3 ms·

Given that trains need tracks, why is it significant added infrastructure to have wires?

• Manuel_D 5y ago
  You have to put up wires and a bunch of posts. Googling around, cost estimates are $4.8 million per track-mile [1]. At 140,000 track miles in the US that's $672 billion to electrify the railway network. Especially if hydrogen becomes very cheap through something like generation through waste-heat from nuclear power plants, hydrogen propulsion may make more sense. 1. https://www.freightwaves.com/news/is-electrifying-the-freight-rail-network-cost-prohibitive https://www.freightwaves.com/news/is-electrifying-the-freigh...
  • DoingIsLearning 5y ago
    > $4.8 million per track-mile The study you quote is for southern california so that probably is on the high end of an estimate. Probably a different budget for West Virginia.
    • hedora 5y ago
      That's $10K per foot of track, there's no way that is dominated by parts or the actual installation labor. In other news, one of the maintenance roads for the Golden Gate Bridge was recently completed. Adjusted for inflation, it cost more and took longer than the bridge itself. If I remember right, one of the bus stops in SF also cost more than the Golden Gate Bridge.
  • LargoLasskhyfv 5y ago
    Peanuts. Just one wasted war less, and it is there.