The End of Commuter Trains? How the One Percent Uses Technology to its Advantage


High speed trains have displaced commuter trains - at least here in Italy on the much travelled Rome-Milano route, and I suspect in all other countries where super fast trainst have been introduced using the existing railways. Now if you build special railroads for your fast trains, there's no problem, it's an additional service for those who can afford it and are looking to save on their travel time - namely big time politicians and managers, in short the one percent.

But, and this is a big BUT, if you force your high speed trains on existing railways, you necessarily cut into the scheduling of  slower local trains, in particular commuter trains. And that affects the rest of us, the 99 percent. I was sharply reminded of this yesterday when I decided to spend the day in Rome with my 98 year-old mother: I took the train from the Chiusi-Chianciano station which is not far from our summer place in the Umbrian countryside, figuring that it would be less tiring than driving into town. In addition, I'd be able to enjoy my Kindle and catch up on my reading. A nice train (yes, that's the picture up here) with good seats and air conditioning. But so slow...It took two hours on a trip that used to last one hour or maybe one hour and ten minutes only a few years ago!

And there was simply NO faster alternative!

Now, some five years ago when I travelled like this - in the halcyon days before the Rome-Milano high speed train service came on - it was possible to find several convenient options of reasonably fast trains that made it to Rome in about one hour. 

No more. 

The fastest train now makes it in one hour and 45 minutes and most of them take two hours. That's a doubling of the travel time! Plus the options are far fewer than before: about four or five trains a day as against a train every hour. 

That makes for a very big difference! I remember I had colleagues who had chosen to live in nice big country houses near Chiusi Chianciano and used to commute into Rome every day, taking about an hour an half, considering the subway ride added at the end of the train trip. A long commute but bearable. I wonder how they manage now with a two and half hour commute!

Thus Italy can proudly say it has a "Ferrari" train service driving a "high-speed rail renaissance". Sounds good, looks good, here it is, the "Red Arrow" (Frecciarossa):

Italiano: Frecciarossa ETR500 a Milano Central...
Italiano: Frecciarossa ETR500 a Milano Centrale, opera propria, 03/05/2009, l'autore sono io, copyright libero (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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Comments

Jack Durish said…
I believe that it's safe to say that every high speed rail project was funded by a government. That is to say, every one of them was planned, designed, built, and operated for the sole purpose of keeping incumbents in office. Not one of them was ever conceived as a profitable business and every passenger mile is subsidized by millions of people who may or may not ride them. Indeed, the last report I saw confirmed the fact that not one of them ever paid a profit.

Now, what does that have to do with this mysterious one percent. It sounds more like 99% of the voters coddling to politicians. For what?

Fortunately, in the United States, the extant rail lines are in such poor shape that high speed rail projects are being built along new routes. Thus, these wastes of time and money are not interfering with our existing choo-choos.
Thanks Jack for your thoughtful comment that always adds to the discussion!
The One Percent is simply a reference to who benefits most from this kind of investment, certainly not your average Joe who has to commute to work because he can't afford a house in town or near his work.
As to governments investing in high speed trains - this is not the case in Italy: high speed trains took off with private investment...You can draw your own conclusions from this!
I'm glad to hear that in the US high speed trains won't interfere with existing choo-choos: that's a very good thing, a step in the right direction. Though one may well ask (as did that UCLA survey) why one should spend do many $$$ in this kind of investment when it doesn't do a thing for economic growth!
Caleb Pirtle said…
Life has become all about speed whether you are talking about trains or the Internet. We used to hope that our letter would be received within two days. Now we are threatening to sue our Internet provider if an email is not received within five seconds. It's the sign of the times. But that is one thing I do love about traveling in Europe. I love the trains.
CLC said…
The one time I traveled in Europe in 1996, mostly in Italy too,as I fell quite in love with the country,that train service delighted me. It was just as you are saying, Claude, lots of choices and very reasonable travel times. I love trains travel. I would love to live without the necessity of a car. So it is painful to hear that once again something in the name of progress is indeed not so.
Thanks, Cristina and Caleb, for your comments! Yes, I do love trains, that's why I wrote up this post! Though I doubt that it will change anything...
Il grande problema é quali sono i servizi essenziali che lo Stato deve fornire ai Cittadini?
Voi pensate che lo Stato siano i Cittadini con i loro diritti e con le loro esigenze o invece lo Stato siano i Parlamentari, i Politici ad ogni livello, la burocrazia ed i managers di Stato. Questo è il problema to be or not to be.
Vallo a spiegare ai Repubblicani americani che se le dicono e se le fanno.
giuseppebonanno.blogspot.com
I agree, Giuseppe, the real issue here is what is the role of the State, what should it be. And yes, American Republicans have an answer that is an extraoridinary simplification: the State be damned, everything good comes from the individual...forgetting that we all live in a community and that what we call "the State" (at least in a democracy) is the system whereby each of us is represented and is given a voice in matters that concern how the community will be managed to the benefit of each and every member. But conservatives and Republicans only dream of highjacking the community for their own advantage...