New Rail Study

[Bob C]

NKP; Beautifully and succinctly stated ! The situation is still much the same...for great portions of our country, there aren't great populous centers of business or (particularly since the '80s) manufacture to draw volume goods or passengers for rail travel. Passenger service is out competed by a) for Right of Way by freight's higher frequency/density/profit...b) Ridership by the convenience of the auto (and the Interstate Highway System [taxpayer built & funded]), and the speed of the airlines (whose terminals and traffic control is at taxpayer expense). The "Why can't we have trains like (fill in country)" doesn't take into account the expanse of the US (and Canada), the dispersed locations of population/business centers (longer travel time and less density/stability of user numbers), and the availability of alternative modes (though that may be altered by fuel/vehicle cost/profit considerations in future). Perhaps a revival of something like "interurban" lines, built, operated, and (to some degree) regulated as intra-state carriers might be possible without massive (US) government investment and bureaucracy...sorry, I don't have the cash in my 201k right now. Bob C.