CNBC Explores: America’s Railroads | CNBC Marathon

CNBC Marathon explores the freight and passenger railroads in America.
The United States lags behind the rest of the world when it comes to passenger trains but when it comes to the freight railroad the U.S. is dominating. The U.S. freight rail network operates over 140,000 miles of privately-owned track in every state except Hawaii, according to the Association of American Railroads. It moves one-third of all U.S. exports and roughly 40% of long distance freight volume. Correction (February 3, 2022): Craig Fuller incorrectly states Amtrak is for-profit but Amtrak is not a for-profit corporation.
Taking a train in the U.S. is often more expensive than flying and more expensive than intercity train systems in other developed countries, which often have even faster trains and better service. But Amtrak, the federally funded company that runs many of America’s passenger trains, has never made money. In fact, the company has a $42 billion repair backlog and in 2021 wasn’t even able to cover half of its expenses from ticket revenue. That business comes mostly from the populous Northeast Corridor, where tickets are quite pricey. Ridership is slowly recovering from an all-time low due to the pandemic, and now Amtrak wants to expand service in a major 15-year plan, with $66 billion in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The U.S. has no high-speed trains, besides a few small sections of Amtrak’s Acela line in the Northeast Corridor. China has more than 19,000 miles of high-speed rail, the vast majority of which was built in the past decade. Japan’s bullet trains date back to the 1960s. France began service of the high-speed TGV train in 1981 and the rest of Europe quickly followed.
Watch the video to see why the U.S. continues to fail with high-speed trains, and the companies that are trying to fix that.
Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
00:39 - How freight trains became so successful in the U.S. (Published Feb. 2022)
15:30 - Why train tickets cost so much in America (Published Nov. 2022)
35:39 - Why the U.S. has failed with high-speed rail (Published May 2019)
» Subscribe to CNBC: cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBC
» Subscribe to CNBC TV: cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBCtelevision
About CNBC: From 'Wall Street' to 'Main Street' to award winning original documentaries and Reality TV series, CNBC has you covered. Experience special sneak peeks of your favorite shows, exclusive video and more.
Connect with CNBC News Online
Get the latest news: www.cnbc.com/
Follow CNBC on LinkedIn: cnb.cx/LinkedInCNBC
Follow CNBC News on Facebook: cnb.cx/LikeCNBC
Follow CNBC News on Twitter: cnb.cx/FollowCNBC
Follow CNBC News on Instagram: cnb.cx/InstagramCNBC
#CNBC
CNBC Explores: America’s Railroads | CNBC Marathon

[@weirdfish1216]

PASSENGER RAIL IS A PUBLIC SERVICE AND DOES NOT HAVE TO BE PROFITABLE. WE’VE SPENT TRILLIONS ON INTERSTATE HIGHWAYS THAT MAKE ZERO CENTS AND ARE MUCH LESS EFFICIENT.

[@eriklakeland3857]

Yeah the inconsistent profitability standard is annoying.

[@financialconnectioninc]

Less efficient is not necessarily true. It will be faster and cheaper to drive between Ft. Lauderdale and Orlando than to take the upcoming Brightline train. Add a few passengers in your car and the economics really goes in favor of driving. And that will include the car paying tolls on the FL Turnpike - mitigating the road subsidy. Compared to driving, passenger rail only makes sense in congested areas where traffic moves very slowly, parking is at a premium, and density supports local public transportation at your destination.

[@weirdfish1216]

@@financialconnectioninc 1. it’s only faster to drive medium distance in a car because we’re behind every other developed country when it comes to passenger rail. 2. even if you drive with a full car (which like 99% of cars are not full), a car is still probably not as efficient as a full train. 3. i’m not talking about toll roads (although i’m pretty sure those aren’t profitable either). i’m talking about the thousands of miles of free interstate roads that are entirely subsidized by the federal government in the trillions of dollars. 4. we HAD that density around passenger rail stations up until WWII when car-centric infrastructure came in and bulldozed all of it.

[@AnirbanDas21989]

that's so true

[@ssaha7347]

Spending trillions on highways are still ok. What about the $2 trillion spend on nothing in Afghanistan?

[@charlesrowlet7830]

People who complain the loudest about any expansion or investment in passenger rail in the U.S. are usually those who have never ridden a train - anywhere in the world. If they ever have, they would be embarrassed for the "greatest country on earth".

[@Clen-10]

This

[@giovannidibravato5576]

Whats really embarrassing is a train from Boston to DC takes 7 hours- its too bad they cant have a faster more efficient train service

[@MrDisgruntledGamer1]

absofuckinglutely

[@maroon9273]

​​@@giovannidibravato5576Seperate high speed rail lines.

[@The_king567]

That’s a good thing the most common former transportation in the world is not trains its cars read a book

[@HTV-2_Hypersonic_Glide_Vehicle]

In the 1980s Texas proposed a high-speed rail system from Dallas to Houston which would not be expensive, and would allow for future development of city around the train stations. Unfortunately though, Southwest airlines threatened and lied about the project. The project didn't happen. I think the state of Texas would have been a lot better if that project would have happened.

[@landocalrisian2014]

Damn!! That would have been great.

[@ABCDEFGHIJK4097]

Okay, great idea. But how do you get around in those cities without a car if you take the train? You can't.

[@HTV-2_Hypersonic_Glide_Vehicle]

@@ABCDEFGHIJK4097 It's called construction. If you build ways to do things like you said, to get from one place to another without a car, then construct it. That is how roads were built, it's how other modes of transportation can be built too.

[@ABCDEFGHIJK4097]

@@HTV-2_Hypersonic_Glide_Vehicle And? This was never part of the planning and still isn't. Especially Houston or Texas. There is no way to get around in either city without a car. If you need to rent a car after arrival, then you might as well take a car in the first place instead of the train. It's the same in CA. You are screwed without a car in LA or any other city. And there are no plans to improve any public trans in the cities. I mean, it's not like they will build a train in Texas anyway, but they are in California.

[@HTV-2_Hypersonic_Glide_Vehicle]

@@ABCDEFGHIJK4097 It doesn't have to be part of the planning in the past. Sooner or later if it ever does get built, it will have to be planned in order to function efficiently. Many other cities have done it. I don't see why Houston can't do it.

[@thegoldstandard55]

In the 1800s we had the best rail system in the world. In 2023 we still largely use that same rail system that would be now rated on par with what they have in Africa and South America for derailments, speed and utility.

[@elainelindsey1306]

South africa has 5 star luxury trains. They really lovely if you want to explore and see the beauty of the country. We also have MetroBlitz and gautrain which are high speed trains

[@mariacheebandidos7183]

planes, cars and enough space = no need for passenger trains

[@NazriB]

Lies again? Harvard Barcelona Orlando Ezlink Card

[@allentoyokawa9068]

No one cares, we are the best at everything else

[@Racko.]

Stop lying to people, the rail system is still the largest in the world operated by freight, however the passenger one is either a hit or miss in most intercity regions

[@HTV-2_Hypersonic_Glide_Vehicle]

Remember to all those that say that people that want trains are anti-car, we aren't, we are pro multiple options for choosing what mode of transportation you want.

[@lizhoward9754]

Exactly!!!

[@bimayuwono2059]

They never ride train like japan or china I think they cant relate that For me train have better service than plane or bus

[@angelestorres6334]

Then YA'LL fork up the 💲 for it's infrastructure. Until then, enjoy your month-long train trips cross-country on our centuries old network

[@TheManunderwater]

Re. Passenger train use, as well as Japan. China, add virtually all European countries and there are now high speed lines in some African in process.

[@notstarboard]

I am definitely anti-car lol. Cars have a place where other means of transportation aren't feasible, but they are pure poison; they're environmentally destructive (yes, even electric cars), sprawl inducing, dangerous (for drivers, pedestrians, and people who breathe air), expensive (to own, and in terms of reduced tax efficiency + high associated infrastructure costs), loud (yes, even electric cars), etc. We're in a tough spot now with how many US cities have been designed around the car, but there's no reason to keep digging the hole. Transit is the future.

[@Koopzilla24]

Our freight rail system is only the "largest' and "most profitable" because the freight rail regional monopolies let tracks sit and rot to remain "active" while only capable of supporting very occasional incredibly slow usage. They run dangerously long trains with minimal crew members, typically only 2, in order to maximize profits for the CEOs whilst overworking employees and regularly violating federal passenger train ROW laws. The "efficiency" itself is only in terms of how much goods are moved at once. Everything moves slow and is rarely on time or on schedule. BNSF for example has the worst on time performance of the Class I railroads with not a single freight movement category having being on time above 69%. That's with "on-time" being within 24 hours of schedule.

[@mynameismud08]

Thank you! Glad someone said it. The rails should be Federalized again, and freight companies should pay Amtrak to use them. And Amtrak should not be considered a "for-profit" organization. Nobody claims the military loses billions yearly because it is a service, not a company! These are the true reasons other developed nations do rail better than us because we're totally doing it wrong!

[@ansont4787]

Well whether that’s the case or not the fact that it’s the most profitable and the fact that it has demand indicates it’s doing something right to move massive amounts of good and maintain competitiveness with trucks. Efficiency is efficiency and luxuries like new tracks unless absolutely necessary might be overly expensive and possibly the difference between profitability and not

[@gregorio3292]

Autónomos truck will never work !!!!! Because you will have to build truck road Because the real problem is the road and also Autónomos you have to Drive the truck before try to make law or change or build Because you will never know what going on

[@ThatOneDudeSaid]

You’re wrong about one thing. There is two people on an locomotive at all times. A conductor and an engineer. They have tried/talked with making it only one tho. Not successful as of yet

[@Koopzilla24]

@@ansont4787 It is not competitive with trucks. The freight railroads purposely abandoned competing with trucks to ensure their profit margins. BNSF earned 23 billion dollars in revenue in 2021. A mere fraction of that would be required to fix crumbling infrastructure and pay for employee leave time. The "efficiency" is that they operate as long trains as possible with as few engineers and locomotives as possible, rather than moving things as swiftly and coordinated as possible. The majority of a long distance freight haul is spent sitting in intermodal yards sorting the incredibly long and jumbled train. That is not efficient and why they primarily do not deal with time-sensitive goods.

[@danieldipalma704]

Fast high Speed rail is what we need!

[@nopenone9399]

Insurance will never allow high speed. This country loves to sue so it won't ever be fast.

[@EnjoyFirefighting]

is there slow high speed?

[@danieldipalma704]

@@EnjoyFirefighting yes, there's the one in Florida...

[@EnjoyFirefighting]

@@danieldipalma704 it's not high speed; It's only higher speed, and it has level crossings on the line; No high speed line has (or should have) level crossings

[@bimayuwono2059]

Lol airplane and car company will destroy train company 😂 Us transportation rule by them No wonder it look torture for long distance travel They dont have better option In my country we have bus,train,highway,plane For to another island we just have 2 , airline and sealine The defferent beetween them is time to travel With sealine travel to another island it could 3 days to a week depend how far the distance

[@DejaunWright]

The US, instead of continuing to try to compete, should just buy out some of these railroads. I fail to understand why there is a need for there to even be private rail in the US. Train travel for moving people, products, shipping, etc is so much more efficient. The US should buy out stock in these railroads to get some more control rather than throwing it's money at new projects likes its been doing.

[@lizhoward9754]

Amtrak only owns 3 percent of the tracks?!? That is ridiculous. Well. Maybe Amtrak would make a profit if they had all the supports and subsidies of the airlines and highway interstates. I have no idea how much the states and Federal Government spend on building and maintaining roads, but I have a sneaky feeling if we spent 1/2 that amount on rail, you would see a 180 on rail. Flying is awful with uncomfortable seats, undependable schedules and delays, long security lines, etc. Wouldn’t it be nice to travel by high speed rail instead of flying?

[@tyupk7350]

Amtrak is a goverment subsidy…no need for subsidies if your budget somes from the government.

[@viceroybolt3518]

The biggest problem with the US's passenger rail network is, we don't have one. We have passenger cars we can throw on freight trains. The solution to passenger rail isn't to do *anything* to the existing network, it's to aggressively build the one we need, eating up places we used to use for interstate highway expansion. If we can build a highway on it, we can build high speed rail on it.

[@congruous22]

Freight railroad executive says, "The system works." Hahaha! Works for him!

[@jrebytes6669]

It is their system after all.

[@congruous22]

@@jrebytes6669 Created primarily by land grants from the federal government and still subject to law requiring Amtrak to have priority.

[@Vivek-zw3ex]

We saw this "world leading" freight rail network in the Palestine, Ohio disaster recently. Of course, the freight rail industry is the most profitable of any in the world. It's easy to be profitable if you stop spending money on safety, maintenance, and pay.

[@jrebytes6669]

East Palestine didn't have anything to do with rail infrastructure. It was a bearing failure.

[@captainkeyboard1007]

I believe that long distance truck driving is not expeditious and is more dangerous than operating freight trains. The train is more reliable, dependable, and does not have sporadic breakdowns as motoring rubber tires on the asphalt street. An automated train can outrun an automatic motor vehicle in durability, as well as mileage.

[@jaredpr704]

I like how there was a $99 ticket and he chose the expensive one for the Amtrak price comparison

[@judyostrom8972]

noticed the same...not a fair representation!!

[@angelestorres6334]

Still trash, only a masochist would travel by train in the US and the rare exceptions (lines) usually don't take you very far.

[@asiancuteness8517]

Have you ever tried to book a train trip?

[@johntathers8276]

@@asiancuteness8517 I have. For New York to DC you can book for about $35 each way if you buy in advance. So, ultimately for $70, it’s a great way to travel.

[@rituwebpro]

@@johntathers8276exactly. Sadly outside the northeast rail is really bad.

[@Puoehlahxiik]

43:08 Japan is not a flat-land... it's as mountainous as California, if not more. When you see Shinkansen routes currently under construction, such as Hokkaido Shinkansen or Chuo Shinkansen, more than 80% of the entire tracks are tunnels.

[@d1234as]

Correct. Japan isn't flat, it's very hilly and mountainous, and it's divided in many Island, so also need of long bridges over straits or submarine tunnels to connect the islands. One of longer (33.5 mi) railway tunnels in the world is in Japan (Seikan tunnel), connecting Honshu and Hokkaido islands under the Tsugaru Strait sea...

[@razm3610]

US has been so much controlled by profit making companies that they cannot do anything for public good....everyone in the decision making is so tied to their stock investments, that they do not see anything outside of that.....And, yes, I like your observation about the flat-land...these so called experts just lie to people all the time SHAMELESSLY. The person who made that "Japan is a flat land comment" is a "Berkley professor"..........It is scary how out of touch these "educated people" can be.

[@ericsheppard9778]

Freight rail companies seem to really like to talk about efficiency and profits but don't say a word about safety. So much can go wrong with a 1 man crew.

[@HTV-2_Hypersonic_Glide_Vehicle]

14:26 ah yes, all hail the great shareholders

[@KSmit490]

I believe the statement made by Craig Fuller at 2:23 is in error. I don't believe Amtrak was ever designed to be a "for-profit railroad." Further, he seems to measure Amtrak's lack of worthiness by in "unprofitability" in all of its years of existence, despite that it never was designed to make money; it was a government bailout, which are hardly ever profitable, for the government, that is. In fact, to measure profitability to most forms of transportation is a troublesome measure of utility. Is I-95 profitable? Maybe a portion in the middle, like in Delaware, can be run for a profit, but what about the part up in northern Maine? Would an airline be profitable if they had to pay for construction of airports; purchase land, gets permits, build, etc.? Does your local airport make a profit? Would Greyhound be profitable if it had to pay for construction and maintenance of highways? I think it makes more sense to measure a railroads worthiness by its passengers numbers and operation efficiency.

[@theultimatehopia149]

Trains are so beneficial.

[@kushclarkkent6669]

so fascinating too.

[@The_king567]

Not to anyone

[@The_king567]

@@kushclarkkent6669not really

[@SIGINT007]

PSR is nothing more than a tool to help the stockholders. A two mile long train should not have autonomous operation, nor should they have single person crews.

[@JustAGamerA]

This whole video reeks of corporate boot licking, and general poor understanding of how railroads actually work on the ground level. Treating parrallel systems like an actual reasonable idea alone discredits the rest of the piece

[@coreyhipps7483]

Something that amuses me is that Brightline in FL recently announced it is already turning a profit in FL with only the three stations. It's amazing what happens with a shared passenger / freight corridor when scheduling is done so that one is not constantly running at the expense of the other. Also... fun fact, most intercity trains in Europe share tracks with passenger rail (this is not the case for the LGV lines in France and some of the dedicated high speed line in other countries). In Japan a lot of intercity and commuting rail is also shared between freight and passenger rail (again, dedicated high speed corridors are separate). It's not an issue that freight and passenger rail share a right of way per se. It's that they are just all given equal priority in terms of scheduling and the systems are built in such a way to be run on precise time tables (something that anyone who has seen the actual impacts of "precision scheduled railroading" combined with the removal of double tracks and not having long enough passing sidings, etc. will agree does not work). The US could be a lot better than it is, even without building out a ton of new infrastructure in some places. And yes, we should build some dedicated high speed corridors as well.

[@AllenGraetz]

Brightline announce a small section had an operating profit. It will be quite some time before they're Miami-Orlando line is profitable, if ever.

[@coreyhipps7483]

@@AllenGraetz my understanding is that they were expecting the Miami to Orlando section to be the profitable one and that they were surprised that Miami to West Palm Beach was already profitable.

[@nominatorchris5591]

In a way the privatized system is the reason it's the most profitable. If it was nationalize the government would forego profit in exchange for more service, and better worker conditions. Vs a company would try and squeeze every last drop out of the worker.

[@ianhomerpura8937]

what is wrong with foregoing profit though, as if everything depend on it?

[@AL5520]

@@ianhomerpura8937 The way it works in Europe now is more like with highways or air travel. Highways are owned built and maintained by the government (Federal, state and local) and anyone can use them to get anywhere and it's the same with airport and air traffic control - in both cases private users (including companies) can use if for free or for a fee (air travel, of course, is more controlled but still open) and in Europe railroads work the same way. In the past rail infrastructure and trains were built and maintained by the national rail company but now a separate government company (in some countries completely separated and on other a separate division of the rail company) is responsible for it, just like it does with road and air infrastructure. The national company, and other operators, can use this infrastructure to operate passengers trains (freight should follow soon) for a usage fee so you can have multiple operators on the same routs that only handle their rolling stock and operations while rail infrastructure is handled by the state. That's exactly what you need to do in the US. Now, freight operators own their own tracks and are less willing to allow others to use them thus creating a monopoly in their area so no wonder they earn billions each year.

[@devilsatan2973]

@@ianhomerpura8937 You going to work for FREE? Nothing wrong with making $$!

[@landocalrisian2014]

How sad that the US is SO far behind in modern rapid rail transit smh.

[@rituwebpro]

dumb politicians.

[@The_king567]

Lmao no way you said that what’s the most common form of transportation in the world it’s not trains it’s cars

[@lecho0175]

Why do they refuse to electrify their tracks?

[@JitzyJT]

diesel mafia

[@dessnom4333]

lack of incentives, imo if a privately owned track is electrified it should pay way less tax then non electified track

[@jrebytes6669]

Why do something that we've already done and found out that their are better options?

[@Anita.Cox.]

We need to nationalize the rail industry, there are nearly no electrified lines on the USA while making billions. The ussr was able to fully electrify their trans siberian railway and china whos the same size as the lower 48 has an extensive hsr network.

[@Brazillianboi69]

We need high speed rail.

[@adarshvarma3524]

I swear a high speed rail system is set to come in California

[@captainkeyboard1007]

For long distance rides, riding Amtrak is more economical, safer and reliable than flying by airplane.

[@plasmaboy2265]

And it’s safer than cars

[@captainkeyboard1007]

@@plasmaboy2265 I know that the railroad is safer than the asphalt road. That is why I want the days of the good-old train to return today. Thank you for typing to me.

[@plasmaboy2265]

@@captainkeyboard1007 same here

[@captainkeyboard1007]

@@plasmaboy2265 👌

[@captainkeyboard1007]

Restore the old-fashioned days of the good-old days of the American railroad, and do it now! America needs to get back into "training."

[@The_king567]

No we don’t

[@captainkeyboard1007]

@@The_king567 Thank you for typing.

[@razm3610]

@@The_king567 We need high speed train.

[@The_king567]

@@razm3610 no we definitely don’t

[@razm3610]

@@The_king567 We do....:)

[@juanmontull8550]

43:06 Excuse me sir but Spain is europe's second most mountainous country and we built years ago high-speed rail lines on tunneling boring machines. That you can't make it is just another excuse.

[@dessnom4333]

and japanese shinkansen lines require alot of tunneling and viaducts

[@youtubesucks8024]

America “first in last” 🤘🏼

[@mdaaaa1211]

Wow... can this reporting be anymore one-sided. This is nothing but a propaganda job for the big rail company's. All this after the disaster that just happened in east Palestine. 😳 Basically they don't want to be regulated, they shouldn't have to spend money on safety, they shouldn't have to pay their workers...and the system is just fine as it is because they are benefiting.

[@Magicus1]

Well, they gotta pay the bills, so… lol!

[@dc2guy2]

I had to scroll way to far to find this comment lol

[@jaredpr704]

Yeah seriously this was super annoying, deregulation this, efficiencies that, this makes it seem like all the monopolistic profitable freight rail are the good guys and the big bad slow expensive government Amtrak is the problem. Ridiculous

[@kidShibuya]

42:55 the flat lands of Japan... lol. If those are not kilometers of mountains above all the tunnels the shinkansen goes though then what are they Mr Mustache?

[@fanassy9109]

It's even more ironic him saying that considering Japan is Pretty much just mountains and it's one of the countries more prone to natural disasters.

[@baklava6138]

I took the high speed trains in Italy- average speed 180 mph. Under $100 round trip to most cities in Italy.

[@awalehirsi1670]

China 600 mph is the norm😂😂😂

[@fermatachambersoloists]

@@awalehirsi1670 no. There is no train on earth that reaches those speeds. Either you are mixing up mph and kph or you are grossly misinformed. The current fastest revenue service “train” is the Shanghai maglev which achieves just under 280mph

[@joenuts5167]

@@awalehirsi1670 600 kmh

[@jojopuppyfish]

I flew into Venice and after 3 days took the train to FLorence and then Rome. The train was 180mph and it was awesome. They are way ahead of USA

[@triplediff]

Why do they keep making excuses? As if Japan and Europe don't impose equally or more tough standards. Why is cost per mile so much higher here when the result is worse?

[@MrTaloul]

because America is run by liars and thieves.....

[@12KevinPower]

Eminent Domain Procedure, Lawyer Legal Fees for the Residents, Exporting Tasks to Government Contractors, and Needing to pay Bureaucrats $$$.

[@Stetrain]

Because the US system subsidizes costs and privatizes gains. The government is left with the scraps of the passenger rail system that are unprofitable, while freight railroad shareholders make billions in record profits, on railroad land that was given to them for free.

[@mariacheebandidos7183]

simple, American don't want / need passenger trains. not enough Americans want to travel by train to make it profitable.

[@gnomechump-stiny7128]

China Japan nd Europe are incredible dense. Lawsuit that stops equipment for making money because they're just left there untill project starts again.

[@chihchang1139]

here's a thought...how about just don't cut the jobs. Being more efficient means you can carry higher capacity. Find more business. Your engineers have done a fantastic job to innovate and optimize your rail network. Don't punish the workers for doing a good job. It's now your turn, businessmen and management and sales, to find more business. It's your job.

[@craigfox1572]

Insane and biased that CNBC didn’t even mention the safety concerns of the unions.

[@HardRockMaster7577]

Very Interesting that NO mention of safety was made.

[@JustAGamerA]

​@@HardRockMaster7577 because that wouldnt fit the narrative our corporate overlords want pushed, when they can run trains with only 1 person crews or no crew at all, they make more money, and share prices go up. Only things they care about.

[@rakeshkrishnan1099]

I think the US freight rail network will be behind the Indian rail network in a decade because India's dedicated freight corridor will be completely electric and more powerful electric locomotives will haul double stack containers that are the same length as US freight trains.

[@juanmontull8550]

16:11 I suppose he is referring to the Western Hemisphere of America, because in Europe we have much faster trains than the Acela, for example in Spain we have a top speed of 310 Km/h (Around 193 miles per hour) in High-Speed lines.

[@masr8875]

Here in the Netherlands, many argue that cars are more cost-effective, because the public transport system relies on subsidies whereas car owners are a net source of tax income. This hides a fundamental fact: 60% of urban areas in NL is devoted to car infrastructure (roads, parking facilities, bridges...). Somehow we (intentionally?) forget the implicit cost of losing this huge amount of (very costly) land to cars. Imagine we could've sold/lent all that land to property developers... might actually fix both our transportation problems and the housing crisis at the same time.

[@Tygearianus]

Yes two drivers per train seems fair. It's a massive responsibility, so many people want to get rich but don't want to do the job properly...

[@stevenikitas8170]

It is stunning how few Americans know about this amazing freight rail system. This is a result of endless media propaganda that has most Americans believing that the only important railroad is Amtrak and that it is an afterthought in the US rail system that simply needs more taxpayer money to improve. Notice how 2/3 of this video is devoted to passenger rail (Amtrak). This is absurd.

[@spider6660]

CNBC, change your description. China has more than 40000 km of high-speed railtrack and you say that's just 19000?

[@Tanmayl11]

They said 19000+ miles not kilometres

[@HTV-2_Hypersonic_Glide_Vehicle]

Spider 6660 I really hope that you delete this comment.

[@judyostrom8972]

Traveling by Amtrak for me is about the adventure and the sights. Flying is about getting there fast while packed in a sardine can with no customer service, not to mention you are treated like a criminal while getting to plane. I have done all the flying travel I ever want to do. I had the best vacation ever last year when I took Amtrak...a relaxing adventure!!! I hope Amtrak gets the funding to continue to improve.

[@X_1muslim]

I hope people support USA HIGH SPEED rail ✌

[@The_king567]

We won’t

[@jamesallen8418]

First step toward high speed passenger rail service is dedicated tracks that have no conflicts with auto crossings. Sounds straight forward, now look at CA high speed rail.

[@TheMrgoodmanners]

did he just say the flatlands of japan?

[@AnirbanDas21989]

Not having enough money for tunneling and building bridges is not the problem. Other countries have mountains too..look at South Korea. They had to dig a lot of tunnels too, and it took a lot of time. But they did it. It's all about whether the government wants it or not.

[@sketchyAnalogies]

Amtrak not receiving the required priority was mentioned. A big reason for this is the precision Scheduled Railroading that was also mentioned. Why? Freight trains are sometimes if not often longer than sidings. When a short Amtrak train meets a freight train going the opposite direction, often the freight train cannot fit in a siding for a single tracked main line, therefore forcing Amtrak to get over and hold, increasing delays.

[@kentanoue3288]

I have lived in both cities. The biggest difference is whether there's mutual running into other company's railroad system or not. As for NY, passengers have to transfer from commuter train to subway at Grand Central Terminal or Penn Sta. On the other hand for ex, Kanagawa prefecture citizens on Odakyu company train can pass through Tokyo metro subway and ride in former National Railroad of Chiba prefecture all the way without transfer. It's like Westchester citizens can go to NJ through Manhattan without transfer. This efficiency is supporting 36 million people working in greater Tokyo area.

[@adriandunne4382]

Europe has an extensive system of rivers and ship canals for carrying bulk freight as well as many seaports on the Atlantic, Baltic, Black Sea and Mediterranean coasts which can be used for sea transport which are used for both bulk and intermodal containers. There are railroad breaks of gauge at the Finnish, Lithuanian, Belarussian, Ukrainian and Moldovan borders in the East and the Spanish border in the South which impede bulk transport, but create far less problems with intermodal containers; hence sea transport is used for bulk goods where possible.

[@ChiefLightsOut]

Problem is that we need shorter faster nonstop routes instead of city to city. Like town to town trams turning 15 and 30 min car ride to a nonstop train and takes 5to 10

[@ChiefLightsOut]

Like China

[@matty6878]

i've been to japan and was amazed at not only how quick we were getting to major destinations but almost a dozen stops along the way. but then again they were QUICK about it. you were either on time when it arrived or not. that wasnt even much of an issue though since they had trains in 15-20mins intervals. now that's service!

[@maroon9273]

And connecting those tram lines to commuter and rapid rail transits. We need more commuter and rapid bus and water transit lines as well.

[@tuktuk6090]

ain’t no way that they’re glossing over the issues with PSR 😭

[@Oinnk]

Care to explain? I’m curious.

[@JustAGamerA]

​@@Oinnk the railroads build super long trains to save money by running less trains, but making them bigger. A single example of an issue: your train has something happen, and you have an emergency brake application, could be a airhose that popped loose, or a 20 car derailment, you dont know which until the conductor walks the entire length of the train by themselves which can easily take at least an hour.

[@nexusoflife]

The United States desperately needs High Speed Rail. Corridors need to connect cities like Seattle and Portland, Atlanta and Charlotte, Huston, Austin and Dallas and so on.

[@The_king567]

No, we definitely don’t need it. It’s a waste of money and time.

[@nexusoflife]

@@The_king567 sounds like you have never experienced high speed rail and you aren't very educated on the subject.

[@The_king567]

@@nexusoflife that’s a good thing and I never will

[@nexusoflife]

@@The_king567 so strange. You think willful ignorance is good?

[@garystewart3110]

Imagine if Johnson trucking owned the Highway system. The tracks need to be federalized.

[@jrebytes6669]

You can't just federalize things that you don't like.

[@garystewart3110]

@@jrebytes6669 that's why we have a crap rail system

[@The_king567]

No they definitely don’t The government should not be in control of anything.

[@darthmaul216]

@@The_king567so you want Jonson to own the interstate system?

[@The_king567]

@@darthmaul216 yes

[@marcbilodeau6927]

Took the TGV 2 years ago from Paris to Aix-en-Provence, 3h15 from noth of France to the south part, 300 kmh most of the time, why loosing your time taking a plane

[@tyupk7350]

The price of train tickets & travel time are both more expensive and longer than just flying. Unless you use it to travel ~1 hr for work it doesnt make much sense to take trains.

[@nxt_tim]

One more thing to note is that because of the privatized infrastructure there are almost no electrified tracks in the US which defeats the entire purpose of trains being sustainable alternatives. If the diesel trains are running with low passengers it might even be better to just have cars... 😕 Saying this as a rail fan

[@lucasquintanilla1673]

I think that it’s probably still better because while there are a lot of diesel locomotives, they are probably a lot less of them compared to automobiles, so that’s probably why it’s less than cars. That being said that’s still isn’t that good for omissions, and considering that railways seem not to want to electrify, it would probably take the arrival of hydrogen locomotives to decrease that

[@Hepsewind]

@@lucasquintanilla1673 Even when stuff is electrified you have stuff like Chicago commuter trains running diesel on compleely electrified tracks.

[@tmcb_]

The Brightline naming deal with Virgin ended in April, 2020. Pretty big miss for a video released just a month or so ago.

[@Geotpf]

This is a combination of three old segments of video. The one in question was filmed in 2019.

[@gablepatterson647]

I noticed that too. A lot has changed since then.

[@deannaspencer8988]

All Stores Please Lower the price of all Military and Local for all Brands of Train Products and Accessories and Production Cost Now That's too much $$ The Whole World Now 🙏🙏🙏

[@WideWorldofTrains]

I am at the halfway point between New York and Chicago on the CSX line

[@fabioserralheiriaemgeral3678]

Muito bom

[@mmanisr22]

This story is a joke. you talk about run down equipment but at the same time show a new Sprinter and an f40 that haven't been used in years. You talk about how expensive tickets are but you try to book tickets the day of (which everyone knows is a no no) then you try to book tickets on one of the highest demand weeks of the year. Next time fact check

[@youngchu1638]

It's sad that major media doesn't show/report what exist and possible. Right now, there is a structure called "Maglev (Magnetic Levitation)" (came to life in 1933) in Germany, China, and Japan but nobody pays attention (maybe due to lobbying). Japan achieved highest speed so far with Super Conducting Maglev with 603 km/hr or 375 mph. And guess what, it doesn't require energy and it doesn't require physical driver. It's time to build new transportation infrastructure with maglev rather than fight and deal with freight railroads and keep losing money and time.

[@dickritchie2596]

Glad I kept my position in NSC.

[@sunnym.4077]

If they want Amtrac profitable then it needs to go 100mph minimum, the tickets 50-100$ and the influx of people will allow you to readjust accordingly.

[@Ry_TSG]

Amtrak shouldn't need to be profitable, it should just be a good option which provides essential transportation to communities that don't have anything else and serves as an alternative to driving and flying

[@The_king567]

No trains are not profitable

[@The_king567]

@@Ry_TSGnope if the government owns it, it should be profitable. That’s how that works.

[@Ry_TSG]

@@The_king567 Why? Who said that? Was it written on a stone tablet on Mt. Sinai? The point of government owned services should be to provide a service. If it can be made profitable, that's great. But the government operating a service that is expensive and low quality just to turn a profit defeats the point of that service even existing in the first place, especially when there are massive benefits to running a high quality yet unprofitable service.

[@The_king567]

@@Ry_TSG the whole point of services is to make a profit

[@vaiyaktikasolarbeam1906]

36:10 dont forget italy

[@FrozenzFirez]

Its impossible to build a public transport system without tax payers money. Cars need high ways. Planes need airports. All public transport needs some form of funding from the public before it can work. This is a given.

[@Igel_und_Maulwurf]

Ihr habt schon geile Loks....Grüße von Deutschand....🙂

[@mr5t3v3n]

Taxpayers pay for the interstate system, why not the rail-bed and stations? Use a toll-mileage system (e.g. toll highways) and hub-rental fee (e.g. airports) to pass through some of the cost to privatized rail companies (both passenger & rail).

[@Firestorm637]

China high speed rail built in a few decades and many more miles usa rails, 22,000 miles more. USA has Amtrak and no high speed rail. China 93,900 miles highway vs USA 70,000 miles. China was rice paddies 1960’s. Phenomenal growth in 60 years..

[@jrebytes6669]

Pretty easy to build HSR when no one can object to anything.

[@Splenda257]

No one who uses the term "auto dependency" deserve the time of day. Dependency is having your mobility tied to the times and locations served by mass transit. Cars make people independent. It's the very people who grew up dependent on mass transit living in dense cities in the first half of the 20th century who rejected transit dependency by buying cars and moving to the suburbs in the second half of the century. GM might have wanted to replace street cars with buses, but even after transit companies were taken over by public not-for-profit agencies, those agencies continued removing street car lines because they were too expensive and inflexible.

[@darthmaul216]

The term “auto dependency” is used when the only way to get around is by car, aka your mobility is tied to you owning a car, if something were to happen to that car, you would lose your mobility. Do you understand that?

[@Kinglioncrown]

thanks for sharing

[@Newspeak.]

Highways cost a ton of money to build and yet it's almost never a problem throwing money at building more highways but apparently high speed rail is just impossible because of the cost. We can build these sorts of things we just need to have the will to do it.

[@Tanktaco]

Only in a conversation about rail am I considered as part of the younger people group.

[@JesusKathrynMiller]

✝️🔯😇🧄🕊️🐑🤍🎁👽🌍🌎🌏🌠🪐🦅🇺🇸Holy Psalm 91 Jesus and Kathryn Miller say Thankyou for sharing ✝️🤍✝️🤍✝️🍀🍀🍀🦅🇺🇸

[@davidbudka1298]

I am weary of everybody wanting to put people out of work. Some of our social issues are the result of people no longer interacting with one another. Automated check out stands, autonomous trucks, and autonomous trains are examples of how bad things have become.

[@southernpennsyrailfan8579]

No wonder I hate cars.

[@shawnevans26]

Florida is getting back into trains for travelers! I’m excited about it!!!

[@shawnevans26]

Sun rail in Orlando and Brightlines in Florida!!

[@Oinnk]

@@shawnevans26 I’ve heard many good things about bright line. Im in the north east so I only know about Amtrak everywhere

[@shawnevans26]

@@Oinnk yeah they are about 90 percent done with the Miami to Orlando route and then I heard they will be working on the Orlando to Tampa route! I’m looking forward to taking the trip to Miami from Orlando!

[@CreatorPolar]

@@shawnevans26 I’d say it’s closer to 99% done. They just need to do a few more train tests and their good to go

[@shawnevans26]

@@CreatorPolar well that’s even better!! I’m looking forward to getting a ticket to go to Miami!

[@micosstar]

0:35 simple title!

[@Prodigious1One]

Take the bus instead for DC to NYC.

[@alex-mo8hd]

What they don’t say bout the UP is that the SP bought the UP but uses the UP name

[@JohnAranita]

In the '70s, I had an Amtrak electric model train set. : - )

[@qjtvaddict]

Same reason other American countries can’t have HSR

[@brianholloway2358]

Increasing high speed passenger options directly increases the flow of goods in this country. FOR THE POSITIVE. the amount of jobs to change the system is also a major positive. There is absolutely not one detriment to high speed rail.

[@jimphillips2439]

I been a truckers 42 years you the news media keeps saying there is a driver shortage. This is a lie there is not a driver shortage according to ooida

[@davidanalyst671]

42:00 represents california itself, not just the railroad. Too bad there are no adults in the room gavin

[@edgaranaya9290]

i want to work on the railroad.

[@gablepatterson647]

My main response to this is, we're gonna do this! I know its harder to build high-speed rail in the US than other countries that either have a more unified national approach to transit/don't value private property rights (or human rights)/ etc. but this is still going to happen. We deserve a better mode of transportation and we will get it! I also disagree with the doom-and-gloom tone of the experts at the end of the video. When other democratic countries such as Japan and France started building their high-speed rail systems, the voices of the nay-sayers were overwhelming. However, I am quite sure that those very same nay-sayers got over themselves and are now happily traveling at high-speed between Paris and Lyons. Now a couple other notes: Precision Scheduled Railroading is the major cause of Amtrak delays. Freight rains are so long that even thought Amtrak trains should take priority, they have to sit on sidings by default because the freight trains will not fit. As for the two man cab rule, it is a weak argument that freight companies will have to automate and decrease cab usage to compete with trucks as this is far from a 1-to-1 operator/ goods comparison. As mentioned earlier in the video, a single train could carry as much as 200 truck containers. With record profits and a 200-2 goods to operators/ goods ratio, could freight railroads really not spend the extra money for 2 drivers for enhanced safety? Come on. Just pay your people! One hinted at but not expressly stated reason for high Amtrak ticket prices is lack of competition. In Europe, private and public rail companies are allowed to compete with each other in a very complex system that is ultimately good for passengers. Imagine for example that the federal government allowed startup rail companies to travel on the Northeast Corridor. Private rail companies would not be faced with the front-heavy cost of building track, but instead could focus on train and station design. Competition in passenger rail is good for us not only because of the benefits new private rail will bring, but because of the changes that it will force in Amtrak naturally. I see the arrival of Brightline on the American scene and the expansion of Amtrak services/ funding as more than coincidence. It's time for us to reclaim our rail legacy!

[@flynndean]

Lots of nonsense talk here about how great the US railroad is...but the only real measure covered seems to have been profit. Anywhere else in the Common Sense 'Rest of World', Passenger > Freight and as such, safety, maintenance and interoperability is prioritised. Its not about profit, its about utility. Geographically, the US is a great use-case for Passenger Rail...but its addicted to petroleum and its cities and infrastructure is geared toward supporting the car and only the car. A shame.

[@shreyasbhat0506]

Couldn't agree more, the US has the capacity to pump out millions in profit if a sustainable network is built

[@flynndean]

@@shreyasbhat0506 The point is...direct profit shouldn't matter. It's the presumption of profit incentive that is the reason it's a dire mess at the moment.

[@maroon9273]

We need cheaper national rail fares and tickets. More expensive than a round trip plane fare. Also, new rail lines, high speed railing system (both national and commuter rails), and better commuter rail to public transportation stations/connections.

[@brianholmes1812]

Honestly something about the same companies owning the rails and the trains rubs me the wrong way. Maybe it would be better for the market if the tracks were publicly ownes (like highways) and railroad companies could operate nationwide as a result, untethered to a territory. Plus it would allow for more favor to be shown to passenger rail. Heck the contract to use the rail could stipulate rail companies must procide passenger service. I'm just spitballing here so take it with a grain of salt

[@glenjo0]

American railroads are being stripped mined to maximize profit. The railroads are extremely profitable, but haul less freight, have declining coverage, and reduced capability. America needs strong railroads, not maximal profit railroads.

[@JitzyJT]

America needs to bring all railroads under govt control

[@maroon9273]

They need maintenence tax and fines for all rail owners. So those railroads and signage can be strong and efficient.

[@skyscraperfan]

Isn't that embarrassing for such a rich and proud country? If the US really wanted, they could build a world class high speed strain network with two or three decades, but it would need investments of at least $100 billion per year. That does not look impossible in a country that spends more than $800 billion per year on the military. I know that a strong military is important for the US, but a lot of money is wasted there. At least the routes from Los Angeles to San Francisco and from New York City to Chicago should be built as soon as possible. Those will very likely be profitable over time, because air travel will become more and more expensive over time. I was in China a few times and the rail network there is such a convenience. The 190 mile journey from Shanghai to Nanjing takes less than 90 minutes and is cheaper than a taxi ride from JFK Airport to Manhattan. So it is easy to spontaneously visit Nanjing for a few hours. That train feels like flying. Even within the city limits of Shanghai it already reaches more than 200 miles per hour.

[@tedzehnder961]

Unless you build separate track for passenger trains it would be stupid to increase passenger service on existing track.Passengers won`t tolerate sitting on a siding for a few hours while more profitable freight is on a different time schedule.Passengers need much more service and room than freight does.Passengers care what hour of the day they get to where they are going.The overall cost of train travel is not convenient when people don`t live mostly in cities.People don`t want to give up the flexibility of personal travel of their time and choosing.The only way passenger travel makes sense is dedicated long distance travel in the United States is high speed service over long distances and as fast as airplanes. That would be about 200 miles an hour faster than today`s high speed trains. This would lower the price of air travel after the infrastructure was built. The infrastructure would be highly expensive but could recoup the costs over time.

[@darthmaul216]

The north east corridor has freight trains, difference is that the passenger trains take priority

[@Society2day]

Amtrak can turn a profit.

[@jimburris]

Yep, neither autos nor aircraft were a thing in 1832…

[@brianjensen2806]

While I like listening to your videos despite mostly not agreeing with your opinions being a bus driver/truck driver/grow-up-a-greyhound-bus-drivers-son it was nice to hear you listing the positives of transit buses and buses in general. That all said, the buses that are $700,000 are the red arrow prevost h3-45 buses. The standard diesel bus for transit is far cheaper, somewhere in the $250,000-450,000. Also while I don’t agree with the transit manager in Airdrie about some parts of our system, you should come check it out. It is an interesting system which incorporates a on demand system with a regular bus routed system. My personal opinion is that I would guess Airdrie does make a profit, I’ll be it a slim one. That said Alberta transit systems to me and most people I know feels like a complete waste or after thought.

[@ThunderTiger0801]

One of the reasons for the efficiency of cargo rail in the US are the long trains. This is why concepts like hyperloop are complete BS and would be a massive waste of ressources

[@gary6576]

And those extremely long trains is part of why safety is an issue

[@ThunderTiger0801]

@@gary6576 Yes of course. The companies try to milk every penny of profit out of the business. They could easily reduce the length and increase safety but they dont. Generally speaking my point just was that the more freight cars you can pull with a small number of locos the more efficient, cheaper and environmentally friendly you get. Thats why hyperloop etc is complete nonsense with their individual pods. (Same applies to passenger transportation)

[@jrebytes6669]

@@gary6576 Give us some examples of long trains causing safety issues?

[@ef66kenken]

👍👍👍👍

[@brandonmcginnis4610]

PSR doesn't make the RRs more efficient, it's a hit mess.