Only in your fantasy world.
When the tracks need repair, the train stops. The bus will detour around road repair.
It's silly to have too much faith in bus drivers.
Posted on 06/11/2010 7:43:40 AM PDT by Willie Green
America has a “waiting problem.”
Think about the time you spend waiting in traffic jams… at the doctor/dentist’s office… at restaurants… at the gas station.
And how about the six months of your life spent waiting at traffic lights? Or the five years you’ll spend just waiting in lines at retail stores, the post office, DMV, etc. (Early buyers of Apple’s products likely spend far more.)
And according to Robert Poole, Director of Transportation Policy at the Reason Foundation, the average air traveler now spends two to three hours waiting at the airport. Granted, much of that is due to more rigorous security screening – time that is generally well spent – but air travel delays and traffic jams are only going to get worse, as more people take to the skies and roads.
In short, we wait an average of 45 to 62 minutes every single day. And that’s less time spent with family and friends, or doing other more productive, enjoyable activities.
Other countries have already recognized the problem and have addressed it for years. But the United States has failed miserably. So how can we improve our “waiting efficiency?” There’s a solution…
A Great Idea… Until Henry Ford Drove it Off the Rails
It’s called high-speed passenger rail.
I’ll get to the high-speed part in a moment. First, a quick overview of the U.S. rail service today.
Much of America’s freight still travels by rail. In fact, more than two billion tons plowed across the country in 2007 (the latest data available). It’s the transport mainstay for coal, lumber and other heavy industrial products and machinery.
Passenger rail service in the United States dates all the way back to 1830 when the “Best Friend of Charleston” – the first steam-powered train – traveled six miles with 141 passengers on board.
Boston, Baltimore and other major cities quickly established major railroads, due to the lack of river access to U.S. inland areas. And the idea of being able to travel, regardless of weather conditions – and at high speeds, too – was a big hit with most Americans.
As a result, passenger rail service soared…
But then Henry Ford came along and changed the playing field. When he introduced the mass-produced automobile in the following decade, rail travel fell by 18%.
And today?
700 Miles and a Tank of Gas Later…
Fast-forward to 2010…
You’d think that in today’s high-tech age, we could combine speed with efficiency and wouldn’t spend so long waiting. But that’s not the case. And with transportation, it’s an increasingly expensive wait for most Americans.
Take the average car, for instance. Fully loaded with five passengers, it gets about 100 passenger-miles-per-gallon (PMPG).
And according to the Department of Energy, the average passenger jet only gets about 36 PMPG. Of course, the trade-off there is speed.
But how about that speed/low-cost equation? Especially for regional travel? Europe and Asia already manage it. And we can here, too.
The answer lies in the method that squeezes out 700 PMPG.
You got it… high-speed trains. You can string their “cars” together and carry far more passengers than the average commercial jetliner. And these trains blast along at speeds of nearly 250 MPH.
So which company is behind this rapid rail transportation?
This Company Feels the Need… the Need for Speed
Take a quick jaunt around the globe and you’ll see this company’s trains in use all over the place…
The company we’re talking about is Siemens AG (NYSE: SI) – the largest manufacturer of high-speed trains in the world.
Its Valero high-speed train technology is the world’s most successful. Siemens currently has 160 trains in operation and hundreds more on order.
And for speed-hungry America, it’s the perfect fit…
“All Aboard!”
Siemens is pushing hard to get its Valero high-speed train technology widely adopted across the U.S. rail network. Interest is high, too. There are several high-speed rail projects in the works…
Critics argue that few people will ride the high-speed rails. But frankly, that’s a myopic view. They’re not counting on expensive gasoline, because cheap gas is a thing of the past.
As if further proof were needed, U.S. politicians simply need to look around the world to see what other countries are investing in transportation and energy infrastructure.
They need to roll up their sleeves and get the same things going here.
And while you wait, you might want to hop onboard the Siemens train and pick up a few shares.
Good investing,
David Fessler
I can cherry pick portions of the highway system that actually make money, too... The facts are that the overall highway system is MUCH closer to self-funding than the overall train network.
If Amtrak was to fund itself at the level of highways, via user fees, then all fares - including those in the NE corridor - would need to at least double.
And what would that do to ridership?
“This is a good place for the picture of the Detroit Rail Station.”
This is also what auto plants in Detroit look like.
Meanwhile in Japan, both auto factories and train stations look very different.
What is the subsidy that the Sante Fe railroad receives?
“So what if I refuse to address your example?
I find it silly and intellectually dishonest...”
CT - Willie refuses to address this issue because as a Houston-area resident, he is fully aware of the time it takes to do ANYTHING concerning driving and refuses to answer because his argument would be WRONG!
I live near Houston and I am 46 miles from my office. It takes about an hour to get to my office. I have two co-workers who live in Jersey Village, which is only about 20 miles from our office, yet it takes them about 50 minutes to get to the office. They are in thick traffic the whole time, and I am on a pretty open highway for the majority of my drive.
He refuses to admit that time will NOT be saved when riding a train/bus system, it is simply a LIE!
I lived in the DFW area for several years and I only had one vehicle. So, my wife would drop me off at the train station in the morning, and I rode the train to the bus to my office. Driving there would take me about an hour and 20 minutes, but riding the train took two hours. And, I was often late due to train delays or bus failures or traffic!
These systems are NOT an improvement!
ExTxMarine was being sarcastic with his $7.00 per liter. Here are the current prices in London, which are about 1.25 GBP per Liter. 1.25 GBP translates to about $1.82 USD at today's exchange rate, and there are 3.8 Liters in a US Gallon, so that comes to about $6.92 per gallon.
I exaggerated and said $7 per gallon. So shoot me. ;^)
” the Northeast Corridor will need about $1 billion annually over the next 20 years to meet capital costs on all tracks, tunnels, and bridges. Nearly all this money will be spent repairing iffy electrification and degraded rail bed along the route from New York to Washington.”
http://www.slate.com/id/2067822/
When gas costs soar the trains make a small operating profit, otherwise they lose money any way you slice it.
Only in your fantasy world.
When the tracks need repair, the train stops. The bus will detour around road repair.
It's silly to have too much faith in bus drivers.
Nothing. The Santa Fe railroad doesn’t exist since Burlington bought them out.
The overall train network is privately funded, built and maintained in the U.S. These private railroads are even turning a profit in this economy.
The highway system by the way needs vast repairs and will only worsen with time. What will raising tolls and taxes on the interstate to cover these repairs do to ridership?
Which wreck gets cleared up faster?
Which wreck gets cleared up faster?
Not quite the two merged. and became Burlington Northern Santa Fe. But you are right. They receive no subsidy.
Better yet, just raise the gas tax another $0.25 per gallon and we’re there. Then double or triple your train tickets.
How many will keep driving, Willie? I’d say at least 99% of them. How many will keep riding the train when the costs are tripled? I’d say at most half of them.
Then what do you need to do to recoup the missing revenue, Willie?
Damn, why doesn’t the picture post?
“If you support a federally controlled interstate highway system your argument against a federally controlled rail system is weak. They are both roads.”
Look, if I decide to visit my brother in Mississippi, then I can drive there in my car and I can stop several times along the way, I can change my path to include or exclude side trips and when I get there, I still have a vehicle with which to go and spend money on the local economy. I can do this at a pretty decent cost out of pocket (including the changes).
Now, if we replace the interstate highways with trains, I take my car to the train station, get on a train - go only to the locations which they allow me to travel. If I want to change my path, it will cost me the FULL cost of another ticket. Once I get where I am going, I have to rent a vehicle (which means I have less money to spend on the local economy) and I have to do all of this on the train’s schedule!
Yea, I can see where you can compare the railroads to the interstate highway system. They are EXACTLY the same. NOT!
No one is going to ride your choo-choo from nowhere to nowhere!!!
No one except welfare cases who I don’t want to spend one cent to move from one place to another!
The whole choo choo argument reminds me of the cap and trade argument. Nothing but tactics to drive costs up so high that people will be forced to accept their way.
Right out of the Obama school of manipulation. Fortunately we’re going to get some adults back in charge and they can take the erector set away from the kiddies.
Exactly. And they charge Amtrak what they need to charge to make a profit. If we're going to keep Amtrak on their rails, then Amtrak needs to pay what is charged. And raise tickets accordingly.
If Amtrak wants its own rails, then we're talking TRILLIONS of dollars to create that network.
It’s not disingenuous.
It’s addressing my honest situations.
I drive from my 30041 zip home to Roswell, Cobb, Savannah, Syracuse and Montreal on a regular basis (from daily to annual). I see no way rail would help.
Further, I fail to see how any more than a tiny fraction of the population would benefit from rail vs. just driving the cars they have. I am eager to see your statistical breakdowns showing how it is practical and viable; until I do, I shall shout against what I honestly understand to be a waste of taxpayer money.
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