U.S. Freight Network the Best in the World| U.S. Freight Network the Best in the World |
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| Written by Andrew Leonard | |
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The United States may lag severely behind the rest of the developed (and, in the case of China, developing) world in terms of high-speed passenger rail, but the news isn’t all bad - it has the best freight system in the world. An excellent article in the Economist this month explains that, ever since deregulation in 1980, the freight industry has thrived, with prices dropping by half (adjusted for inflation) and productivity nearly tripling. Warren Buffet’s $34 billion purchase of Burlington Northern Santa Fe last year is just another sign of just how strong the freight industry is. Compared to Europe, the United States has a huge lead. The European Union has 200 million more people than, and about half the area of, the United States, creating a much denser population. However, in 2000 (the last year I can find figures), the EU only transported 8% of its goods by train, compared to 38% for the United States. The study that reported this said that, even if you account for all of the major geographical and cultural barriers, the EU’s figure is still half what it should be. However, passenger rail in the United States is trivial, with only 14 billion passenger-miles in 2006, compared to 230 billion for the EU. And only 456 miles of North American rail is high-speed, compared to over 5700 miles in the EU, and 1500 miles in Japan, a country the size of California. True, the United States has a mature highway network and an extremely well-developed air network, but high speed trains can compete with air at mid-range distances. And that one high-speed line trots along at an anemic 68 mph, compared to 220 mph for China’s current fastest link. Clearly, the US has been lapped by the world in this regard, but that does not mean that the news is all bad. While many look forward to the construction of high-speed links like California’s planned 220 mph link between Los Angeles and San Francisco, major freight infrastructure projects - necessary to keep the best system in the world the best - are somewhat unsung. The Alameda Corridor in Los Angeles County, linking the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in a grade-separated rail ‘expressway’ connecting them to the rest of the rail network, is considered by some to be one of the major infrastructure improvements of the 20 years. However, according to the Economist, the freight companies are concerned about passenger rail. The current plans seem to involve running high-speed passenger trains on the freight network, which could cause major headaches, considering that when there are scheduled 110+ mph passenger trains on the same lines as unscheduled, slow-moving freight trains, congestion becomes a major issue. This is in the ‘mid-range’ high-speed links; California’s and Florida’s high-speed lines are dedicated, and would move much faster. The freight lines have other concerns, mainly the cost and rollout of Positive Train Control, a $15 billion project that they say is overpriced and won’t improve things that much, and the looming threat of re-regulation due to rising prices in the past few years, though the freight companies point out that they were just reacting to fuel and commodity prices. I urge anyone with an interest in the current state of rail in the United States, both good and bad, to read the Economist’s article. The website is http://www.economist.com/node/16636101 and it is from July 22, 2010.
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