All Aboard! August 6, 2008
Posted by Meg Sewell in Inovis Solutions.Tags: logistics, rising fuel costs, trains
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Image Source: http://www.trainnet.org
There’s something magical about trains…The Polar Express, the Darjeeling Limited, Planes, Trains and Automobiles… I’ve always wanted to ride the Orient Express and have always had a great appreciation for this historic vehicle. Needless to say, I was very excited to see this article on Supply Chain Digest entitled “Transportation News: Are We Entering a New Railroad Golden Era?“
While the railroad has undergone a century of decline due to the development of cars and trucks, it seems to be making a comeback. Soaring fuel prices and fuel surcharges, in addition to the surge in imports, have brought the locomotive back to life. Here are some other factors that may help with rail growth:
- Railroads may help to clear up congestion problems on highways
- Railroads are more eco-friendly. Shippers may use them to reduce their carbon footprint. Politicians may also move to take action to favor rail movement for similar reasons.
- Although rail carriage is also impacted by rising fuel costs, the effect is less for rail than for trucking.
- Recent evidence suggests that even city commuters are hopping the train to avoid traffic—15% in some metro areas.
- While there has been a slow down recently, economists expect the growth in import values to continue over time
While all of this is promising, only one thing can stop railroads in their tracks—lack of rail infrastructure. If significant new track isn’t laid, a possible congestion problem and “rail meltdown” may be looming ahead. Regardless, I see a promising future for trains.
How about you? Would you like to see more railroads used or do you think the railroad resurgence will quickly die down?
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While I would like to see more rail traffic–both freight and passenger–I fear that the costs of increasing capacity will be too great. There is a debate going on in the Chicago area about the possible purchase of the lightly used EJ&E line on the far west side of the metropolitan area by CN (Canadian National), which could increase traffic by 6x (4-5 trains per day to 24-30 trains per day), but significantly reduce congestion through the city. The affected communities–which, unlike many communities closer to Chicago, have never had significant rail traffic in recent years–are raising the specter of huge traffic delays, pedestrian deaths, etc. The cost of grade separations (viaducts, bridges) is prohibitive, and each side wants the other to pay.
The latest is that CN is planning to sue to allow the sale to go through.
Until we can figure out how to make the public and private sectors work together on this, it will be slow going.
Wow Bob, I didn’t know about all of this train drama in Chicago! That is very interesting to say the least.
One of the things that needs to be considered – as mentioned by Meg and Bob – is that “rail infrastructure”… Those grade-crossings, bridges, tunnels, routes and more….
But there is also a less “physical” infrastructure that needs to be considered to make rail – passenger or freight – more useful to the common man (and woman)…. of course, now tunes from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “STARLIGHT EXPRESS” are coursing through My head….
I currenly live in Southern California – a place KNOWN for major amounts of freeways, major amounts of truck traffic and two of the largest ports in the US, not to mention the world, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Years ago, they constructed a rail corridor (known as the Alameda Corridor) to alleviate some of the truck traffic on the 710 freeway (a major north/south conduit) and to bring more rail into the process as well.
On the passenger front, we’ve got the Metro Rail – commuter trains – and the MetroLink passenger rail system. They service many major areas and provide service to and from those areas for millions of commuters a day.
But here’s where both of these HUGE systems fail – in that the services offered are limited.
For the cargo – the trains pull from the port and head north to many DCs and warehouses in the “eastern” LA area – up by I-10 (for those familiar with the LA area). But what about all of the other industrial areas they pass by with other DCs and warehouses in Long Beach and other cities…? Nope – no stops.
For the passenger – the closest station isn’t all that close… or you have to go miles and miles out of your way to a station to catch another train to take you to another station to be able to finally catch a train to your destination… And the schedules – ha! Don’t even get Me started with those!
I had lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for many years – lived in the East Bay (Dublin) and worked in San Francisco, just off of Market Street. And every day – unless I missed My “last” train to the city, I rode BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) to and from work. If I missed the “last train” that could get Me to work on time, I drove…. But it was often hard to miss that “last train” as the schedule was so … packed. There were trains along some routes every 5 minutes…. Ok, maybe 10. And when they got to a transfer point station – the trains on BOTH lines would hold for a few minutes, allowing you to go from a N/S line to an E/W line. And the stations were easy to get to.
Mind you, some of the LA area stations are also easy to get to, but the schedules!
Bob spoke of the “physical” hurdles – but one also must think of the other hurdles – such as schedulling, locations, and destinations….