Quote:
Originally Posted by jg6544
No idea where this was taken, but the "aero-train" was the railroads' attempt to fix their problem without really doing anything more than making cosmetic changes. The problem was people were deserting the rails in droves for their cars and for trucks (for freight). Small wonder considering the money that was being thrown at highways (this was before the Interstate Highway System really got off the ground). So instead of pouring capital into modernized tracks and switching facilities; designated passenger lines, and express and local trackage, the railroads opted for a pretty new train. It went nowhere, so we're stuck with the wreckage that is the rail system in 99% of the country and the fact that we're decades behind Europe, Japan, and China when it comes to rail systems.
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Actually to correct the record, the Aerotrain was designed by GM to utilize their bus bodies. Look closly at the first coach and you can see the resemblance to a bus. They rode rough and the passengers did not like them.
Now as to the decline in rail passenger traffic, it has allway been the business traveler who comprised 80 to 85 percent of the traveling public. When airplanes became faster thats where the business traveler went.
The rail systems in Europe, Japan and China are all nationalized and not paid for out of the fair box, but all maintained by the taxpayer.
Paul C. Koehler