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| Copyright Alex Gillman |
Later today I'm driving to the train station at San Luis Obispo to see my son, who is riding aboard a private railcar owned by some friends. There's talk of him working on this railcar eventually, which would be a dream job for him while he's in college. He loves to travel, and he absolutely loves trains.
He and I were talking last night about the fact that, with rising fuel costs, it is probably the rail system which will sustain us in the coming years, transportation-wise. It's more efficient and much cheaper to ship both freight and people via rail lines versus automobiles, trucks, busses or even airplanes. That's why, I suspect, billionaire Warren Buffet recently purchased Burlington-Northern Railroad. Obviously his forecasters are seeing the same things we are, and are planning for future profits.
It's not a bad way to travel, either, providing you're willing to move more slowly than you would via jet. But with the advent of wireless internet, even the most important businessperson can stay in touch and keep working as they ride the rails.
One bright spot in The Long Emergency, if you enjoy train travel I guess.
I love train travel, though it will have to change. Your post is before the CA High Speed rail became an issue. Your former town is the starting point for our use of Amtrak when we travel to family in the north of the state. Unfortunately when more than one travels on the train, it is cheaper to drive a car.
ReplyDeleteThat's very true. Not sure how much of a ridership that high speed rail will get, the train they have now that runs up and down the Valley does great local business and I hope it never goes away as they develop the high speed line. If I need to get from LA to San Francisco, I would fly! Cheaper faster and probably safer.
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