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Dream on

Rail has a basic problem: it depends upon extremely expensive infrastructure that only has one use. The cost of track build-out (including design, right-of-way acquisition, hard construction and maintenance), plus equipment costs (those trains cost millions), plus staffing costs (God help you if they're public employees in California), is too great to amortize across the limited pool of users. It's well documented that rail fare payers won't pay enough to cover those costs. And at this juncture, there don't appear to be enough alternate users to take up the rest of the burden: fiber optic cable companies have gone ahead with other rights of way, and other modes of transportation are incompatible with sharing rail rights of way.

As a case study, I refer you to the Baltimore area light rail system, which was built on existing rail rights of way (thus saving tons of money) in the densest commuting corridor in the region (thus positioning itself for the most viable stream of fare payers), and it still can't cover costs. See, for example, the Baltimore Sun article at the link. Key quote: "Light rail cost roughly $36 million to operate in 2015. In the 2016 state fiscal year, fares paid by passengers covered only about 18 percent of operating costs."

Happy listening,

Jim

"The passage of my life is measured out in shirts."
- Brian Eno


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  • Dream on - jec01 11:56:50 05/17/17 (0)

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