Being a huge fan of the railroads ever since I was 4, I can't tell you how much this new interest in the rials has me excited. I knew that if the price of oil ever really jumped (which it did), folks would be lined-up at the stations in hordes. I am just sad that it took a ecnomic kick in the pants to get Americans looking at rail again. People ask why we don't ride the rails like the Europeans? Several reasons, actually. FIrst, gas has always been hig in Europe. When we lied in Germany in the 70's, gas was already over a dollar. They didn't subsidize their highways like we did. So the incentie to ride was always stronger than in the states. Many people forget that it was actually the US that pioneered high-speed trains. The Limiteds were carreening across the landscape at speeds over 100! (Not bad for a steam engine). But as many people have pointed-out, we pulled-up the tracks, forced our passenger trains to wait for heay freights to lumber by. While in Europe, they run on dedicated welded rails, nice and smooth. The other thing is, Europe is a lot smaller than the US. Germany is about the size of Washington & Oregon together, France is a touch bigger. So flying in the US is and was a lot faster and attractive. And then there is the political landscape. Most European countries were quasi-socialist, so the government could do more in the name of the common good. And they didn't hae powerful lobying groups like GM, Standard Oil and Firestone driving the construction of the highways and steering money away from public transport and into the coffers of local highway departments (not to mention every road construction comapny, cement company, bus company, ect. across the country). So, this sudden surge in oil prices may have a silver lining after all. Not just because people will ride less or because I just love trains, but because America will remember that she has a forgotten asset lying in the backuard. Just waiting to be reborn. Railroads built this country, they can help build her back up.
Riding the Rails
Will Americans, with their vast country and automobile lust, ever take to trains the way Europeans have? The CEO of the nation's publicly funded rail service is taking on the challenge one track tie at a time.
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America's passenger rail system has never measured up to others around the world. In the 1950s, when much of Europe and Asia were formulating plans for intricate rail networks, America was investing in what would become its equally intricate highway system. But as fuel prices rise, train travel--by far the most fuel-efficient mode--is emerging as a more attractive way of getting around. Amtrak, the nation's principal rail carrier, has seen record growth and the U.S. Congress is considering a measure to broadly expand the publicly funded service. Amtrak CEO Alex Kummant says he envisions America's rails will one day rival the speedy efficiency of international systems, like in France and Germany, but that it will happen incrementally. Kummant spoke with NEWSWEEK's Daniel Stone about what's in store aboard America's trains. Excerpts:
NEWSWEEK: U.S. rail ridership is way up and high gas prices are discouraging more people from driving. Is this rail's defining moment?
Alex Kummant: We jokingly say that it's the first time in our history when the emergent transportation mode actually exists already. We're a nation of travelers--from the incredible urban centers of the East Coast to the remarkable ports of the Hudson, the Mississippi and further west. All of a sudden, rail is the emergent transportation mode and it's there already. And lucky for us, we already know how to do it.
One house of the U.S. Congress just passed a $15 billion, 10-year authorization for capital investment. What does that mean for the system?
It's enormously positive. It was gratifying to see the bipartisan support. It's so critical is for us as a country to start spending capital for infrastructure. We've only gotten somewhere around $500 million each year for capital, which isn't much. This new package will increase our capital budget dramatically.
Passenger rail systems across parts of Europe and Asia are the most intricate and reliable in the world. Why not here?
If you look at federal money spent on infrastructure, things are very different here versus there. In the end, it's an issue of political lists and how high oil prices have to get to really motivate a return to the role of federal government, which is to build out vital infrastructure. We all love high-speed rail, and of course we want it here, but people forget that in Europe, there's a base system that runs at high speeds, like you can see in Germany. It's that base speed that we need to start building.
Is mirroring systems abroad really a possibility in the United States?
I think it'll happen incrementally. It's the right thing to do to have states help invest in multimodal transportation. Some federal and state money should go to highways, but some should go to rail. I think all of us here need to take a more holistic look at transportation.
Transportation spending is often tied closely to the economy. Why invest in rail in particular, as opposed to other modal infrastructure?
If you want to really talk about a stimulus package for the economy, investing in rail is wonderful. There are local jobs and local materials. It's good for steel plants, we can train people. There's a heck of a lot of technology in the rail world, more so than a lot of people realize. From a stimulus point of view, from a jobs point of view, it's fabulous. With high energy prices, we're also going to see pretty dramatic realignments in real-estate value and even faster resurgence of city centers, which helps the housing market, too.
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