Reason Foundation - High-Speed Rail Plans Should Be Called Moderate-Speed Rail

Reason Foundation - High-Speed Rail Plans Should Be Called Moderate-Speed Rail

"And that conflict between freight and passenger service is one of the little-noticed problems with what really should be called 'moderate-speed rail.' You can optimize a rail network for freight or for passenger service, but not for both. The current US rail network is optimized for freight, and as a result, rail's share of US freight ton-miles is about 40 percent. By contrast, Europe's network is optimized for passenger trains, and as a result, rail's share of freight ton-miles is only 10-15 percent. Wendell Cox has crunched the numbers and estimated that the carbon-intensity of goods movement is about 25 percent higher in Europe than in the USA." Emphasis added. The Sand Springs Railroad stopped passenger service in 1955 because it interfered with more lucrative freight operations.