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> Loosening regulations to reduce the staff, making the train itself go faster (if possible), and allowing for lower cost and lighter weight cars (possibly to i
by josephcsible 4y ago
> Loosening regulations to reduce the staff, making the train itself go faster (if possible), and allowing for lower cost and lighter weight cars (possibly to include the much denser sleeping cars found on Chinese and Swedish railroads) would change the economics from 'taxpayer subsidized cruise' to 'reasonable form of luxury transit'
Trains are already more than 6 times as dangerous as planes (0.43 vs 0.07 deaths per billion passenger-miles, according to https://faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu/ipsavage/436-appendix.pdf https://faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu/ipsavage/436-appendix....). Those ideas sound like they'd make them even worse.
- rhaway84773 4y agoThose fatality rates for Amtrak are quite clearly a result more of the denominator being too low than anything else. Increasing passenger miles covered will lower the final rates far more than increased safety. Especially when the lowered safety is likely also a result of low usage and low funding thanks to low usage.
- 735892568 4y agoThere is no reason to think the regulations do anything to improve safety. It's more likely that they make the trains less safe by banning modern rolling stock used in the rest of the world.