High Speed Rail

High speed rail is a way to move people quickly while saving on gas. In a world with high and rising fuel prices, high speed rail will be a key technology allowing us to afford mobile lifestyles. The problem for the US is that we are falling ever further behind. The US currently has no high speed rail at all. That leaves us vulnerable to higher fuel prices.

High Speed Rail

Europe is slowly but surely becoming criss crossed by a network of high speed rail lines. In the future of pricey petroleum, the US will regret not developing such a network here at home. Although recent announcements by the administration might mean we will begin building one.

Terminator Calls for More Rail

California Governor Schwarzenegger calls for development of high speed rail in the United States. In the video below he points out that the country's rail infrastructure is considerably underdeveloped compared to for example Europe. I believe the main reason for this the the excessive focus on the personal automobile and highway transport in the US. Since rail transport is more fuel efficient relative to highway transport, in the future of permanently high gasoline and diesel prices we as a nation are going to regret our choice. Rail is a way to save on gas at the national level which we are missing out on.

Rail vs Trucks : Which Saves More Gas?

There are two choices for moving bulk freight over land: by truck or by rail. There was a time when America was criss crossed by a vast rail network. Today most of that is gone, and almost all of our freight is hauled by truck. But was that great change a wise move from the point of view of fuel efficiency?

The Department of Transport's Federal Railroad Administration looked into the comparative fuel economy of rail vs truck hauled freight. The study, titled Comparative Evaluation of Rail and Truck Fuel Efficiency on Competitive Corridors is available as a PDF file for download. Although the study is more than a hundred pages long, the result in terms of fuel efficiency is clear. Rail is more efficient.

When considering hauling cargo, fuel efficiency is measured not just in gallons spent to cover a given distance but must also take into account how much cargo was carried. Therefore efficiency is measured in ton-miles per gallon. That is the normal miles per gallon rating multiplied by how many tons of freight were carried over that distance. The actual fuel efficiencies depend on various factors including the type of vehicle and cargo.

Efficiencies for rail ranged between 152 to 512 ton-miles per gallon versus 68 to 133 ton-miles per gallon for trucks. The figure at the top of the post shows the rail and truck fuel efficiencies for 23 different types of cargo movement studied. Clearly, rail is the winner when it comes to saving gas while moving cargo around the nation. In a future of permanently high gas prices, the US will come to regret scrapping all that rail for asphalt.

China Developing Advanced Rail

China has just put into service the world's fastest train. It is designed to travel at 350 km/h and covers a route of approximately 1000 kilometers in 3 hours or so between the cities of Wuhan and Guangzhou. This is good news for China. Development of alternative means of transport, including rail, will be necessary to keep people on the move in the coming years of high and rising real oil prices.