[Plantagenet]

Buffett, the 2nd richest man on the planet, has just made a big investment in US railroads.

Maybe he is reading these forums, and sees the potential for growth in the US rail system.

[Eli]

I think that is exactly what Buffet is doing. I would bet he has had private conversations with Matt Simmons on many occasions.

If I were him I would also invest in barges which can carry more tonnage than even rail.

[smallpoxgirl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', 'B')uffett, the 2nd richest man on the planet, has just made a big investment in US railroads.

[PrairieMule]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('smallpoxgirl', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', 'B')uffett, the 2nd richest man on the planet, has just made a big investment in US railroads.

[Eli]

Well I agree a hard fall is impossible to stop at this point, we are in many ways done for.

But what would be truly awful is to have a hard fall and then keep spending US resources on subsidizing fuel costs and the auto industry.

I think we are likely to start throwing good money after bad on the down slope and that will only make things that much worse.

[smiley]

I work at two locations. One is a mile away ,the other 8 miles. I always go by bike. My company even bought me a new bycicle.

My collegues who live further away usually commute by train. You get some car expenses paid, but unless you have an extremely efficent car, which doesn't need maintenance, it works out at a loss.

The big advantage of commuting by train for them is that you can deduct your traveling time from your working hours. Employers who spend a lot of time in the train can get a laptop and are supposed to work in the train.

[Plantagenet]

Jimmy Buffet is pretty rich, but he isn't the second richest man on earth.

He is distantly related to the other very rich Buffett....

[gwmss15]

that's amazing that there is no fully double track rail line from coast to coast in the USA. for a country with 300 million people i would have expected most intercity rail lines to be double track look at the east and west coast lines mostly single line i bet with chronic track congestion.

In Australia some rail route have 3 or 4 lines just to cope with the demand. but we have alot of single line but there are very long distances between stations and only 22 million people in Australia.

but all the major cities are linked by rail some with 3 or 4 trips a day.

Who pays for the construction of railways in the USA?

State governments or National government. In Australia its mostly state governments

Does the USA suffer from break of gauge?

i.e. one state system having standard gauge and the other meter gauge. thus preventing through travel for both passenger and freight.

This is a Huge problem in Australia but rail still well used for example a train from Sydney cannot travel to any ware north of Brisbane due to the width of the rail track being 435 millimetres closer together in Queensland.

What is the average line speed and track condition in the USA on long distance routes?

In Australia it is 120 kph (70 mph) on long distance except in south west Western Australia and Queensland where it is up to 200 kph (120 mph).

Does the voting public make a big issue of mass transit and rail freight in the USA?

Mass transit is a headline creating issue in both rural and urban Australia. State Governments can win an election on this issue.

Just for peoples interest if they cannot picture the Australian rail network hear is a very good interactive map.

http://www.railpage.org.au/railmaps

To get a more detailed map click on one of the 7 states of Australia

[Newsseeker]

I am a college student and I take the bus. It's a good 3/4 of a mile walk there and then a little wait. All-in-all not a bad ride for a dollar twenty five and I get a little exercise as well. I must be honest and say that where I live public transportation is not developed. When I lived in China they had buses going every which way but here you have to be very lucky to live near a bus stop. Such is life. Once PO hits hopefully this will change.

[emersonbiggins]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('gwmss15', 'W')ho pays for the construction of railways in the USA?

[gwmss15]

having a uniform rail gauge should increase freight volumes as no break of gauge transfers are needed.

So the USA railways are 100% private this is where the problem lies they don't have the money to expanded there network or double track and electrify the railways. This where the National or State govts step in and this is where the voters bring up the issue at election time with the media's help.

Australian railways are a mix of private and govt owned the ROW is govt owned.

[emersonbiggins]

Texas passed a resolution last year that will fund the relocation of freight lines out of urban areas, so that the track ROW can be used for passenger/commuter railways. It's all part of the Trans-Texas Corridor mess, and that's being hit pretty hard right now in the Senate. Inevitably, it will be better to get the freight (most is NAFTA anyways) out of cities on double-track ROWs, and might negate building new toll road lanes for freight, which is the plan right now.

[PrairieMule]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('emersonbiggins', 'T')exas passed a resolution last year that will fund the relocation of freight lines out of urban areas, so that the track ROW can be used for passenger/commuter railways. It's all part of the Trans-Texas Corridor mess, and that's being hit pretty hard right now in the Senate. Inevitably, it will be better to get the freight (most is NAFTA anyways) out of cities on double-track ROWs, and might negate building new toll road lanes for freight, which is the plan right now.

[Kingcoal]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('gwmss15', 'h')aving a uniform rail gauge should increase freight volumes as no break of gauge transfers are needed.

So the USA railways are 100% private this is where the problem lies they don't have the money to expanded there network or double track and electrify the railways. This where the National or State govts step in and this is where the voters bring up the issue at election time with the media's help.

Australian railways are a mix of private and govt owned the ROW is govt owned.

[Twilight]

One British cat commutes 1.5 miles daily... in an SUV.

Good for a laugh.

BBC Linkage

[kadoomsoon]

Cat has the woman well trained.

[TheDude]

In a jet. Like the song says, Eat the Rich.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'S')ACRAMENTO -- -- Like many of the Californians he represents, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger now spends more than three hours commuting because he lives so far from the office.

But his ride is a private jet.

After flirting briefly with buying a Sacramento abode for his family, then living alone for a while in a 2,000-square-foot hotel penthouse across from the Capitol, the governor has decided to stay nearly every night at his Brentwood mansion.

The commute costs hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, which aides say the governor pays for himself. Some environmentalists say the trips expand his carbon footprint enough to undermine his image as a crusader against global warming, despite the pollution credits he buys to offset the damage.

[seldom_seen]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'S')ome environmentalists say the trips expand his carbon footprint enough to undermine his image as a crusader against global warming, despite the pollution credits he buys to offset the damage.

[Starvid]

And how far from your job do live?

I have about 2,5 km to where I work (or really study) which takes about 12 minutes on the bike, though it includes a damn steep hill at the end.

About three or four times a week I work (yeah, study there too) at another place further away which takes 20-25 minutes to reach by bike so it is around 5 km as the bird flies.

What about you guys?

[davep]

10 hours per weekend. 1100km round trip. During the week, it's only about 7km to the office. It's killing me...