Getting On The Train: Ridership Highest Ever For Amtrak As Reinvestment Arrives For Some Services
Given emerging data in 2012, it's becoming increasingly clear that the post-war automobile era in the United States is now in well-articulated decline. Accordingly, it makes sense to note the beginning of a long-term supertrend that is just getting started: the resurrection of America’s rail system.
At Seattle’s historic King Street Station (a classic example of early 20th Century railroad architecture), a nasty looking dropped-tile ceiling – which hung above travellers for decades – was removed late last year to reveal ornate plasterwork as the building undergoes extensive renovation. These cosmetic (and structural) alterations are part of a wide-ranging upgrade to the entire Cascades passenger rail service that runs from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Eugene, Oregon.
In Tacoma, for example, a new station will either be built or renovated, and part of the Cascades line will be re-routed from its current shoreline path more directly through that city. Elsewhere, bridges are being rebuilt, track is being upgraded, and other infrastructure improvements are underway as part of the $500 million program to resurrect more efficient, faster inter-city rail in the 466-mile Amtrak route through this part of the Pacific Northwest.
These changes will not bring European-style high-speed rail to the United States. Indeed, in many similar projects across the country, top speeds of 125 mph will characterize new system capability, rather than the average speed actually maintained from city to city. However, the incremental improvements now underway will become the platform for the next phase of investment, as Americans are increasingly persuaded to limit their car ownership and make rail transport part of their lives once again.
EDIT
http://www.energybulletin.net/stories/2012-11-01/getting-on-the-train
= new reply since forum marked as read
Trackless Trolleys, sometime called Trolleybus, is where you have an electric bus, powered by overhead wires, but on rubber tires. The advantages are as follows:
1. Only need to maintain overhead wires, not the tracks not the road below those wires
2. Can move around obstacles in the way (and if it has some batteries, operate for 10-15 minutes without have to be attached to any wires).
The disadvantages are as follows:
1. No track to keep the Trolleybus on a straight line, thus can NOT be as long as a Streetcar (Through modern Computers assist driving system can address this problem).
2. Harder to match bus door with curb, in a true Streetcar, the tracks will force the Streetcar to stay within a 1/4 inch of where it should be, thus it is easy to match up with stops so you can eliminate steps. Trolleybuses are like buses, up to the skill of the driver who tends to be on the FAR side away from the curb. To be safe, you have to assume people will have to stop up into a bus or trolley bus.
If you want to separate Transit from Automobiles, Streetcars are the better choice (you have to maintain the right of way anyway, and steel wheels on steel rail is still the most energy efficient way to propel a vehicle)
If, you have to operate on paved roads, WITH automobiles, Trolleybuses are better. They can moved around cars stopped in their path AND no cost to maintain the right on way (When Streetcars share roads with cars, it is the Streetcar that bares the cost of maintaining the Road, Gasoline taxes are NOT used to maintain such roads. This was the chief reasons Streetcars were replaced by buses, to cut the cost of the transit provider as to maintaining the road bed).
Also remember, such trolleybus systems can also provide power to trucks on the same routes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolleybus
They were quite popular at one time, still in use in Seattle, Philadelphia and other cities, but here is a photo that sums up way they are now gone:
The problem is on the left, 28.9 cents for Gasoline.
http://www.thetransportco.com/imagelib/sitebuilder/misc/show_image.html?linkedwidth=actual&linkpath=&target=tlx_new
Photo of a Trackless trolley doing what no streetcar can do:
http://www.phillytrolley.org/tracklessindex6.html
List of Trolleybuses in the US:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_trolleybus_systems_in_the_United_States
http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2009/07/trolleytrucks-trolleybuses-cargotrams.html
http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2008/01/bumper-cars-o-1.html
Thus overhead wires are NOT a disadvantage or advantage when comparing the three with each other (With its own right of way, trains can use third rail technology instead. i.e a rail ON the ground that supplies the power, the problem with third rail is that it is easy for animals, pets and people (especially children) to touch and be electrocuted. In areas where such contact can be minimized, such as the New York Subway System, an option, but when the Pennsylvania Railway electrified it lines in the Northeast after 1905. it was with an overhead wire not a third rail for that reason).
On the other hand, when compared to conventional buses, overhead wire is a disadvantage. But an electric trolley bus will have better acceleration then a convention bus (electric motors provide more power to the wheels quicker then other engines), will be able to go uphill faster (again due to its electric motors), climb steeper hills faster, last twice as long, and at a much cheaper price in terms of energy. So there are ADVANTAGES of using overhead wires.
Furthermore, if you are careful you can HAVE a SAFE third rail system even on a public street. Washington DC Streetcars were known for this, for it was illegal to have overhead wires in DC.
Here is a picture of the line, now long abandoned, that shows the two rail lines and the middle of the rail is the "Slot" where the power line went down into the ground to attach:
Here is a picture of a DC Streetcar passing the Washington Monument, notice NO overhead wires.
Now with modern Technology things can be different, Sweden has built a system of rapid charging station at each end of a bus route of about 10 km (about 6 miles). This is a SPANISH product, but it is best tested in a cold weather area given that batteries are known to lose power in cold weather:
http://www.opbrid.com/
There is another Youtube of what I believe is a Japanese System, where the bus is charged at every bus stop for about a minute. This would permit greater range but at the cost of having more charging stations.
A Made in USA bus with a similar capability:
http://inhabitat.com/fast-charging-electric-buses-coming-to-southern-california/
And Mazda has sold a similar bus to Foothill Transit in the LA area of California:
http://www.mazdainthenews.com/l-a-gets-worlds-first-rapid-charge-electric-bus/
