Coming Soon: The Age of The Train?

Well, it seems so in Europe. It is working hard to lure passengers to travel by fast trains. An indication to the impact of this thrust is that Air France-KLM is considering replacing some of its short-haul European flights with a high-speed rail service.

” ‘Rail is becoming more of an option as people realise there is an alternative to flying,’ said Amanda Monroe, a spokeswoman for Rail Europe,” reports The Independent. ” ‘More tour operators are offering rail packages and that has to be because customers are asking for them.

” ‘There’s a combination of factors: people are fed up with the hassle and stresses of flying; they’re thinking about green issues, and they’re also realising it’s often quicker. These are good times for Europe’s railways’.” More here…

What about the USA? We witnessed on Saturday the wonderful connection between the rail ride and the US presidency. (See here…)

The Globe and Mail has this to add: “All but unnoticed amid the excitement over Barack Obama’s election last November, California voters endorsed a highly anticipated ballot proposition to approve raising $9.9-billion (U.S.) in state bonds for the first leg of a high-speed rail line extending from San Diego to San Francisco and Sacramento.”

“In a region famous for both its green politics and its populist tax revolts, Californians offered up a resounding vote of confidence in a $40-billion infrastructure scheme well calibrated to the energy dictates of the 21st century. The California High Speed Rail Authority predicts construction could begin as soon as 2011.

“But as is the case with high-speed rail systems in much of Europe and Japan, the proponents of the California project have been up front about the need to involve the private sector in this massive undertaking.

“What’s clear is that pure private plays don’t work, while publicly owned passenger service tends to suffer from a lack of investment. (An exception is Spain, where the state has moved aggressively to build high-speed rail since 1994.)

“Earlier attempts to privately develop such networks in Texas and Florida failed because of inadequate financing. In Japan, which originated the bullet trains in the 1960s as a national transportation policy, private firms now run the service.

“In much of Europe, state-run rail companies and private investors have a history of collaborating successfully across national borders, the best example being Eurostar, the London-Brussels-Paris high-speed rail service that now commands a 60- to 70-per-cent share of the transportation market among the three cities.” More here…