Railroad school project

[Ruchala]

Hello !
i've got school project about railroad situation on the world
exactly about: " is railroad definitly doomed or have chance as way of transport.... ? "
so I ask what do you think about that ?
all your answers will be very helpfull in my task
and if you know any page where can i find some reilroad statistick i will be glad

sorry for write this post in wrong forum, I saw "HELP" topic and thought its good place : )

[David Benton]

Railroads are definetly far from doomed . In Europe and Asia , alot of brand new high speed rail lines are been built .Many American frieght railroads are running at capacity .
The only thing that may be decreasing is passenger rail outside of Europe , and frieght in 3rd world countries , because of lack of capital .
The big problem facing most railroads worldwide is to accquire capital , as it is a very capital intensive industry .

[george matthews]

There are numerous new rail projects all over Asia. There are others in Africa and the Gulf area.

Only Americans seem to be resisting investment.

[Komachi]

There are always exceptions to the rule.

While many Americans would prefer to drive their cars or fly to a given destination, there are a few exceptions. For example, California has recently been investing in their passenger rail infrastructure and is working on plans for expanding their network. And BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe) and UP (Union Pacific) are redoubling and in some cases trippling their lines to expand their capacity (I'm sure CSX and Norfolk Southern are doing the same). Even smaller, regional railroads like the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern is working on building a line to the Powder River basin (PRB) to ship cleaner, low-sulpher coal east (however, their project is being delayed by environmental concerns and numerous lawsuits by the city of Rochester, MN).

And that doesn't even begin to include the cities that have commuter rail systems and cities like Minneapolis/St. Paul that just built a new light-rail (tram) rail lines. Not to mention cities like Las Vegas that just built a new monorail line and Seattle, which is planning on expanding on their existing monorail line.

Rail is one of the most efficient modes of transportation, so I don't see it as being "doomed," and the examples above show that there is still a need for rail, even here in the US. But, as the others have pointed out, there is a lack of capitol investment. That may change as oil prices go up, but who can say for sure.

[David Benton]

for stats try the association of american railroads website (aar ) . im not aware of any rail advocate organisations in the states ( apart form the passenger one of course , http://www.narprail.org/ . )
in england and canada they have the transport 2000 groups ( renamed to 2001 i think ) .
but if its a school project then you should really be searching for all this info .

[Ruchala]

sure thenks
thats all great help

and i've got one more favor
do you know any page with any railroad statistic ?
that would make my work more concret