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0 pointsmschuster915y ago0 comments

> which have priority over passenger trains it seems

Historical reason: the rails were built by freight companies and not by the government like in most of Europe. For them, passenger trains are, at best, an afterthought that doesn't matter.

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fergbrain5y ago

Specifically the freight companies own the lines and prioritize their own freight trains above passenger service.

thu21115y ago

And even more specifically, this means the US moves a lot more stuff by rail freight than in Europe, where the rail freight industry is sickly and dying.

mschuster91OP5y ago

The dimensions seem to be from another world, lol:

> 4730 m – United States — The Kansas City Southern Railway regularly runs between Kansas City, MO and Shreveport, LA

> 3658 m – United States – Trains are limited by air brake capability. electronically controlled pneumatic braked (180 wagons) – AAR Standard S-4200.[15]

Meanwhile, ordinary German trains are limited to 740m (Europe wide/UIC limit: 750m) and single-stack operation because of overhead power lines.

On the other side, the US has a lot of space that can be devoted to something like classification yards - the longer the train, the longer the yards have to be.

flyinghamster5y ago

I would dispute that, based on the amount of freight traffic I see on cab footage from Europe. What has changed is that much of it moves by container or unit train, so a lot of yard trackage is redundant now.

The other thing to note is that the freights are shorter and more frequent, rather than the 200+-car monstrosities we have in the States (made possible by remotely-controlled diesels mid-train or pushing).

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