Wasted fuel (II)
November 2nd, 2009 | Published in Automotive
Amtrak, the Trolley of modern railroading, is in the tank, surviving in the short term on a $205 million bailout last year in 2002. Our rail freight system is in lousy shape, with steadily reduced track age. (In 1916 the nation’s railroad peaked with 254,000 miles of track. Today it is less than half that, and much of it is in poor condition.) This has led to the absurd situation where it is economically more viable to pay a driver $30,000 to $50,000 a year to haul 70 tons of freight coast to coast in a diesel truck than it is to carry it on a freight train capable of 100 times that capacity. Read the rest of this entry »
