Biden Makes the Case for Rail
Joe Biden is best known for his experience in foreign policy issues, but I’ve long been most excited by the possibility that his strong pro-rail views may have influence in an administration certain to be dominated (like all administrations) by people who don’t care about transportation policy. This morning at the National Governor’s Association, Biden took the opportunity to talk a bit about the virtues of investing in rail:
There’s a reason when you turned on the olympics to watch them this past summer, you saw mag-lev trains going over 200 miles an hour in supposedly a third world country [i.e., China] in terms of its economy, blowing into town, dealing with environmental problems they have as well as transporting people in a way that we don’t even come close to being able to do. And as Barack has pointed out, and John Corzine knows, I may have a bit of a pro-rail bias. I think think of the jobs we can create in both construction and innovation if we make similarly bold investments here in the United States as well as the environmental payoff that flows from that kind of investment.
Of course it’s not just a question of jobs we create directly through rail construction, it’s also the prospects of greater long-term growth through more efficient use of space and energy resources that should get us excited. But good for Biden — hopefully he’ll have some influence as the key transportation policy jobs get filled.
41 Responses to “Biden Makes the Case for Rail”
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December 2nd, 2008 at 11:26 am
Meanwhile, makers of rolling stock are struggling. But since they didn’t contribute to the oil addiction that got us this lovely economic depression (oh, yes, it will be), they won’t get anything for help.
December 2nd, 2008 at 11:34 am
Hey, this could be something that Biden could spearhead during the transition, the creation of the Office of Urban Policy. Sure his expertise is in foreign policy but such is the case for a lot of Obama’s close advisers. A strong rail infrastructure is a good idea and Biden’s obviously passionate about it. Perfect fit.
December 2nd, 2008 at 11:42 am
Biden’s admiration for the Shanghai maglev is misplaced - it’s a hugely expensive showpiece. Moreover, you don’t need maglev to get a train to go over 200mph. France, Germany, Spain and Japan all have conventional trains that go at least that fast, and China will soon.
December 2nd, 2008 at 11:59 am
I think Biden brought up maglev more as a general example of how far behind we are even compared with places like China, home of melamine contamination and lead toys, rather than a specific endorsement of maglev itself.
December 2nd, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Don’t forget that Maglev goes a heck of a lot faster than traditional bullet trains. I was in France last week and I walked by the record-setting TGV train. It had a big sign, “the fastest train on rails”. It attained a speed of 574.8km/h (356mph). Note that it says on rails. A Japanese maglev train has reached 581km/h.
December 2nd, 2008 at 12:23 pm
I really hope that he’s going to do something about this. I live in Europe now, in the UK, which by European standards has a very average rail system, yet it is eons ahead of the US. And don’t even get me started on Germany.
December 2nd, 2008 at 12:41 pm
I just got back from the Netherlands and rode the Nederlandse Spoorwegen all week long. It was delightful. And embarrassing, because most people I know in the US have never even been on a train of any kind. When I told my family members there that it takes 19 hours by train to travel between NOLA and Chicago, which I can drive in only 14 hours, they were flabbergasted. That kind of thing is just unthinkable in the Netherlands.
December 2nd, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Grandarch, does 7kph really qualify as a “heck of a lot”?
December 2nd, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Just took the Acela from Phila. to Boston. It was a nice ride and the coaches were pleasant, but it really wasn’t that fast (especially given the price). I knew that many sections of the railway weren’t optimized for Acela service, but it seemed like we were creeping along the whole way north of NYC.
Still beats flying, though.
December 2nd, 2008 at 1:10 pm
The Acela is the best we’ve got but pretty pathetic. I rode the TGV from Paris to Avignon and back from Marseille this summer… that’s the way to travel.
December 2nd, 2008 at 1:16 pm
When I told my family members there that it takes 19 hours by train to travel between NOLA and Chicago, which I can drive in only 14 hours, they were flabbergasted. That kind of thing is just unthinkable in the Netherlands.
Well, it may not be just the slowness of the trains that has them flabbergasted; the Netherlands is a country that takes about three hours to drive across — along the long axis.
December 2nd, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Matt B said, on December 2nd, 2008 at 12:58 pm
You were definitely not going at full speed through Connecticut, since the rails are too close together to permit the train to operate in tilt-train mode, starting in part of New York State and continuing through all of CT. AFAIU, that is being addressed by straightening some alignments so that the tilt-train mode is not necessary to go full speed.
At various points you will have been going slower than the Acela can do because of safety speed restrictions because the track is not up to an adequate standard of repair … and that’s not just speaking loosely, the last Amtrak funding bill included funding to bring the Northeast Corridor up to an adequate standard of repair.
And south of New York, the overhead electric lines do no have the constant tensioning required to operate over 130mph, so there are sections of the Phillie / NYC run that will go faster when the overhead infrastructure has been upgrade.
And when it goes flat out, its still not true HSR … its more what Rafeal at the California HSR Blog refers to as “Rapid Rail”.
Getting a true HSR alignment along the NEC may be difficult … for NYC to Boston, it may end up necessary to do the inland route, NYC to Albany and then a straight shot east to Boston.
December 2nd, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Adam Villani, yes–my sister spent some time in Spain, and when asked how far away DisneyWorld was from her home, she said “Three hours by plane.” They couldn’t believe it. “No, you meant three hours by car, right?” (From St. Louis to Orlando). They have no conception of distances in America.
December 2nd, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Just took the Acela from Phila. to Boston. It was a nice ride and the coaches were pleasant, but it really wasn’t that fast (especially given the price). I knew that many sections of the railway weren’t optimized for Acela service, but it seemed like we were creeping along the whole way north of NYC.
The Acela doesn’t move much (if any) faster than a regional train; it just makes fewer stops, which cuts down the delays. The Acela coaches are also newer, much nicer, and better equipped for doing business-related things, hence the price bump. In my experience, the regional trains break down more frequently than the Acela as well.
December 2nd, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Adam Villani Says: December 2nd, 2008 at 1:16 pm
But the Netherlands has road and rail connections to Germany and France and, via France, Spain and, via Germany, Austria (and etc.) and there are fewer and fewer long trips where trains are slower than driving as the cross-European HSR network is expands and connects together.
So, no, having trains that can’t even keep up with cars over long distances, that’s the shocking part.
December 2nd, 2008 at 3:56 pm
train man said, on December 2nd, 2008 at 3:34 pm
While the Acela is not true HSR, as semi-HSR it is a distinct step above an ordinary Express service … and does, in fact, go go faster than an Express on the same route would have done.
However, its nowhere near to cutting trip time in proportion to the difference in top speed. AFAIU, the majority of the time savings from the 160mph top speed are ahead of the system, in the electrical infrastructure upgrade between NYC and DC and the re-alignment in northern New York and Connecticut (as mentioned above).
December 2nd, 2008 at 9:12 pm
It is great that there is support from Biden on building the rail infrastructure. A few weeks ago, I read this Daily Kos Diary on a new bill that Senator Kerry introduced in the lame duck session which was for high speed rail. He spoke of the environmental gains as well as the economic benefit - both in terms of jobs and in having the infrastructure.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/11/25/95822/061
December 3rd, 2008 at 12:12 am
I just read the wikipedia page on Japan’s Shinkansen. I don’t understand why we don’t have HSR here. How is it we can be so, so far behind Japan technologically. This is fn ridiculous. Some many countries put us to shame when it comes to things like this. It’s very disappointing & it makes me worry about the future.
December 3rd, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Acela takes something like 7/8 hours from DC to Boston. From Paris to Marseille (a little longer distance) is about 3 hours on the TGV. The newest line from Paris to Strasbourg goes at the quickest speeds of the TGV lines.
I always think the French comparisons to the U.S. are the best. Japan is so dense that the comparisons sometimes fail. But with France their rail system is really cross country for long distances so it’s not at all about density but the perfect argument for intercity rail. It took me 3 hours go get from Paris to Marseille and the much shorter trip from Marseille ot Barcelona took 9 hours… but, on the way I got to see the construction they’re doing of the high speed rail to connect France and Spain… so, all of Europe will be connected before we get any real HSR in the U.S. at the pace we’re going (although fingers crossed for California).
December 10th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
WASHINGTON - The country is sinking deeper into the economic doldrums, and it’s likely to stay there for a while. That’s part of the latest outlook from forecasters in a survey by the National Association for Business Economics, also
December 26th, 2008 at 7:46 am
I was very impressed by Joes remarks and his willingness to say we are behind in such systems, well we may be today, but with elected persons like Biden who have an idea, and a determination to address issues like this?
We are just about to break loose and do these and more!
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