Comments on: transportation at the crossing gate

By: Reedman

Reedman — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:53:04 +0000

Erik,
The HSR Board is having a meeting on Wednesday, June 11, in LA. Are you going to attend? Will you take the train to get there?

By: Hayden

Hayden — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 06:37:36 +0000

As you point out, it’s not only a matter of space for rail lines, but also the poor condition in which the rail companies have maintained their existing lines. Or, from another point of view, the extent to which we’ve allowed the rail companies to let their tracks go. This includes lack of maintenance that led to the deaths of rail passengers–CSX’s approach under former Treasury Secretary John Snow’s management, as discussed by David Cay Johnston in his most recent book. From a safety perspective, this makes me wonder how safe passenger rail in the US really is at the moment.

By: david vartanoff

david vartanoff — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 18:00:17 +0000

Mode chauvinism has roots in history. Rails in the street are a little harder to arbitrarily abandon than rubber tire routes. Conversely, bus systems’ insistence on competing rather than cooperating w/rail systems is rider hostile as well as wasteful. Cities like Chicago unified the surface and elevated transit in the ’40s so that a single fare got you from door to door whether bus, streetcar, elevated, trolley bus or any combination. Most of us don’t care what color paint the transit vehicle wears, we just want to move.

By: david vartanoff

david vartanoff — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:37:54 +0000

US RRs by and large are so mismanaged that they are only able to garner non time dependent business. Kinda like SF Muni, if you have an appointment, good luck! As to the eastern leg of the Sunset Ltd, Atk mgmt doesn’t care, CSX is as usual uncooperative, and given UP’ stellar OTP w/ the existing route the train will only ever be on time westbound.

By: Reedman

Reedman — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:34:53 +0000

There would be more confidence in rail transport of both
people and freight, of both low and high speed, if rail could do some of the simple things well. But it doesn’t seem to. I noticed that Amtrak service from New Orleans to Jacksonville is still not restored (after being hit by Katrina in 2005, and this is 2008 …).

By: Aaron Priven

Aaron Priven — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:10:15 +0000

It’s not that trains necessarily move more people than buses; it’s that they do so more cost-effectively when the number of people is high enough. We need to get beyond mode chauvinism (advocating one mode of transit over another) and instead advocate cost-effective transit whatever the mode is.

By: Robert Raburn

Robert Raburn — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 13:30:31 +0000

The dilemma is going to be over who will operate the future rail network. A benevolent UPRR is unlikely. We don’t want to ressurect the “Octopus.” The early adoption of trucks for farm-to-market hauling was in protest of gouging by railroad companies.

By: david vartanoff

david vartanoff — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 06:30:28 +0000

Actually we HAVE done a great deal with our rail system since Truman–mostly destructive. Thousands of route miles and multiple main tracks have been destroyed. Imagine gutting the Interstates back to two lane blacktops and completely removing a third of the routes.