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RE: (erielack) Railroads "That Should Never..." A&GW
Sorry (all), Chuck, your right I was doing it in litres... (doh!) it'll be
$10 per gallon...
Martin
- -----Original Message-----
From: Charles_Walsh_@_berlex.com [mailto:Charles_Walsh@berlex.com]
Sent: Thursday, 17 August 2006 20:02
To: Martin Ibbotson
Cc: erielack_@_lists.Railfan.net; erielack-owner@lists.elhts.org
Subject: RE: (erielack) Railroads "That Should Never..." A&GW
Martin,
Did you say $43 per gallon?? I guess that would be about right as it was
getting to 10 Euro/liter. Well, I guess if you raise the price of petrol
high enough, the people will flock to the trains...if they exist. The
problem herein the US is that they don't exist, for the most part, and gas
is "only" $3/gallon ($0.75/liter).
Chuck
"Martin Ibbotson"
<martin.ibbotson@
ntlworld.com> To
Sent by: <erielack_@_lists.Railfan.net>
erielack-owner_@_li cc
sts.elhts.org
Subject
RE: (erielack) Railroads "That
08/17/2006 02:45 Should Never..." A&GW
PM
Please respond to
"Martin Ibbotson"
<martin.ibbotson@
ntlworld.com>
Let me first say that from one on the other side of the pond......(in the
UK)who has a growing interest in EL and trying to learn more.... I've been
enjoying all the correspondence I've been reading. Thanks very much!
I've not been able to make any contribution to the discussions, but I was
interested in this thread and some of the figures being quoted. As a
comparison with the UK, people are moving away from cars and onto the rail.
In fact most (if not all) trains are overcrowded and the reason is a
combination of price and time.
I usually use the train to travel from Manchester to London (220 miles) or
sometimes Wakefield to London (200 miles). Why? - to travel by road will
take me 4hrs 45mins at a cost of (wait for it..) $43per gallon (at approx
48mpg). To travel by train will take 2hr 30mins and cost between $35 and
$350 approx (depending on when you travel and how much in advance you
purchase the ticket).
Trains are clean and comfortable and usually every 30 mins through the day.
It strikes me that in the US people only take local commuter journeys by
train with rail mainly being used for freight haulage. It's a lot different
in the UK where the emphasis is on passenger trains. Some of you older
birds
may know that in the late 60's there were swingeing cuts in the UK rail
infrastructure and the car ruled with a growth in freeways. Now the
enconomies have shifted back to rail and investment in rail infrastructure
is increasing - some railroads and stations have been re-opened and new
ones
built and most of the lines have seen an increase in traffic.
So should parts of our railroads have been built? Yes, if the economics
warranted it. Believe me, when the oil price in the US increases by a
factor
of 10 - everyone will be clamouring for the railroads. Until then, they'll
be the poor relation.
Have fun!!
Martin
- -----Original Message-----
From: erielack-owner_@_lists.elhts.org
[mailto:erielack-owner_@_lists.elhts.org]
On Behalf Of jwmutter_@_comcast.net
Sent: Thursday, 17 August 2006 15:30
To: EL List
Subject: Re: (erielack) Railroads "That Should Never..." A&GW
Sorry to prolong a topic that has gotten rather off-topic, but this is a
pet
peeve of mine....
- -------------- Original message --------------
> --- Njricky2_@_aol.com wrote:
> > In a message dated 8/16/06 12:41:14 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
> > martinpl3_@_earthlink.net writes:
>
> > One in particular is the Scranton-New York run, departing daily
> > from Scranton at 12.30pm, arriving in Manhattan at 2.10pm, with no
> > Pocono or NJ stops. No train is going to beat that running time
> > and the cost round trip is $73.50 for a 135-mile trip,
- ------------------------------------------------
That works out to $0.54 per mile. Allowing $0.20/mile for
depreciation/maintenance/insurance/etc, they are asking $0.34/mile.
Assuming a car gets 20 mpg and gas is $3.00/gallon, it costs about $0.15 in
gas to drive a mile. These numbers may not be exact, but I think you get my
point -- it's much more expensive to ride the bus or train.
Taking the bus or train typically doesn't save time over driving (how often
does their schedule exactly match your own?), plus you have the local
transportation issue when you arrive at your destrination, so in order for
pople to switch to the bus or train there must be another tangible benefit
to not driving. If Amtrak and the bus companies want to attract more of
the
car-driving public, they need to lower their prices to complete with
automobiles. The problem becomes even more pronounced when there is more
than one person travelling. I'd love to take the Metroliner from Baltimore
to NY to visit my parents, but tickets for a family of four would cost
about
$300. Gas and tolls is less than half that.
Jeff Mutter
The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List
Sponsored by the ELH&TS
http://www.elhts.org
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