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And the distance from Boston to Minneapolis is about 1,400 miles, which is what the Orient Express has been doing in one form or another since 1883.
At the end the day, there are no hard and fast rules here. Different modes of transportation will be appropriate under different circumstances. Having choices is what will be of benefit to the consumer.
How large are the subsidies for the Orient Express?
The four track NYC Subway system is the equivalent of a 36 lane superhighway crisscrossing Manhattan, in terms of passenger capacity.
I spend lots of time in Manhattan. The problem is the lack of "criss-crossing." There are few crosstown lines. One is, in part, the new Second Avenue Line (link to map), which parellels 63rd Street from Second Avenue to Seventh Avenue. It loses much of its crosstown usefulness since it's only stops arguably in the crosstown direction are 72nd and 2nd, 63rd and Lexington and then 57th Street and 7th Avenue. Another is the No. 7 train, which stops at Grand Central, then 5th Avenue and 42nd Street, then Times Square, and then Hudson Yard at 34th Street and 11th Avenue. A highly useful stop at 42nd Street and 11 Avenue was cut for budgetary reasons. Last and definitely least is the L Train, which has five stops from First Avenue to Eighth Avenue on 14th Street. The problem is that it runs infrequently and is decrepit. They are shutting it down in Manhattan for 18 months starting in 2018 to repair damage from Hurricane Sandy.
So in you're a suburbanite coming in to Grand Central Terminal or Penn Station, or someone living on the Upper East Side and going elsewhere on the East Side or to the Battery, or someone living on the Upper West Side and going elsewhere on the West Side or to the Battery, subways are great. Otherwise not so much.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jetgraphics
The fact that no city can keep expanding highway lanes to service the ever growing number of commuters means that America will have to "Get Back on Track."
Rubbish. The problem with highways is that we went from one car per family to one car per family member over 16 or 17 between the late 1940's or earlier when most highways were conceived or built, to modern times.Peopel are not capable of driving more than one car at a time. As for intercity travel even the most heavily traveled line, the Northeast Corridor from Boston to New York City to Washington cannot possibly carry enough people to make even a small dent in the average I-95 traffic jam in Connecticut or NJ Turnpike traffic jam in New Jersey.
Rubbish. The problem with highways is that we went from one car per family to one car per family member over 16 or 17 between the late 1940's or earlier when most highways were conceived or built, to modern times.
Not rubbish. Simple math. Population has more than quadrupled from 1900 to 2010 (76M to 320M). Road capacity cannot expand in proportion to that population growth.
Railways can.
There are a number of areas where the land available for new freeways has pretty much been exhausted -- Long Island and most of the Los Angeles basin come immediately to mind, and the list is growing.
The solution here will likely be to develop more "park and ride" options; New Jersey Transit now allows 110 MPH speeds on most of its Northeast Corridor line -- some of it within the city limits of Newark; and a parking facility at Jersey Avenue in New Brunswick has made commuting from locations as far south as Browns Mills and Wrightstown a viable option.
Not rubbish. Simple math. Population has more than quadrupled from 1900 to 2010 (76M to 320M). Road capacity cannot expand in proportion to that population growth.
Railways can.
Railroads have been operating at capacity or near it for years.........
Not rubbish. Simple math. Population has more than quadrupled from 1900 to 2010 (76M to 320M). Road capacity cannot expand in proportion to that population growth.
Railways can.
There were almost no roads at all in 1900 so the percentage increase would be almost infinite. The relevant metric is road expansion vs. licensed driver expansion between roughly 1960, when much of the Interstate system was built and nowadays.
The number of trains coming thru a mainline track near me has dropped by over 50%
Coal hasn't been used to operate trains for 100 years. This is a thread about passenger rail.
Coal for electricity generation also can't compete against fracked natural gas which is now around $3/MMBtu. Coal is dead because of the economics. I don't care what Trump promises voters in West Virginia, it ain't happenin'.
There were almost no roads at all in 1900 so the percentage increase would be almost infinite. The relevant metric is road expansion vs. licensed driver expansion between roughly 1960, when much of the Interstate system was built and nowadays.
Facts do not support your opinions. You might benefit from reading history. There were plenty of roads before 1900. The big difference was that most roads were privately owned (or upon private property with easements). Ditto, for bridges, ferries, trains, canals, etc, etc.
Not only were all cities, towns and villages crisscrossed with ROADS, there were long distance roads, as well. The Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike opened between Lancaster and Philadelphia in 1794, the first successful turnpike in the United States. . . 106 years before 1900.
"The Luzerne County Commissioners had bought the bridge [in 1908] for $165,000 and would soon buy many others throughout the county, ending the time-honored practice of letting private companies build bridges and then operate them for profit."
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Almost all infrastructure was once privately owned and not taxpayer subsidized.
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Library of Congress has a nice collection of roadmaps before 1900 A.D. https://www.loc.gov/maps/
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And, no, the Interstate Highway System did not create the expansion of drivers nor substantially boost road mileage. Coincidentally, superhighways do not eliminate traffic congestion, but add to it. Do New Highways Generate Traffic? - ACCESS Magazine
Conclusion
New roads generate substantial new traffic in metropolitan regions. A 1.0 percent increase in lane miles induces a 0.9 percent increase in VMT within five years. With so much induced traffic, adding road capacity does little to reduce congestion.
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A superhighway / interstate has a maximum observed capacity of about 2,400 passengers per hour per lane. But motorists assume they will have a higher average speed and seek those routes, adding to the traffic congestion. But the existence of those limited access roads did not "create" new drivers nor sell automobiles.
Achievements BEFORE government took over the infrastructure - - -
World’s most railroad track mileage :
[] Peak heavy rail mileage: 254,000 miles (less than 160,000 miles today)
[] Streetcar track: 34,404 miles by 1907, in over 140 cities, with 60,000 cars in service.
[] Interurban track: 15,500 miles by 1917
(Total rail mileage was once over 300,000 miles - now, far less)
In contrast - - -
[] Interstate Highway System : 47,714 miles
In short, America was better connected by RAIL long before interstate highways came about.
Railroads have been operating at capacity or near it for years.........
Re: passenger rail?
Not at all.
Re: freight?
Not at all.
Due to taxes and regulations, many rail companies reduced their rights of way to lower costs (a very very stupid move - thanks to greedy government). You do not reduce your track miles if you're at capacity.
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