4 ms·

> Are you aware that the US has the largest rail network of any country in the world, almost the size of the next two (both of whom are geographically larger th

> Are you aware that the US has the largest rail network of any country in the world, almost the size of the next two (both of whom are geographically larger than the US) combined? Well of course, the US is a big country - but the overall density of rail (both freight and passenger rail) is lacking compared to Europe (and China too, I think?). I live in the Seattle metro area where the major cities (Everett, Seattle, and Tacoma) do have adequate freight rail accessibility, but none of the smaller and medium sized towns and cities elsewhere in the metro have any kind of rail connection to that main west-coast rail corridor, so they're reliant on road trucks to move goods in/out of those larger cities. ...whereas my part of the north-west of the UK (where I try to spend a good chunk of the year, where-possible) has rail connections between practically every small town, even many (most?) hamlets. Even local supermarkets use the rail network: https://www.railfreight.com/railfreight/2022/01/21/tesco-and-direct-rail-services-renew-supermarket-partnership/ https://www.railfreight.com/railfreight/2022/01/21/tesco-and...

jcranmer 3y ago
If you measure by mode share, the US railroad industry actually has a higher mode share than most European countries. The main issue with the freight rail industry in the US is that it's over-optimizing for the ultra-long-haul extreme bulk delivery--essentially acting as extensions of ports 1000's of miles inland--and abandoning local freight (where you drop off a car or two once a month or so) in the process. But that's not really caused by lack of rail infrastructure, which was your original complaint.
- ianburrell 3y ago
  The ideal would be electrified trains for long distance, and battery semis for local. The rail companies have not been looking after their infrastructure since they are cutting costs heavily. I read that one reason for Amtrak's poor performance is that freight railroads have single-tracked lines and removed passing sections leading to passenger trains stuck by freight trains.
saalweachter 3y ago
The US rail freight volume was 2.2 trillion tonne-km in 2022, compared to 400 billion tonne-km shipped in Europe. Meanwhile, US road freight was about 3.6 trillion tkm, and EU road freight 2 trillion tkm. So not only does the US do about 5x the rail freight of the EU, US rail is about 38% of freight, compared to 17% in the EU.

jcranmer 3y ago

If you measure by mode share, the US railroad industry actually has a higher mode share than most European countries. The main issue with the freight rail industry in the US is that it's over-optimizing for the ultra-long-haul extreme bulk delivery--essentially acting as extensions of ports 1000's of miles inland--and abandoning local freight (where you drop off a car or two once a month or so) in the process. But that's not really caused by lack of rail infrastructure, which was your original complaint.

ianburrell 3y ago
The ideal would be electrified trains for long distance, and battery semis for local. The rail companies have not been looking after their infrastructure since they are cutting costs heavily. I read that one reason for Amtrak's poor performance is that freight railroads have single-tracked lines and removed passing sections leading to passenger trains stuck by freight trains.

saalweachter 3y ago

The US rail freight volume was 2.2 trillion tonne-km in 2022, compared to 400 billion tonne-km shipped in Europe. Meanwhile, US road freight was about 3.6 trillion tkm, and EU road freight 2 trillion tkm. So not only does the US do about 5x the rail freight of the EU, US rail is about 38% of freight, compared to 17% in the EU.