it is wasteful to spend scarce natural resources on the private motor car, as those natural resources become scarcer things like railways will come back into fashion.

Answer 8

I doubt that railroads will ever become obsolete.  They are just so much more capable than trucks for hauling massive amounts of goods far distances.

Answer 9

50 years from now, rail will be as strong as it was in the 40s

Answer 10

NO!!  example:  It takes one 18 wheeler to haul one load of dirt, one driver, one truck; say you need 40 loads of dirt! you need 40 trucks, 40 drivers, and don't forget fuel cost....... one train 40 cars of dirt, 1 engineer, 1 conductor, 1 locomotive............you do the math!   There here to stay!!!

Good luck with CSX!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 11

not in metropolitian areas.

Answer 12

Heh... clearly, you don't follow the trade press.  I get Railway Age.  http://www.railwayage.com/   Free to the trade (you're the trade :-), and after 150 years they finally got around to publishing online too.

Anyway the railroads are bursting at the seams with new traffic, to the point where the infrastructure can't keep up and they may have to go to the government for financial aid to build out enough capacity.  Booming business is becoming a serious crisis.  And this looks to be a long-term trend.  

Out west, mainlines are being double-tracked that were never double-tracked before.  In the east they're regretting some of the downsizing they did in the 80s and 90s.

Passenger rail, of course, is going ape crazy... 20 years ago, there was no rail public transit west of Chicago, except for San Francisco... now almost every big city has light rail, commuter rail or both.  These systems are having great success, adding trains, expanding, and hiring.

The real question for you is, can you deal with the last-hired-first-fired, crazy hours, crazy crew bases, feast and famine chaos of being on the whipsaw end of the seniority chain?  And will that industry experience buy you an edge in getting hired at a passenger railroad or short line?

Answer 13

Not me.

Railroads are far too valuable an asset in North America to become obsolete.  Besides, there aren't any better options out there.

Ships can only serve coastal cities and those located on navigable waterways.  Planes can only carry small loads at a time, and are expensive to operate.  Despite the popularity of trucks, their inefficiency is their worst enemy, as trucking companies are constantly faced with driver and equipment shortages, ever-increasing road traffic, and public backlash over increasing accident rates.

Hiring on with CSX, or any other Class 1 railway, is a pretty safe bet for a stable industry - to some degree.  You'll probably always have a job, but you may have to relocate, work the worst jobs when your seniority is at the bottom, and spend lots of time away from home.  But, that's the price you pay.