A post by Maynard
Having mentioned Atlas Shrugged, it’s only right that I add a word about real railroads.
This article in The Economist caught my eye. Nothing urgent here, but it’s another small slice of the productive real world trying to survive in the face of aggressive political theory and ideology. It’s a long article, but I’ll try to summarize the high points.
If you’re a normal citizen, what do you know about the operation of railroads? Probably very little. All you hear in the news is an occasional story about Amtrak…generally about Amtrak going broke and needing more subsidies, but we’re supposed to keep it going and grow it so we can become more like Europe. California, which is ahead of the curve in going broke, is planning a new high-speed rail line (price tag: $42 billion!).
This article reports what is presumably common knowledge in the industry: 1) The American freight lines (as opposed to the passenger lines) are the best in the world, inexpensive and efficient. (Did you know that? I didn’t!) 2) The freight lines were going broke until the deregulation of 1980, initiated, surprisingly enough, in the waning days of Jimmy Carter. 3) Those great passenger rails in Europe are big money-losers just like Amtrak is here.
So naturally the political pressure is to launch more Amtrak trains, and make them go really fast.
What’s wrong with that, other than maybe wasting some more of the taxpayers’ money? The problem is that a lot of tracks are shared, and freight lines aren’t high-speed. You can understand that running high-speed trains on the same tracks with slow trains creates a logistical problem. So the freight lines are concerned that political pressure will push the subsidized money-losing high-speed passenger trains onto the track, displacing the slower, efficient, moneymaking freight trains. In order to prioritize the wonderful new subsidized trains, Congress will re-regulate the railroads, and everything will start to fall apart again.
This isn’t a done deal, and my summary may be too brief. But it’s a fair concern in an era of Washington-knows-best. Check out the article for more details.
This is a hot issue in many states including mine. In the 21st century, passenger railways seems to be a boondoggle. We have the technology where all you have to do is fire up the computer to conduct web meetings…no need for cars or trains. (Imagine the savings in energy by working from home rather than commuting by car or train. Surprised environmentalists haven’t caught on.) The entire purpose of the passenger train push is to create another requirement for endless government spending and waste. It infuriates me that the politician cannot see beyond the dollar signs. (Notice the tone in the article.) Soooo my state is going to spend millions of dollars convincing us bitter-clingys to let go of the archaic car culture. Cars are simply more convenient and cheaper in the long run.
Interesting piece here: The Myth of High Speed Rail in the US
Yes, American freight lines are the best in the world until government gets involved. I foresee troubles ahead for the rail road industry. It will be a bumpy ride.
I don’t think the railways, at least one of the largest, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad, has anything to worry about with this administration. Burlington is owned by Berkshire Hathaway and Warren Buffet, one of the richest men in the world, is very cozy with the administration.
I saw a History channel special on bullet trains of various types. When you see what they go through in maintenance, it’s no wonder why the upkeep is so high. They weld the track at each joint and grind each weld smooth. They keep freight off the track, not only because of speed, but freight cars weigh up to 340,000 pounds. They are very hard on the track, and the joints. They always hype the low cost per mile in fuel cost, but the cost per passenger seat mile over all is right up there with air travel. The costs are just distributed more heavily toward capital and labor, less for fuel.