re-training ourselves

[chelidon]

House approves Amtrak funding

This is good news. After many years of Republican Congresses systematically starving out Amtrak because it's unionized, and because Subsidies are Bad and Private Industry Can Do It Better (if so, then why haven't they?), the recent fuel price hikes have finally made it politically a good thing to fund rail again. We've got a very long way to go to rebuild this country's rail infrastructure, but since rail passenger travel and freight transport is by far the most fuel-efficient way to go in most cases, I suspect we're going to see a new renaissance of rail after a long period of neglect and decline.

On the other hand, much like airlines, the long-haul trucking industry is in deep and serious trouble, as diesel prices top $5/gallon. We'll be seeing a lot more trains, and a lot less trucks.

Comments

[anthologie.livejournal.com]

I love trains. To an embarrassing amount. <3

[chelidon.livejournal.com]

Tranz rawk. srsly.

It irks me that the only reason the once a day Vermonter Amtrak line that goes nearby only survived because the state of Vermont subsidizes it, and it doesn't go into Canada/Quebec anymore. I'd take the train far more, if there were more trains. And I think that soon (well, "soon" being 5-20 years) there will have to be.

[ravenedgewalker.livejournal.com]

I've grown up bitching about the rail services in the Uk - they only run once an hour, they're often late etc...

until I looked at US trains and realised that there was no way to make the trip from a to b in a day since there was only one train a DAY and the two connections didn't match.....

I might just stop bitching about UK rail services for a while. there's trains from London to Scotland at least once an hour.....

[chelidon.livejournal.com]

Yes - by comparison, at least, you all have a wonder of a rail system. Or rather, you have a rail system, period, we have tattered bits and remnants of what was once a fine rail system, killed by short-sighted bureaucrats and cheap gas.

[america-divine.livejournal.com]

Very good. I live in a large-university small-town without trains or even Greyhound. Used to be both, of course, and streetcars. For us, it's cars or drive 1.5 hours for any sort of long-distance transportation (or fly 15 minutes to the Pittsburgh airport to catch another plane).

[ravenedgewalker.livejournal.com]

yes - and ours is somewhat tattered in comparison to what it used to be like...my parents still talk about the grand old days of rail.

it seems that the UK rail people are finally beginning to get the idea that they need to drop their prices to lure people away from cars and cheap flights.

[threefrognight.livejournal.com]

It helps to build a little hope to see things like this, and to hear people actually talking about how they are restructuring their lives to account for energy consumption. I'd like to believe that we are in the beginning/middle of a major paradigm shift, and that things will get better.

[christeos-pir.livejournal.com]

The next step will be to allow strip mining for coal again.

[chelidon.livejournal.com]

I don't bet it will be tried, and I'll hope it fails for as long as possible.