| Consider the advantages of passenger rail. A modernized intercity rail passenger system could help shore up our transportation system. Why? One seventy-five foot wide rail corridor can carry the same number of persons per hour as a sixteen lane expressway. Rail travel is six times safer than highway travel and worldwide, the safest mode of all. Needed transportation capacity can be added to many corridors for a lower cost with modernized or new high speed rail. Trains consume less energy and emit less pollutants per passenger mile than most other forms of travel. Increased travel by rail stimulates economic activity and spurs private investment in urban areas and central business districts around rail stations. Rail service grants the freedom of mobility to those unable to easily use our air and highway systems because of age, physical disabilities, health problems, or economic circumstances. Rail is the most comfortable and enjoyable form of intercity travel. It allows more room and requires less restrictions on personal freedoms than other modes. While not immune to terrorism, the effects of such acts on passengers are smaller in scale and unlikely to affect areas and people outside the rail corridor. Because of the strength and resiliency of U.S. rail equipment, security needs and inspections are not as strict as that required for aircraft. |
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