There has been a lot of talk about an infrastructure stimulus program in the United States, but only in the most general of terms. Even the ideas flying around the Internet, leaked from Democrat think tanks and inside the beltway, are sketchy. Highway and bridge construction are certainly on the fast track and perhaps air traffic control and airport infrastructure as well. But what about rail and mass transit?
In Europe, a focused government effort to improve rail transport has resulted in new competition to the airlines in Germany, France, Italy and Spain. The Chunnel’s Eurostar train has been carrying record numbers of passengers.
These passenger increases are not because of bargain basement prices. Trains end up costing about the same as planes or more in some cases. However, the service is from city-center to city-center with stops at plenty of interim villages and towns. Trains can be far more convenient and a real time-saver when time getting to the airport, checking in and waiting at the gate are factored into the time equation.
Trains also become part of the local commuting fabric of countries where rail infrastructure has been a priority. Can anyone imagine the traffic in New York City, Chicago, London or Paris without their subway systems. Even in Washington, the metro takes commuters off the overloaded suburban highways. Every recent case of improvement in local and regional rail transportation has resulted in dramatically higher passenger loads than predicted.
It may be time for the government to get serious about passenger rail and make it a real part of new infrastructure projects. But, let’s not get carried away. How about focusing on the tried and true rather than sending hundreds of millions on pie-in-the-sky projects like maglev trains. That is the proper province of private investors.
The biggest focus should be on improved right-of-way for passenger rail tracks, widening that right of way and improving current tracks and rail cars. A legitimate rail system between Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Boston would be a good start.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
