Why doesn t the US invest in trains?

While the US was a passenger train pioneer in the 19th century, after WWII, railways began to decline. The auto industry was booming, and Americans bought cars and houses in suburbs without rail connections. Highways (as well as aviation) became the focus of infrastructure spending, at the expense of rail.



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High-Speed Rail Is Too Expensive Building the 48,000-mile Interstate Highway System cost about $500 billion (in today's dollars). Paid for entirely out of user fees, it carries about 25 percent of all passenger travel and 15 percent of all freight in the United States.

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During the post-World War II boom many railroads were driven out of business due to competition from airlines and Interstate highways. The rise of the automobile led to the end of passenger train service on most railroads.

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CLIMATEWIRE | The first U.S.-made high-speed bullet trains will start running as early as 2024 between Boston, New York and Washington, with the promise of cutting transportation emissions by attracting new rail passengers who now drive or fly.

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America's freight railroads are almost entirely privately owned and operated. Unlike trucks and barges, freight railroads operate overwhelmingly on infrastructure they own, build, maintain and pay for themselves.

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Implementing high-speed rail (HSR) will provide Americans with more transportation choices. It will also make sure that America remains an economic engine, and meets the environmental and energy challenges of this century.

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How fast are high-speed trains in Europe? High-speed trains in Europe can reach speeds of up to 198 mph (320 km/h). Some of the fastest trains in Europe travelling at these speeds include AVE, TGV and Frecciarossa 1000.

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China initially relied on high-speed technology imported from Europe and Japan to establish its network. Global rail engineering giants such as Bombardier, Alstom and Mitsubishi were understandably keen to co-operate, given the potential size of the new market and China's ambitious plans.

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For decades now, passenger rail use has been steadily declining in the US, and although the country is criss-crossed with extensive railway tracks, the majority of these are used to carry freight, not passengers.

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American railways were also built on a wider gauge (the distance between the rails), which allows for larger and heavier trains. As a result, American freight railways are much more efficient than their European counterparts, carrying almost three times as much cargo per mile of track.

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The interstate highway system cost $129 billion — roughly $290 billion in current dollars — and took 35 years to complete, running from 1957 to 1992. The $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill enacted in 2021 has $102 billion for rail, but none of the money is set aside for high-speed rail.

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TGVs or Trains à Grande Vitesse are the pride of SNCF (French Railways), running at up to 320 km/h (199 mph) on a network linking towns and cities across much of France. In fact, trains reach 320 km/h (199 mph) on the newer TGV-Est & TGV-Rhin-Rhone routes.

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In 2021, Beijing-Shanghai High-speed Railway Co., Ltd. earned a total net profit of 4.8 billion yuan, an increase of more than 49 percent from the previous year. Established in Beijing in 2007, it is the only railroad company in China that introduces social cash investors and Sino-foreign cooperative operations.

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High speed rail is not an economic development tool by itself, but it can activate economic development potential in numerous ways: saving time and money; expanding labor markets for employers and expanding employment opportunities for labor force; enhancing “clusters” of economic activity across regions; and creating ...

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In a world becoming ever more urbanised, rail travel is well matched to urban needs. High-speed rail can serve as an alternative to short-distance air travel, and conventional and freight rail can complement other transport modes to provide efficient mobility.

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For the nation as a whole, profit margins generally sit at about 9% (8.89% to be precise), however, in transport, specifically railroads, this stands at 50.93%, the highest in the US.

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