4 ms·
>Most high speed rail lines are just upgrades to existing lines. We already have these rights of way settled. That is all the more reason that should not be aba
by treis 6y ago
>Most high speed rail lines are just upgrades to existing lines.
We already have these rights of way settled. That is all the more reason that should not be abandoned.
Most of that is used for freight as well. You can't realistically use the same rails for freight and high speed rail. So if we want high speed rail it will have to be entirely new tracks in a new right of way.
- spikels 6y ago> You can't realistically use the same rails for freight and high speed rail. Exactly. When Europe decided to upgrade their passenger rail system last century they cannibalized their century-old existing freight network. Now 75% of their freight (by weight-distance) is by diesel truck and only 19% by rail (mostly in Eastern Europe). Similar thing happened in Japan. Obviously these are huge trade offs: costs, efficiency, quality, pollution, etc. Transportation systems are extremely complex. High speed passenger rail is just one small part of this huge picture. Transportation By Mode (EU, US, Japan) Freight: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Modal-Split-of-Freight-Transport-in-the-EU-the-USA-and-Japan_fig4_305589858 https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Modal-Split-of-Freight-T... Passenger: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Modal-Split-of-Passenger-Transport-in-the-EU-the-USA-and-Japan_fig3_305589858 https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Modal-Split-of-Passenger...