Traveling by rail is fast, comfortable and efficient. Well, maybe it was in some bygone era.
Today, Amtrak almost isn't even worth traveling by. Back in September, I took a train from San Francisco to Eugene, Ore., and I was appalled at how terrible it was. The train was three hours late, apparently because it was caught behind slow-moving freight trains somewhere near L.A. On the way up through northern California and southern Oregon, there were stretches when the train was moving so slowly I literally could have reached Eugene faster on foot. Later on, I took another train from Eugene to Seattle. This was one of Amtrak's Talgo trains, imported from Spain, which the server in the snack lounge referred to as "the slowest high-speed train in the world."
It shouldn't be like this. Although we didn't invent the first trains, we used to have the fastest, most extensive and most efficient rail system in the world. Today, that distinction belongs to China.
One of the reasons I was so appalled by Amtrak's horrible service was that I had gotten used to the excellent trains in China. In China, you can get a train to virtually anywhere in the country, and it is rare for a train to be more than a few minutes late. In Zhengzhou, Henan Province, a major junction city, more than 200 passenger trains pass through the train station every day. By contrast, many American cities only get one train per day, if that.
We could develop a rail system every bit as good as China's; unfortunately, our president, who is beholden to the interests of oil and automotive corporations, does not seem terribly interested in doing so. Rather than helping to improve Amtrak, President Bush has proposed cutting federal funding for it completely, according to CNN.
This approach is both foolish and immoral. Just this year, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave our nation's infrastructure an abysmal grade of D, according to an article by James Fallows in the latest issue of The Atlantic. In other words, the infrastructure of the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world is falling apart.
Meanwhile, the world's fastest train was unveiled in Shanghai last year, and China is in the process of building a high-speed rail link between Shanghai and Beijing, as well, to go along with the world's highest railway that leads into Tibet. Back here in the States, we can't even get our own high-speed train, the Acela Express, off the ground.
History is to blame for this. Following the end of World War II, a huge spike in post-war development was seen in both Europe and the United States. While the Europeans decided to develop their rail transportation systems, our leaders, influenced by lobbyists from the automotive and oil industries, decided to develop our roads. The Europeans eventually developed such technological marvels as high-speed trains and the Channel Tunnel. We, on the other hand, developed a reputation as one of the worst polluters in the world.
Today, we are quickly losing ground to countries in Europe and Asia. While our passenger rail systems languish and risk going under completely, even our roads are falling apart.
Though many people swear by their own personal gas hogs, we need reliable and efficient rail transport in this country. Developing a rail system as efficient as China's or Europe's would dramatically reduce our dependence on oil, as well as on cars in general.
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