High Speed Rail May Threaten Freight Rail Renaissance

Ravi Nagarajan submits:There is little doubt that Amtrak’s Acela represents a very attractive way to travel between Washington D.C. and New York City. Leaving Washington D.C. a short distance from the United States Capitol, one can arrive at Penn Station in midtown Manhattan in roughly two hours and forty five minutes. While catching a flight between Washington and New York is a viable alternative, it is necessary to leave the city center to reach the airport. Combined with security procedures, it can easily take longer to travel between central locations in the two cities by air compared to the speed offered by America’s version of “high speed rail”. High speed passenger rail service has been a hallmark of the transportation systems in Europe and Japan for many years. More recently, China has rapidly expanded its high speed passenger rail system. Compared to America’s relatively slow Acela service, which shares tracks with freight carriers, China’s high speed rail system has lines that regularly run at 217 miles per hour on dedicated passenger tracks.Complete Story »