When many people in the United States think of trains, they think of old fashioned steam locomotives. Americans do not travel on trains as much as Europeans or the Japanese do. This is simply because cars are the predominant mode of transportation here. There are two main types of trains: passenger and freight trains. Each of these types serve a unique purpose and work, whether obviously or behind the scenes, to ensure the happiness of people worldwide.
High speed trains can traverse 350 miles in 2.5 hours as demonstrated by the short video that can be found here: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTn7d4KJqx8). High speed rail is able to diminish the amount of carbon emission by four or five times the amount of an equivalent trip travelled in a car or plane. Since record breaking speeds of 357 miles per hour have been reached and progress is continuing, soon high speed trains will dominate Europe and Asia in its entirety. High speed rail connects people with their destination in a quick and efficient way that is currently unparalleled with the exception of aviation. Because high speed trains are not forced to wait for 30 or 45 minutes to unload, people can arrive at destinations faster than real time flight would let them arrive at. Train tickets are incredibly cheap in comparison to plane tickets or the gas spent to drive a car.
Freight trains are a hidden aspect of the modern world. While they do not receive very much attention, they are critical to the wellbeing of people worldwide. It is incredibly important that goods can be transported through every country, and freight trains happen to be one of the cheapest solutions. Because they are currently incapable of the glorious feats of the high speed trains, they do not share in the fame of the modern train era. They are essential to the transportation of goods on a global scale. As freight train technology increases, so will the amount of weight the train can haul and the speed that it can travel at. This will open up many more doors, so freight trains will potentially be able to use high speed railways in the future.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTn7d4KJqx8
Trains have huge advantages in speed, convenience, safety, cost and eco-impact. High speed rail tickets are fairly pricey
Trains in the United States are mainly geared towards the transportation of goods. The many railways running through the midwest help to transport materials from one side of the nation to the other. In Europe and Japan, trains are mainly used for human transportation. It is more common to have passenger trains than freight trains in these regions of the world.
I had no idea before reading this how fast trains could travel and how efficient they really are. I always thought of trains as a thing of the past myself so it was surprising to see just how wrong I was. I would’ve never guessed trains could become so popular in the future. The trains I have ridden on were pretty fast and comfortable so I think the potential for trains to become popular is there and I think it would be cool to see that happen. I was wondering if trains are used more for transportation of goods or people.
That’s incredible that you know the owner of South Eastern Railroad Supply! Trains are definitely more commonly used than I expected. I think that high speed rail will probably become the most effective mode of transportation by 2030 unless planes are developed with low fuel intake. It would be really cool to see the United States creating high speed railways and relying more on trains.
I completely agree. I think trains are great and too many people see trains as a thing of the past. My girlfriend’s dad owns South Eastern Railroad Supply and railroads/trains are a much bigger part of industry than I thought. I also like how you cited how fast they are. Quick and efficient travel that is also environmentally friendly is definitely something that we need. It would also be affordable because so many people would ride it at once. Very cool.