Why not better rail transportation?

Question

Why can't this country develop a high speed rail system like most European countries have had for years?What do we have?....AMTRAK

Answer 1

It can be done and I think will be done.  Europe has a fantastic rail system. It's affordable and on-time and used by millions. The reason we dont have it is because it will require taxpayer subsidy and there is no big lobby paying off our politicians to invest in passenger rail. Email your congressmen and ask that your tax dollars be spent on passenger rail and not wasted on all the pork projects. Regional rail is the way to go!

Answer 2

There are no train stops at the Wal-Mart parking lot.

Answer 3

we are slow and our transportation is to live the house sooner and you will not miss the bus or wok.

Answer 4

What a great question!! The answer is simply this:  First most European countries are much smaller than the US.  You can drive from Belgium to the Russian border in 8 hours.  That is the equivalent of driving say from Washington DC to Boston.   Now we have trains that provide transportion in that corridor.  But to provide trains that would take care of the entire nation would not be cost effective.

Second,  most European countries heavily subsidize the rail system or outright own them.  Given that the US Post Office is owned by our Government and is one of the great beaucratic nightmares/failures of all time we surely wouldn't want our government to run the rail system.  Besides, our taxes are high enough - unless you want to raise them substantially.

Third, Americans are fairly independent people.  We travel extensively and frankly our highway system is more than adequate for our needs.  

If you want to save energy in this nation there are practical things we all can do (but won't).  For example, let's turn off the lights (I mean the lights in the Malls and stores that stay on 24 hours a day).  Let's turn off the air conditioners.  What is with us, we can't take 82 degree weather - most of the people on earth would not have lasted a month in colonial days.   We are just so needy in terms of comfort.

Answer 5

Rail, or any integrated transportation system, like light rail, trolley, and public bus will never be competitive with differentiated systems like cars, SUVs, and motorcycles.  Why?  Because integrated systems are scheduled rather than on demand like differentiated systems are.  Also integrated systems are limited to comparatively narrow routes (even narrower railways)...that is, they don't generally go where people want to go.   In short, integrated systems are not neally so efficient and effective as differentiated systems...speed isn't everything.

Because integrated systems are scheduled rather than on demand, passengers must adjust their busy schedules to those of the integrated system.   So, if there were a HSR (high speed rail) system going non-stop between San Francisco and LA, for example, it might take a wee bit over two hours for that train to make the trip.  That's about thirty minutes longer than a commerical jet going from SFO to LAX.  Commerical air is yet another, scheduled, route restricted integrated transportation system.  But, you see, that's not the whole trip.

To catch either the HSR or air, we need to drive to a centralized station of some sort.  In some cities, the average drive to work is over thirty minutes; in the East Bay, where I live, its over 45 minutes.  So, to be conservative, let's add 1 hour for getting to the station and then getting to my ultimate destination from the terminus of my trip at the other end.  Now my train trip to LA is at least three hours long.  But wait, that's not all.

Because I'll not be the only passenger riding the HSR to LA that day, there will be check-in lines.  Even if I get my tickets on line, I will need to go through security, find a parking place in the near-by lots, get to the train on foot, and so on.  So, just to be sure I make the departure time, I will add another hour to my departure side.  Now the HSR trip to LA is four hours long.  In sum, it takes four hours to make a two-hour trip...50% efficiency.  

By comparison, an eight hour car trip from SF to LA takes just about nine hours to get from door to door...nearly 90% efficiency.  (The extra hour is for potty stop, food, and gas en route.)   And the efficiency of integrated systems gets only worse for shorter, local trips.  That results because the lead time before getting on the system and the lag time after getting off remain about the same no matter what the length of the trip on the integrated system.

While low efficiency is a detraction, restricted routes are even more so.  One of the reasons efficiency is low is because of the lead and lag times before and after the actual travel time on the system.  And a major, but not only, reason for these lead and lag times is that the passenger can't get from door to door on integrated systems.  

The HSR, for example, will not stop in front of your house and it will not drop you off at Aunt Tilda's home in LA.  The HSR routes are restricted to the leased rails the trains use.  In other words, integrated systems are not very effective because they can satisfy only a portion of the trip requirements to get the passenger from door to door.

By contrast, you hop into your car at the house and drive 480 miles straight south to the front of Aunt Tilda's Victorian home in Simi Valley.  A car is restricted only to some semblance of a road...a 4 wheeler doesn't need even that.  So, in effect, the differentiated system can satisfy virtually all trip requirements, including when to make the trip.

Because integrated systems are scheduled, we can't just step out the front door whenever we want and take off to wherever we want.  For example, suppose you took the HSR to LA for a business trip and, because it's the only engagement you have that afternoon, you take a cab to the meeting site.  

You and your potential client hit it off right away...a deal is in the making.  Now you'd like to invite her out for dinner before heading back to SF on the HSR.  You can't for two reasons: you don't have a way to take her except by cab (you're on a tight budget, which is why you took the HSR instead of air in the first place), and you need to get back to catch your scheduled train back to SF.  In a word, integreated systems are less effective because they are less flexible than differentiated systems.  It's hard to change plans when you are locked in by a schedule and restricted routes.

So there you have it...two legitimate reasons for not supporting HSR systems: they are less efficient and less effective than differentiated systems.  And, when you get down to it, where speed is of the essence, commercial air is still way faster than HSR.

Answer 6

Because we have several self interest groups who controll congress and our representives will not listen to the people who put them in office.

To have a rail system that would serve all would make sense so the congress would not do this. Only the self interest groups.

Answer 7

Initially infrastructure costs would offset energy savings. I agree that long-term it would be a viable alternative but in the short term financial concerns are going to restrain it.

Answer 8

You can go to

http://www.Care2.com

or

http://www.thepetitionsite.com

and see if there is already a petition regarding rail transportation.  If not, at those sites you can start your own petition.

I'm not familiar with pollution issues that may result from railroad trains--if there are any, be sure that the petition includes something about making these high speed trains environmentally friendly.:)

Answer 9

I think it is because we are too independent in this country.  We enjoy the freedom of going where we want when we want.  We don't rely on public transportation, and in fact most working people frown on being packed into a bus or train unless it is absolutely necessary.  Have you ever smelled the rest rooms on a hot summer's day?  Eeeeuowww!!

Let's say you are able to take a fast train from Newark to Washington DC in 20 minutes.  What do you do then?  Now you have to get on a bus or a taxi to get where it is you want to go in DC.  If anything happens, like a major power outage, or a terrorist attack, you are stuck.  If your meeting goes over-time, you may miss your bus, or have missed the last train back to Newark, now you have to check into a motel or hotel where you have no idea how safe the area is.  No...Americans are too used to jumping into their car whenever they want to and go where they want to.  In Europe, that idea is not as ingrained into their minds because they have been under Socialism for such a long time.  They look for the government to do everything for them, including finding them work, finding them a place to live, providing them with transportation, etc.  Me, I'm not yet willing to sacrifice my freedom of travel to government mandated transportation systems, fast or slow.