5 ms·

another reason they're nonstandard is to keep freight rail companies from demanding to use them. part of the reason rail on the us is so slow is freight compan

reaperducer 4y ago
another reason they're nonstandard is to keep freight rail companies from demanding to use them. part of the reason rail on the us is so slow is freight companies have had a 150 year monopoly on the right of way. You're confusing two different topics. Freight railroads cannot "demand" to use rail lines owned by passenger railroads. Passenger railroads can, if they choose, allow freight lines to use their tracks, and vice-versa. You can see examples of both in Chicago. CTA, a passenger railroad, used to carry freight traffic, but chooses not to do so anymore. Meanwhile, the local freight railroad companies choose to allow Metra, another passenger railroad, to use their tracks and rights-of-way. It's not anywhere close to the black-and-white situation you present. Where passenger railroads own their tracks, they get to decide what runs on them. The problem is that passenger railroads in the United States own very little actual track, and rely too heavily on using freight-owned tracks. There's lots of railroad magazines that write about this ongoing problem every month.
- IIAOPSW 4y ago
  No, CTA cannot do that. If they did, CTA would have to take a bunch of expensive steps to make their stuff complaint with FRA regs. And no, the local freight railroads aren't "choosing" to let Metra be. They pretty much have to. That was part of the agreement when the regulators allowed the railroads to drop passenger services (which they were previously legally obliged to keep). There's a process, which hasn't been put into practice for a while but is still on the books, for Amtrak to demand the right to use certain tracks (the exact scenario where this happens escapes me).
  - reaperducer 4y ago
    No, CTA cannot do that You should tell the CTA. It will be news to them.
- cardiffspaceman 4y ago
  > freight companies have had a 150 year monopoly on the right of way. In the US, railroads had to run both freight and passengers or else leave money on the table, 153 years ago, when the first transcontinental line was finished. And if they wanted to advertise speed to passengers, the freight trains had to yield. When Amtrak started of course things changed a lot, immediately and also gradually, but that was 1971, 52 years ago.
phlakaton 4y ago
Maybe in some places. I seriously doubt that was a factor in BART's case – the system is not even remotely configurable for freight use.

reaperducer 4y ago

another reason they're nonstandard is to keep freight rail companies from demanding to use them. part of the reason rail on the us is so slow is freight companies have had a 150 year monopoly on the right of way. You're confusing two different topics. Freight railroads cannot "demand" to use rail lines owned by passenger railroads. Passenger railroads can, if they choose, allow freight lines to use their tracks, and vice-versa. You can see examples of both in Chicago. CTA, a passenger railroad, used to carry freight traffic, but chooses not to do so anymore. Meanwhile, the local freight railroad companies choose to allow Metra, another passenger railroad, to use their tracks and rights-of-way. It's not anywhere close to the black-and-white situation you present. Where passenger railroads own their tracks, they get to decide what runs on them. The problem is that passenger railroads in the United States own very little actual track, and rely too heavily on using freight-owned tracks. There's lots of railroad magazines that write about this ongoing problem every month.

IIAOPSW 4y ago
No, CTA cannot do that. If they did, CTA would have to take a bunch of expensive steps to make their stuff complaint with FRA regs. And no, the local freight railroads aren't "choosing" to let Metra be. They pretty much have to. That was part of the agreement when the regulators allowed the railroads to drop passenger services (which they were previously legally obliged to keep). There's a process, which hasn't been put into practice for a while but is still on the books, for Amtrak to demand the right to use certain tracks (the exact scenario where this happens escapes me).
- reaperducer 4y ago
  No, CTA cannot do that You should tell the CTA. It will be news to them.
cardiffspaceman 4y ago
> freight companies have had a 150 year monopoly on the right of way. In the US, railroads had to run both freight and passengers or else leave money on the table, 153 years ago, when the first transcontinental line was finished. And if they wanted to advertise speed to passengers, the freight trains had to yield. When Amtrak started of course things changed a lot, immediately and also gradually, but that was 1971, 52 years ago.

phlakaton 4y ago

Maybe in some places. I seriously doubt that was a factor in BART's case – the system is not even remotely configurable for freight use.