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You can also hear OBB’s Kurt Bauer on this episode of The Bottom Line from a few weeks ago: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001ryt1 https://www.bbc.co.uk/pro

You can also hear OBB’s Kurt Bauer on this episode of The Bottom Line from a few weeks ago: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001ryt1 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001ryt1 Capacity is ultimately much harder to expand on 1D trains compared to 3D airspace. Economic pressure also means the removal of what is, for many people, the most romantic part of the whole experience: the dining car. The economics seem to be this is basically always going to be about first class travel, at least if you want a bed, which is a shame. Listening to this program made me really want to experience it again. The last time I took night trains was when I was backpacking around China in the 90s where there was very much a culture of first class travel (closed cabins, duvets, two-double or one-double bunks) but also a very accessibly priced second tier of carriages with open cabins and a pair of triple bunks. I loved every moment of it.

bombcar 3y ago
People want to move fast. Planes are great for this. Freight has no opinion about speed. Trains are great for this. Reducing the total amount of freight that has to be moved, and moving as much of it to rail as possible, is the easiest improvement we can make. I think the US falls short sometimes because of the unwillingness to admit of excessive first class things that can help subsidize cheaper options.
- Tijdreiziger 3y ago
  > People want to move fast. This hypothesis doesn’t explain why international (night) trains are booming again in Europe.
  - spiritplumber 3y ago
    Because a fast train is about as fast as a plane on short flights once you add in security and all the little waits, plus getting to the airport of departure and from the airport of arrival.
mapt 3y ago
The capacity of a fully loaded conventional HSR line is massive. The Beijing-Shanghai HSR route (a northbound and a southbound track on a right of way 20 meters wide) and every UK airport combined, carried about the same number of passengers every year before COVID, just above 200 million. We can make conscious choices about whether we want comfortable accommodations or cattle cars, and cattle cars are what we ask for when we say "Absolute minimum capex on rolling stock" and "We're going to size passenger station platforms for 6 cars instead of for 20 cars". If you are running 10 million passengers per year, but still running rolling stock that will fully utilize the capacity of the rairoad, you can afford to use space 20x less efficiently than the Beijing-Shanghai HSR line does.

bombcar 3y ago

People want to move fast. Planes are great for this. Freight has no opinion about speed. Trains are great for this. Reducing the total amount of freight that has to be moved, and moving as much of it to rail as possible, is the easiest improvement we can make. I think the US falls short sometimes because of the unwillingness to admit of excessive first class things that can help subsidize cheaper options.

Tijdreiziger 3y ago
> People want to move fast. This hypothesis doesn’t explain why international (night) trains are booming again in Europe.
- spiritplumber 3y ago
  Because a fast train is about as fast as a plane on short flights once you add in security and all the little waits, plus getting to the airport of departure and from the airport of arrival.

mapt 3y ago

The capacity of a fully loaded conventional HSR line is massive. The Beijing-Shanghai HSR route (a northbound and a southbound track on a right of way 20 meters wide) and every UK airport combined, carried about the same number of passengers every year before COVID, just above 200 million. We can make conscious choices about whether we want comfortable accommodations or cattle cars, and cattle cars are what we ask for when we say "Absolute minimum capex on rolling stock" and "We're going to size passenger station platforms for 6 cars instead of for 20 cars". If you are running 10 million passengers per year, but still running rolling stock that will fully utilize the capacity of the rairoad, you can afford to use space 20x less efficiently than the Beijing-Shanghai HSR line does.