Anyway, my point from the get-go still stands: it's not clear how much more freight we realistically *can* carry by rail, as we already carry a greater share by rail than most other industrialized countries, whereas those with better passenger rail mode shares carry less freight.
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Replying to @380kmh @uncriticalsimon
That's more of a point about your imagination than about what can be "realistically" (a huge weasel word) done.
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Replying to @capntransit @uncriticalsimon
What can realistically be done is increase rail's mode share in passenger traffic, reducing the mode share for private cars. This would have a larger impact on public safety & the environment than getting even more of our freight traffic onto trains, bc cars are so dominant.
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Replying to @380kmh @uncriticalsimon
Sorry, I'm really not interested in other people's unsubstantiated speculation about what can realistically be done. If that's all that's realistic, then realistically we're all screwed anyway.https://capntransit.blogspot.com/2012/02/political-realities.html …
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Replying to @capntransit @uncriticalsimon
Literally right here in your linked article--the limitations of short-haul rail freight are not about policy but about physics, which is why *nowhere in the world,* no matter how pro-rail, is pulling it offpic.twitter.com/q1G7lw861n
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Replying to @380kmh @capntransit
Depends what you're delivering and why you're using a train. Trainload coal for example could be viable even over a relatively short distance. As could a "rolling road" across terrain with a railway but no road. Carload freight probably not.
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Replying to @uncriticalsimon @capntransit
Touche, but this goes back to the kinds of goods where rail predominates: bulky, low cost-to-weight ratio, low time sensitivity.
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Replying to @380kmh @capntransit
How about as part of the supermarket distribution chain? This is quite time sensitive. http://www.freightonrail.org.uk/CaseStudySupermarkets.htm …
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Replying to @uncriticalsimon @capntransit
Rail figures in the supermarket distribution chains in the USA, as well, but (as this article indicates is true for the UK, too) not for last-mile shipments. Look at the figure they give--550km from Magna Park to Grangemouth, ie greater than 250mi (not short-haul)
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Replying to @380kmh @capntransit
I *think* there's more now than then. Obviously it won't be to the store loading dock (almost none have sidings) but there is an agenda to get more freight on rail.
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Oh--what was the date on the piece? I didn't notice one. There's an agenda for that here too (CSX for one won't stop advertising for it), we'll see how much of a dent it puts in mode share tho (esp re: mode share over short distances, which is most urban truck traffic).
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