Rail Transport: Retreat and Resurgence

Between 1960 and the mid-1970s, rail transport labored under siege and retreated on virtually all major fronts. Attacks and conquests by road, air, water, and pipeline transport were relentless and significant. After 1970, intercity rail passenger service was snatched from the brink of extinction an...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 1997-09, Vol.553 (1), p.42-54
Main Author: Spychalski, John C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Freight
History
Passenger services
Passengers
Pipeline transportation
Rail freight
Rail industry
Rail lines
Railroad trains
Railroad transportation
Railroads
Railway networks
Railway systems
Railway traffic
Railway transport
Railways
Rapid transit
Subways
Trains
Transport
Transportation
Transportation economics
Transportation industry
Transportation policy
United States
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Summary:Between 1960 and the mid-1970s, rail transport labored under siege and retreated on virtually all major fronts. Attacks and conquests by road, air, water, and pipeline transport were relentless and significant. After 1970, intercity rail passenger service was snatched from the brink of extinction and rehabilitated with government assistance. However, full realization of its latent potential for meeting travel demands and providing broader public benefits has been hampered by weak and inconsistent political will. Intra-urban rail passenger movement has grown at both ends of its technological spectrum: commuter rail, and street railway in the form of light rail. Intercity rail freight service has survived inadequate profitability and major bankruptcies. Aided by changes in regulation, it has proven capable of meeting the tests of the private marketplace. The emerging megamergers of the 1990s pose challenges for customer service and the future course of regulatory policy.
ISSN:0002-7162
1552-3349
DOI:10.1177/0002716297553001004