Train Travel Hits New Highs
by Bonnie Alter, London on 04.30.08
Brit's are taking trains in greater numbers than any other time since World War 2. New figures revealed that the number of miles travelled on the rail network reached a record-breaking high of 30.1 billion during 2007. Passenger numbers have been increasing every year for the past thirteen. The only time it was higher was during the war when troops were being transported around the country. Last year the network handled 1.21 billion rail journeys, that's the equivalent of 20 trips for every citizen and a 7 per cent rise on the year before. Train authorities say it has to do with the growing demand for environmentally friendly travel and because it is easier than driving on congested roads and avoids the misery at airports. Eurostar has also announced that traffic to Paris has grown by 25% since the new train line from the new St. Pancras station was opened just 5 months ago. They attribute this increase to customers' concerns about the environment and the promotion of Eurostar's green credentials.
However passenger groups in the UK expressed concern about the rising cost of train tickets. The trains are privatized in the UK and in January some operators raised fares by 15% on the most popular routes. There is a fear that people will switch back to airplanes if the price of tickets keeps rising. Others are warning about the need to expand the system because already passengers are being left behind on the platforms due to overcrowding. :: Independent
I love trains because they are so much more comfortable than cars. You can sit and read a paper or a book or just relax. They also are a lot more environmentally freindly than cars. I hope renewed interest in passenger trains will also happen here in the United States. I ride the subway to work every day, but would like to be able to take a bullet train across country in the United States someday.
I wish the US had more passenger trains. I live in the MIdwest, and we have no less than 20 trains go through town each day. They do not stop in our town, merely pass through. Why can't they add a few passenger cars to these trains so people can travel to nearby larger towns?
@Julie: Me too -- except there are more like 30 trains coming through my mid-western town every day and only two of them are passenger trains (one in the morning, one in the evening). I guess I can't complain too much because I can take a train to Chicago very easily, but it would be nice to be able to move around my state more easily... without using the car that I don't happen to own!
Our domestic rail industry has a major shake up in the wings. IF we're diligent when it hits the fan we may be able to end up with a better system, though it will probably have to be approached regionally, because of scale. We have to jump on it right when it goes over the cliff though, to maximize the press cycle for effect on congress.
I've lived in Europe and loved the trains, but you have to remember one thing while admiring their systems and decrying ours: most of their countries are the size of one or two of our medium sized states. This tends towards more manageable project and operating costs. But they have good trains that run on time because they want them. They suffer the cost to maintain the system.
So for us, intercity & interstate travel has to be up there with access and egress to & from urban centers. This can go hand-in-glove with urban modifications to become less auto-centric in our big cities. Monorails, streetcars, pneumatic tube subways, jet backpacks... you know the drill.
In Mauritius too the authorities are planning seriously to
establish a train network to address traffic congestion which emits a large amount of GHG particularly peak hours.
writing poetry on trains is nice