Rail is best for practically any type of land.
Yet North America has thrown away all of its rail expertise. 🤬
What? The US has the best freight rail system in the world
Subways and light rail make a ton of sense in all metro areas. They can efficiently transport tons of people from one pleasant, walkable area to another, so you don’t have to spend half your life in soul-crushing bumper-to-bumper traffic.
The article seems to be behind a pay wall, but it looks like it’s specifically talking about connecting regions with high speed rail.
Long distance passenger rail is better with higher population densities, with cities that are roughly in a line, and large population centers that are relatively close together.
Rail is underutilized in the UK and US, sure. But I don’t think rail is ever going to be the best option for getting people from Chinook, Montana (population 1,185) to Maple Creek, Saskatchewan (population 2,176).
Rail is also never going to be a fast way to get from Lisbon to Moscow, or from New York City to San Diego. Which is not to say that high speed rail isn’t an incredible way to connect Toronto to New York City.
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I just had to drive almost three hours to the closest airport and am in a hotel for a 0630 flight. I would say rail is best in ultra rural areas, too, because all the people live in the same towns along the rail. But no! No rail for me grumpy noises
It would help with this sentiment if the current Rail network was cheaper to use.
The issue is that a lot of the network runs at capacity, so we need to be building new tracks…
