Railways in the USA. American railways Which railways are better, Russian or American?

Hello! Do you know when the first rail line was laid in America? And who became its discoverer? Today I will talk about American Railways. Don't think that you know everything, I will definitely surprise you.

For example, the American railway sector has always been built and developed much faster than transport in Continental Europe, which I wrote about in. Rail lines began their development in the 19th century.

Already at the very beginning of the 19th century, the American John Stevens created a railway company, which over time passed into the hands of the Pennsylvania Railroad and became part of it. At that time, no one in America knew about the existence of both a practical and a land vehicle, so the decision was made to rapidly develop the rail sector.

Ten years later, in the 19th century, the first steam-powered rail cars were born. Their creation was easy for builders and engineers. It was much more difficult to design a locomotive. But was this enough, is this what the Americans wanted? Where is the comfort and safe movement they promised?

After constantly building locomotives without success, John Stevens decided to take matters into his own hands and create the first steam locomotive and his attempts to create a steam locomotive were successful. These events contributed to the rapid progress of the development of American railroads.

In 1830 the first railway was opened for common use. Transport was a reliable means of transportation and also became a serious competitor to shipping. And it still continues. But still the public thought completely differently. The people believed that steam engines were the sons of the devil, and travelers would receive nothing other than a “concussion.” However, the advantages of steam engines over steamships were undeniable. To prove this to themselves again and again, people staged competitions between a train and a steamship. The rules of the game were to go through a certain segment as quickly as possible. The steamer completed the task and arrived in 3 days, while the locomotive covered 545.5 kilometers in just 16 hours.

Until the mid-19th century, American trains did not travel long distances. For example, a trip from Philadelphia to Charleston had eight tracks, meaning passengers had to change trains more than five times during a single trip. They did the same with the cargo. Who could even stand this?

Over the course of 10 years, the length of railways increased from 64 kilometers (40 miles) to 4.5 thousand kilometers (2755 miles). And before the start of the Civil War, in the 60s of the 19th century, the length increased to almost 50 thousand kilometers. While railways played a special role. After all, they served as a means of transporting weapons and various military equipment (ammunition, food), as well as transporting military personnel.

However, it was not only because of hostilities that the road developed. But thanks to the rapid growth in agriculture, there was a rapid construction of railways. All due to the fact that farmers needed constant export of products.

At the end of the 19th century, subways in New York gained particular popularity and development. After some time, trams also became popular. And soon they became the only way to travel.

In the mid-60s of the 19th century, the “Golden Age” began in the field of American railroads. Over the past 50 years, the railway world has expanded to a global scale: the length of railways has increased from 50 thousand kilometers to 400 thousand.

The current state of American railways

These days the length American roads reaches 220 thousand kilometers. It has a width of 1435 mm - this is the European norm. About 180 thousand people work on American railroads. employees.

Today, American railways are not among the most popular and popular types of ground transport. It is not profitable for the state to improve the railway sector, which is why transportation in America has been at a standstill for a long time. Are in great demand domestic flights, they are often much cheaper, and they are also considered safer and more comfortable than traveling by train. Thus, trains remain for the use of aerophobes and desperate romantics. But there is still a huge advantage for tourists: a person visiting the country for the first time can take the train in order to study the area and flavor of the country in more detail.

American railroads have a rich history and played a very important role in the development of the state. Currently, this transport is not as popular in the country as aviation and automobile types. Many of the trains are more of showpieces. Only romantics and people who are afraid of flying on an airplane travel on them. And the ticket price here is usually not much different from the cost of the flight.

Brief comparison with Russian railways

Railway of Russia and USA is different. If the total length of the domestic highway is 87 thousand kilometers, then for the Americans this figure is 220 thousand kilometers. The track width in Russia is 1520 mm, and in the USA it is 1435 mm, as in Europe. In our country, the industry employs 1.2 million workers, while American highways serve only 180 thousand people. Only the share of the industry’s cargo turnover is approximately the same, which is 40% in both countries.

Origin

History of US railroads began in 1815. Their development looked very promising due to the fact that at that time the country did not have developed cheap and fast land transport. The New Jersey Railroad Company was then founded by Colonel John Stevens. Initially, industrial branches began to be created for transporting goods over short distances, for example, for removing minerals from mines. The Pennsylvania Railroad, which began operations in 1846, was the first company in the industry. Eight years later, its first route was officially launched, connecting Philadelphia and Harrisburg.

First locomotives

If there were no big problems with the construction of the canvas, then the main problem we encountered was first US railroads, began to provide traction. In 1826, the aforementioned John Stevenson designed and built his own steam locomotive. To test his brainchild, the engineer built his own circular track in New Jersey. The testing of the machine was successful. Three years later, Gortario Allen, being the chief engineer of a large shipping company, proposed using a simple English steam locomotive. After successful testing, it began to be used on the line between Carbonvale and Honesdale in Pennsylvania. In 1830, according to the design of the American Peter Cooper, the first locomotive designed for passenger transportation. Over time, it has established itself as a very reliable car.

In the fifties of the nineteenth century, the so-called underground or underground railroad. IN THE USA This is what representatives of a secret society called themselves. It was engaged in facilitating runaway slaves of African descent from the southern states to the north. At the same time, the organization’s activities were in no way connected with transport and transportation. Members of the organization simply used railroad terminology, which had become popular throughout American society.

The beginning of rapid development

It was after the appearance of the first diesel locomotives that they began to actively develop railroads in the USA. In the 19th century the new one was already serious competition for shipping companies. A special impetus to its development was given by several experiments that proved that a steam locomotive is capable of covering a distance approximately three to four times faster than a steamboat.

In 1830, a landmark event took place for American railway transport. Then the first passenger train was launched and began running on a regular basis between the cities of Ohio and Baltimore in Maryland. Initially, the public had an extremely negative attitude towards steam locomotives, calling them devilish machines, but over time, it became increasingly clear to most citizens that the future lay behind this transport.

If as of 1840 length of US railroads was 2755 miles, then twenty years later this figure crossed the 30 thousand mile mark. The construction of new routes was greatly facilitated by the development of agriculture. Since farmers worked for the market, they needed transport capable of transporting crops quickly and in large quantities.

Construction of the transcontinental railroad

In 1861, the Civil War broke out between North and South. Despite this, a year after its start, President Abraham Lincoln made a decision according to which it was to be built. It was assumed that the length of the highway would be almost three thousand kilometers. Two companies became contractors: Central Pacific (laid the track from west to east) and Union Pacific Railroad (conducted construction from east to west). The so-called meeting point was supposed to be in the center of the route. Each of the companies sought to be the first to finish their section and win this kind of competition, so the work was not always carried out according to plan. Many officials embezzled funds allocated for construction. If there were settlements along the railway route, their residents were offered meager sums for land. Moreover, in exchange for bribes from the mayors of some cities (they benefited from the presence of the highway), the companies repeatedly changed routes.

About 10 thousand workers from China and another 4 thousand from Ireland were involved in the construction. This was done in order to reduce the cost of work, because the Americans did not agree to work for the amount offered (in best case scenario 1.5 dollars per day). Due to difficult working conditions, many builders died.

As a result, the Union Pacific Railroad company managed to lay 1,749 kilometers of track, while their opponents managed to lay 1,100 kilometers. This subsequently had a beneficial effect on further development"winners", which today have become one of the most powerful railway enterprises in the country. When workers from two contractors met in 1869, a golden nail was driven into the tie, symbolizing the connection between the two oceans.

The effect of the construction of the transcontinental railroad

Many skeptics argue that it then became a useless and senseless undertaking of the president. However, later it played a very significant role for the state, creating a real revolution in the country’s economy and the migration of its residents. In a short period of time, fertile western lands A huge number of Americans moved in wanting to develop agriculture.

At the end of the nineteenth century, several more branches appeared, directly connecting the two oceans. They were better thought out, and fewer violations were made during construction. The first railroad in the USA, laid from the east to is considered a dark spot American history. This is not surprising, because the feat of the two companies cannot overshadow the number of workers killed and families left homeless.

Railroad development after the Civil War

The Civil War showed how important and efficient rail transport was in transporting people, food and weapons. It is not surprising that it became a priority in the future. Companies operating in the industry were provided with subsidies even before the start of construction work. In particular, the government allocated from 16 to 48 thousand dollars for each mile of roadway. In addition, the territory for 10 miles on both sides of the route became the property of the companies. It is eloquent that, starting in 1870, over 10 years, 242 thousand square miles of land were distributed to corporations.

From 1865 to 1916 it was produced on a grand scale. The total length of tracks during this time increased from 35 to 254 thousand miles. Moreover, at the beginning of the twentieth century, both passenger and freight transportation in the country was almost entirely carried out by rail.

Reduced role of railways

During the First World War, the railway sector came under the control of the American government. Since that time, the industry gradually began to lose its leading position. In 1920, the railways were returned to private ownership. However, by this time their condition had deteriorated significantly. In combination with the development of technological progress and other types of transport, this began to lead to a gradual decrease in the role of the industry for the state economy.

But there is no need to downplay the importance that the industry played. Firstly, a transport network was created that connected the entire domestic market of the state into a single whole. Secondly, the construction of the railway line contributed to a strong rise in industries such as transport engineering and metallurgy, due to the high demand for rails, cars and locomotives. Be that as it may, if before 1920 the development of railways was called the “golden era”, then we can say with confidence that since that time it has at least ended.

Current state

Few people in the United States travel by rail these days. This is primarily due to the good development of air communications. And the cost of train and plane tickets is often approximately the same. Because of this, it is not surprising that a large share of this industry's revenue comes from freight transportation. US railroad network has a length of more than 220 thousand kilometers. They serve all sectors of the country's economy. Rail transport accounts for about 40% of the national freight turnover.

Companies

All American railroad companies are privately owned. There are almost 600 of them in total. At the same time, the 7 largest of them account for more than half of the cargo turnover in the industry. The state guarantees companies the right to make independent decisions regarding transportation tariffs. At the same time, this process is controlled by a federal body called the Council for ground transport. Privatization of American railroads is irrelevant. Companies are interested in the efficient functioning and coordination of absolutely all systems. This is due to high competition with road transport. Fundamental decisions regarding the activities of railway companies are made by their shareholders. Recently, the total revenue of these companies averages about $54 billion per year.

Freight transportation

Railways USA boast a fairly developed and efficient freight transportation system. Experts believe that the key to its successful operation is primarily related to their relative freedom from government regulation.

As noted above, about 40% of freight traffic in the country is provided by railway workers. This value has been growing over the past fifteen years. At the same time, in this indicator they are inferior to their main competitor - road transport. In the context of the struggle for clients, companies do their best to focus the attention of potential customers on their economic and environmental advantages. According to their leaders, in the near future this will still improve the current performance.

Classification of freight companies

Carriers that serve, according to the current classification system in the country, are divided into the following classes: first class companies, regional companies, local line operators and S&T carriers.

There are only seven operators classified as first class railway companies. They account for about 67% of cargo turnover, and the average annual income of each exceeds $350 million. Transportation is usually carried out over long distances. Statistics show that 9 out of 10 American railroad workers work for these companies.

Regional companies have average annual revenues of at least $40 million. They typically transport between 350 and 650 miles (within several states). According to the latest data, there are 33 such enterprises operating in the country, and the number of employees of each of them varies within 500 workers.

Local operators operate up to 350 miles and generate revenues of up to $40 million annually. There are 323 firms in this class in the state, which usually transport goods across the territory of one state.

S&T companies do not so much transport cargo as they deal with their transshipment and sorting. In addition, they specialize in delivery within a certain area upon the order of a particular carrier. According to the latest data, there are 196 such companies operating in the country, earning several tens of millions of dollars every year.

Passenger Transportation

Rail passenger transport is not very popular in the United States. The fact is that the distances between cities are usually very long, and not every person is able to sit in a chair for a day, despite its comfort. It is much faster to travel by plane, the price of a ticket for which is not so much higher than the cost of a train trip.

In the USA there are two types: short-haul and long distance(night). The first of them uses seated carriages. They operate exclusively during the day. The second type has both sleeping and sitting rooms. In this case, passengers are located on the upper tier, and the lower one is intended for transporting luggage. Night trains operate predominantly western part countries.

In addition, for passenger service there are also suburban transportation. The trains that provide them belong to local operators, who independently form the tariff system.

Completion

US railroads at one time played a revolutionary role in the country's economy. Their appearance contributed to a number of positive changes, as well as the development of many industries and agriculture. The evolution of American railroad transportation before the outbreak of World War I even went down in history as the “Golden Age” of railroads. Be that as it may, the development of technological progress combined with the availability of alternative modes of transport has led to a gradual decrease in the role of the industry.

The use of electricity as an energy source for traction of trains was first demonstrated at an industrial exhibition in Berlin in 1879, where a model of an electric railway was presented. A train consisting of a 2.2 kW locomotive and three carriages, each of which could accommodate up to 6 passengers, moved along a section less than 300 m long at a speed of 7 km/h. The creators of the new type of traction were the famous German scientist, inventor and industrialist Ernst Werner von Siemens (Werner von Siemens, 1816-1892) and engineer Halske.

The electric line and train demonstrated at the exhibition instantly became a sensation. Over the course of 4 months, the train transported about 90,000 exhibition visitors. DC electricity with a voltage of 150 V was supplied to the electric locomotive via a contact rail located between the rails; the return wire was the rails along which the train moved. The draft was controlled using a water rheostat.

A copy of the first electric locomotive from Siemens and Halske (1879) in the German Railways Museum. in Nuremberg.
Photo: Oleg Nazarov, 2010.

Swiss engineer Rene Thury (1860-1938) built an experimental mountain rack and pinion road in the suburbs of Montreux in 1884. Movement along the site to the mountain hotel with a slope of 30‰ and a length of 300 m was carried out by a two-axle locomotive, which could also carry 4 passengers.

The first trams

The expansion of the use of electric traction at the first stage encountered serious resistance from officials due to misunderstanding or often unwillingness to change anything.

Because of this mistrust, Ernst Werner von Siemens had to build a demonstration model of an electric tram at his own expense. The world's first permanently operating electric tram line opened in Berlin in the spring of 1881.

In the USA, the appearance of electric traction is associated with the name of the inventor Franklin J. Sparga (1857-1934), who is called in America the “father of electric traction.” In 1880, F. Sparg received a patent for a system for collecting current from a contact wire with a contact wheel on a pantograph, using which in 1887 the first electric tram system in the United States, the Richmond Union Passenger Railway, was built in Richmond (Virginia). Here, on February 2, 1888, the ability to smoothly operate tram lines with slopes of up to 10‰ was demonstrated for the first time, which was previously impossible with horse traction.

Electric tram in Richmond (USA) using the Franklin Sparga system. Postcard from 1923.
Source: Wikipedia.

The Russian engineer-inventor Fyodor Apollonovich Pirotsky (1845-1898) began to conduct experiments using electricity in 1874. In 1875, in St. Petersburg, on a section of the Sestroretsk railway, he conducted experiments with electric cars, for which about one mile of the track was electrified. In his design, the rails were connected to a Graham generator. Both rails were isolated from the ground, one of them was a direct conductor, and the other was a return conductor.

Based on the experiments carried out in 1880, at his own expense he upgraded one city horse-drawn double-decker tram in St. Petersburg to electric traction, and on September 3 an unusual public transport begins to transport residents of St. Petersburg, despite open protests from the owners of horse-drawn trams. A carriage weighing 7 tons could carry up to 40 passengers at a speed of 12-14 km/h. Pirotsky's experiments continued for several days until the end of September 1880, after which he proposed replacing all horse-drawn trams in St. Petersburg with electric trams. Unfortunately, like everything new, the idea of ​​the Russian engineer was treated with distrust; the papers wandered around the offices of officials for a long time , there were no funds available for its implementation for a long time. And only in 1892, when electric trams had already successfully conquered European cities, they appeared on the streets of St. Petersburg.

Engineer F.B. Bespalov, in the brochure “Electric Economic Railway” published in 1894, substantiated the principle of controlling several cars in a coupling from one post - perhaps for the first time in the world. This is a key principle for managing multi-section rolling stock.

The first electric locomotives

For the first time in industrial use, a section of electric railway approximately 2 km long was launched in 1879 at a textile factory in French city Breile.

In the UK, the first line to be electrified at 500 V DC using a contact rail was the 5.6 km underground City & South London Railway, opened in 1890. The company Messrs Mather & Platt and Siemens Bros supplied 16 electric locomotives for it, each equipped with 2 gearless traction motors with a power of 36.7 kW. In fact, it was the world's first subway.

The first section of the main electric railway, 11.2 km long, was opened in 1895 in the USA between Baltimore and Ohio (Baltimore Belt Line) with a catenary voltage of 675 V DC. The line consisted of an open section 6.4 km long and an underground section within the city. Electric locomotives for it were supplied by General Electric.

Europe's first experimental electric locomotive for main lines was created by the Hungarian engineer Kalman Kando in 1894. The electric locomotive was powered by a three-phase high voltage network of 3300 V with a frequency of 15 Hz and was equipped with an asynchronous traction motor. A new electrical machine invented by Kando, a phase shifter, was used as a converter. K. Kando has the same meaning for European engineers as F. Sparg for Americans, therefore in European countries K. Kando (1869-1931) is considered the “father of electric traction”.

Electric locomotives designed by K. Cando were used in Italy to organize full-fledged traffic. railway route(before that they were used only on certain sections of roads). Energy was supplied to the electric locomotive through two contact wires; rails were used as the third phase.

Electric locomotive Kalman Kando (Hungary) for Italy.

US railroads Railways of the United States of America is an extensive network of railways, which includes about seven transcontinental highways crossing the country from east to west and connecting the largest urban agglomerations of the Atlantic (New York, Philadelphia, Boston) and Pacific (Seattle, Portland, San Francisco , Los Angeles) coasts; approximately ten meridional highways connecting areas of the South and Southwest of the United States with areas adjacent to the Canadian border; about ten highways crossing the territory of the country in its eastern part diagonally from northeast to southwest. The operational length of the network (2002) is slightly more than 230 thousand km (including about 160 thousand km owned by Class I railways) and has a steady downward trend. The network density is 22.6 km/1000 km2, the track width is 1435 mm. The number of personnel of all railways is approx. 185 thousand people, including on class I railways - a little more than 157 thousand people. Railway construction in the country began in 1827. From the very beginning of the railway. transport was formed in the private sector of the economy. By 1917, the length of the network exceeded 400 thousand km; number of private companies - approx. 1500, total number of industry personnel - approx. 1.8 million people In 1930, the share of railways in the freight turnover of all types of transport in the country reached 70%. There is practically no new railway construction being carried out. The US railway system is one of the most efficient and technologically advanced in the world. The redundancy of the network made it possible to optimize its configuration over time and decommission unprofitable lines. The share of double-track and multi-track lines is approx. 10%. The network is dominated by diesel traction. Length of electrified railways d. slightly more than 0.5% of the operational length, ch. arr. in suburban areas of large cities and in the Northeast corridor (Washington-New York-Boston). The industry is developing as a whole as a single complex, taking into account the needs of the economy and the transport strategy of the country. The activities of railways are regulated by numerous laws, in particular, labor legislation and legislation on safety on railways are worked out in detail. In the 80-90s. 20th century thanks to the adoption of the Staggers Railway Law. companies were able to independently set negotiated tariffs depending on the demand for transportation and the level of competition from other modes of transport, as well as close and sell unprofitable, inactive lines. The federal body, the Surface Transportation Council (until 1996, the Interstate Transport Commission), retains only antimonopoly functions in the area of ​​pricing. Taking into account inflation, tariffs have decreased by 57% since 1980, labor productivity has increased by 2.7 times. Safety conditions on the railways have improved significantly: the number of transport accidents per year has decreased by 67%, and occupational injuries have decreased by 71%. A large number of new regional and local railways have appeared. companies, often operating on infrastructure “rejected” by Class I railways. In 2001, the total length of the railway. lines on which regional and local companies carried out transportation amounted to 72.4 thousand km. Development of transport policy, including railway policy. transport, in the USA the Department of Transport is responsible, within the framework of which railway issues are dealt with. transport is carried out by the following main structural divisions: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) of the USA, which is developing the industry regulatory and legal framework for the railway. transport based on federal transport legislation, responsible for ensuring safe work on the railway. transport, managing n.-i. and design programs and projects, as well as overseeing the work of one of the world's largest Transportation Equipment Testing Center in Pueblo, PC. Colorado; Federal Administration of Suburban and Urban Transportation, which oversees at the federal level all types of public urban and suburban passenger transportation; The Surface Transport Council (SNT), which acts as a federal agency that, among other things, carries out economic regulation in relation to railways, and also resolves issues of unification and economic relations of railways among themselves and with other modes of transport, reduction of railways. network and new construction, regulations for inter-road exchange of wagons; The Office of the General Safety Inspector, which is an independent body, including monitoring the activities of the FRA to ensure the safe operation of the railway. transport. Almost all railways US companies (and North America in general) are members of the Association of American Railroads (AARA), which, together with the FRA, represents the general interests of railroads in government bodies (for example, in the US Congress). The Association acts as a coordinator of research and development. and design programs and oversees the Pueblo Vehicle Test Center. In the USA (2001), there are actually two classifications of railways: the traditionally used - SNT, and the relatively recently introduced - AAR. According to the SNT classification, all railways, shunting and station companies are divided into 3 classes depending on annual transportation income, adjusted for inflation. Yield standards change periodically. In 2001, they corresponded to the following amounts: Class I - from 266.7 million US dollars (before 1992 - 92 million dollars); Class II - from 21.3 million to 266.7 million dollars; Class III - less than $21.3 million. Regardless of income, the Passenger Transportation Corporation (AMTRAK) is classified in Class I. The specificity of the AAR classification is that all railways. companies that do not belong to class I are classified according to two criteria: profitability and network length. Income ranging from 40 million to 256.4 million dollars and a network length of at least 563 km allow us to classify the railway as regional. All other railroads, as well as shunting and station companies, are classified as local. AMTRAK Corporation is conditionally classified in the lowest category in this classification. Of the total number of 573 railways. Only 8 companies are classified as class I, but they dominate the market for railway transportation services. transport. This concerns their share in the total length of railways and in the total number of personnel in the industry, participation in the total freight turnover and total income from freight transportation. Railway share transport in the total freight turnover of the US transport system amounted to 41.7% in 2001. Its participation in the volume of transportation (from domestic producers) of coal is 67%, grain - 26.4%. In 2001, the railway US transport carried a freight turnover of 2274 billion tons km, of which 2193 billion tons km accounted for Class I railways. Over the past 20 years (1981-2001), freight turnover has increased throughout the country by more than 68%, and in the eastern regions it grew by only 20%, and in the western regions by more than 90%. With the average network freight intensity for gross freight turnover being 23 million t-km/km, the length of sections with a freight intensity of up to 5 million t-km/km is 30%, from 5 to 20 million. t-km/km - 25%. Along with this, there are lines on which the freight load is 120-130 million tkm/km. On the network approximately 63% of its length is covered with rails weighing 64.5-68.9 kg per linear meter. Approx. 95% of the sleepers laid on the track are creosote-impregnated hardwood sleepers. The locomotive fleet of Class I railways, amounting to 19,745 diesel locomotives, in the 1990s. updated by 33%; more than 40% of the fleet consists of diesel locomotives built before 1980. A restrained policy is being pursued to replenish the fleets with locomotives of higher power, aimed at increasing operational efficiency and improving diagnostic systems for the technical condition of locomotives. Railways are actively purchasing powerful diesel locomotives with AC electric transmission, amounting to approx. 14% of the park. As a result, the average power of one section over the past 20 years has increased by 41% from 2326 to 3271 hp. With. US railroads operate approximately 1,315,000 freight cars, of which more than half are owned by railroads and the rest by shippers and railcar companies. The average age of a freight car is 20.9 years. In the 1990s. the carriage fleet has been updated by 25%. It was assumed that in the next 10-12 years the park will be completely renovated. However, in 2001, demand for freight cars fell to 34,260 units. compared to 70,000 units. in the end 90s The decrease in demand for new cars is a consequence of the slow development of the US economy, the increased use of heavy-duty cars and the increase in the efficiency of their operation in the transportation process. Major US railroads are also focusing on reducing their car fleets. The average carrying capacity of a freight car is 84.5 tons, the average static load is 58.1 tons. The largest share in the railcar fleet is occupied by hoppers (41%) and tanks (18%). A distinctive feature of US railways is the record average train weight, ensured by the high carrying capacity of the cars, powerful traction and good track condition. In 2000, the average train weight (net) was 2726 tons, the average train weight (gross) was 5553 tons, the average train composition was 68.5 cars. The largest railway systems in the USA are (2001) the combined railways Union Pacific/Southern Pacific (operational length 54.2 thousand km) and Burlington Northern/Santa Fe (53.2 thousand km). The process of merging railways is driven by the desire to improve their economic position (by reducing the management staff, closing parallel and unprofitable lines) and competitiveness in relation to other modes of transport. US rail transport is rather one-sidedly focused on freight transportation. Unprofitable but socially necessary long-distance passenger transportation is carried out by the specialized corporation AMTRAK, created in 1971 on the basis of the Law on Railway Passenger Transportation and supported by government funding (subsidies). The corporation is the only one in the country that operates long-distance railways. passenger transportation, operating 265 trains per day on a range of 36.5 thousand km (approximately 20% of the total length of the class I railway network), connecting more than 500 stations. At the same time, AMTRAK directly owns only the specialized high-speed highway of the Northeast Corridor (Washington-New York-Boston) with a length of 1195 km, and otherwise uses the technical infrastructure of freight railways on a contractual basis. companies. The volume of long-distance transportation performed by the corporation per year is approx. 23.4 million passengers, passenger turnover - approx. 9.0 billion passenger-km In addition, AMTRAK carries approximately 51 million commuter passengers. Suburban railways Passenger transportation in the United States is carried out by 19 companies. The total length of lines on which commuter trains run is 14 thousand km, including the own lines of these companies, as well as lines leased from AMTRAK and freight companies. Volume of local and suburban railways transportation in the country as a whole is 3150 million passengers, passenger turnover is 13.3 billion passenger-km. From the end 1990s In the USA, interest in railways, supported by government and public organizations, is being revived. passenger transportation, which is associated with congestion on roads and worsening environmental problems. Several states are planning to organize high-speed rail systems. transportation Since 2001, AMTRAK Corporation has introduced regular operation of the new Aisla high-speed train with a design speed of 240 km/h in the Northeast Corridor. The corporation proposes to the states the creation of a new high-speed regional transportation system, Aisla Regional, in their sponsored railways. corridors. On US railways, special attention is paid to the introduction of modern information technologies. Under the auspices of the AARR, an improved automatic train traffic control system is being gradually introduced, providing, with varying degrees of automation, optimal control of train flows on the railways it controls. training grounds. Train traffic control is carried out from enlarged road control centers. Based on the use of high-performance computing (in particular, microcomputers) devices and data transmission facilities, it has become possible, for example, to control railway traffic from a single center in Omaha, Nebraska. networks with a length of about 60 thousand km. A network-wide implementation of a high-precision radio engineering system for automatically reading information from rolling stock, developed by the American corporation Amtech, is underway. US freight railroads have at their disposal automated road centers for interaction with clientele, promptly servicing customer requests regarding the status and progress of shipments, cargo redirection, etc. US railroads yesterday and today The Entertaining Past of US Railways If you mention US railways, your memory will inevitably bring to mind a picture of the wild, wild West, the romance of travel and ultra-modern trains. However, the railway is not only an important component of American cinema, but also a serious part of the transport links of this huge country. The beginning is always difficult, which is why, despite the development of land transport, ordinary people were in no hurry to use the services of trains. Although the development and construction, which began with the light hand of John Stevens in 1815, does not stop to this day, steam locomotives in the early 19th century caused some fears and, simply put, religious superstitions among Americans. The conclusion of the railroad charter and the creation of the first two steam locomotives spoke of the irreversible process of introducing the railroad into the lives of ordinary Americans. After a clear experiment that proved that a steam locomotive can cover a distance in 16 hours that a steamship takes three days to cover, the fate of the railroad was sealed. From that moment on, US railroads only increased their length. The Pennsylvania Railroad opened in 1846, and nearly twenty years later the popularity of this mode of transportation began to skyrocket. Railroad networks The Civil War showed that the future belonged to this type of transport and gave it considerable authority. The transportation of weapons, people, and food brought military operations to a new level. By this time, US railroads totaled about 254,000 miles in length and continued to grow steadily. Smarter and more dexterous businessmen began to buy strategically important lands along which railway lines were laid for next to nothing. Huge amounts of money accumulated in the hands of such companies. People who invested money in US railway transport increased their wealth many times over. In 1869, the US transcontinental railroads were born, or rather the first of them, which connected the Pacific coast with Central and Western America. The success of the enterprise led to the emergence of three more transcontinental lines in 1882 - 1883 and 1893. Over time, railroads in America began to lose their popularity. On the one hand, due to the transfer of this infrastructure into the hands of the state after the First World War, on the other, due to technological progress, which is actively gaining momentum. What is happening today with US railway transport Progress gave birth to the railway, and it is gradually bringing it into oblivion. At the beginning of the twentieth century, virtually all transportation in America was carried out this way. Powerful infrastructure connected the huge country into a single whole and influenced not only the economy, but also demography and ethnography. However, this did not save the industry from decline. Today, train tickets in America are not much different from air tickets in price. Now US rail transport is chosen by romantics and people who have nowhere to rush. Traveling by train is convenient if you want to get the most out of your experience. Railway companies even launched a number of steam locomotives as excursion exhibits. National carriers such as Amtrak, National Rail pass, West Rail pass and others offer tourist rail travel, business high-speed transportation and other services. A special railway map has been published, which covers the transport network of the entire country. However, the “golden age” of the US railroad will never return. Rail travel is extremely unpopular in the US . Relatively few passengers choose the train as their means of travel, as fares are often in line with airfare. Additionally, given the large size of the United States, train travel can be very time consuming. The state railway company Amtrak has been subsidized for many years, and the development of railway communication is observed only in the transportation of goods. At the same time, a number of directions can be convenient and interesting for tourists: the “Northern Corridor” between the cities of Washington - Philadelphia - New York - Boston, the "California Corridor" from San Diego to San Francisco via Los Angeles and the longest line from Atlantic coast to Pacific coast along the route New York - Washington - Memphis - Dallas - Albuquerque - Phoenix - Los Angeles. Train travel is very expensive. For example, the cheapest ticket from New York to Washington (less than 500 km) will cost $70. Travel from New York to Chicago will cost $120-150. Moreover, we are talking about seats in a common carriage. Travel in a compartment will cost 1.5-2 times more. Tickets are sold both on the company’s website with payment by credit card, and directly at the box office. Since August 2005, it has become possible in Russia to purchase train tickets within the United States. The distributor of tickets was the agency CGTT Voyages. It opened the sale of tickets to a number of destinations in the Northeast Corridor of the United States, including routes between Washington, New York, Boston, Philadelphia and some other cities. At the same time, prices for a number of trains when sold in Russia are lower than locally. In addition, you can purchase travel tickets– both national and regional. Tourist Passes Amtrak offers 15- and 30-day unlimited rail passes. These tickets can be purchased by any non-US resident tourist. A ticket can be reserved through the company's official website and obtained at any US railway ticket office upon presentation of a passport. You can purchase a ticket, both regional and covering the entire country: National Rail pass (all over the country without restrictions) Cost for an adult $999. North East rail pass (northeast USA) Cost per adult $300, includes the east coast of the USA and the cities of Washington, New York, Boston, Buffalo (Niagara Falls). West Rail pass (western USA) Cost per adult $329/$359 (15 days, 30 days). East Rail pass (East USA) Cost per adult $329/$369 (15 days, 30 days). During the high season, the cost of tickets increases by 25-30%. Children under 15 years old pay 50% of the cost. The basic fare includes travel in a seated carriage. For an additional fee you can travel in a compartment. More information on the official Amtrak website Railroads in America are not as widespread as in Europe. Even Russia has a much richer passenger network than the United States. True, this was not always the case. Just some thirty-five years ago, all of America was covered with a dense network of passenger lines. And in the Great Lakes and East Coast regions, trains traveled almost as frequently as in Europe. The sixties and seventies saw the rapid growth of passenger aviation. Americans have switched to more quick view transport. Speed ​​is a serious advantage over the vast distances of North America. In addition, in those same years, the welfare of the US population increased significantly, and many people acquired personal cars. The number of railway passengers began to fall sharply. At the time, US railroads were operated by a variety of private passenger companies, most of which operated one or two routes. The crisis led to the collapse of a significant part of companies and the closure of lines. The US government took action to save the industry. It consolidated most of the remaining lines under the government-owned Amtrak. Amtrak began operations in 1971 with an unenviable legacy. The route network has been reduced several times, and the number of flights on the remaining lines has also dropped significantly. The company supported itself on multimillion-dollar government subsidies, simultaneously absorbing the remaining private lines. Now there are very few of them left. USA: railways (part 1)The reduction of the network and flights was stopped. Over the past thirty years they have remained virtually unchanged. And in the coming years, a significant rise in rail transport in America is planned. Nowadays it is more or less convenient to travel by rail only in three areas. First, there is the Great Lakes region, with Chicago as the main hub. Secondly, the so-called Northeast Corridor (Boston - New York - Philadelphia - Washington - Richmond). Thirdly, California. In addition, some areas along the Canadian border (Buffalo - Albany in the East and Seattle - Portland in the West), as well as Florida and a couple of other areas along the East Coast, have relatively heavy traffic (three to five flights per day). Otherwise, the situation is similar to the Wild West of the last century. Huge areas do not have passenger lines at all, and where they exist, there are one or two trains a day. The east of the country is connected to the West by four lines, three of which the train runs once a day, and one every two days. Phoenix and Las Vegas do not have trains at all, in Houston and Cincinnati they appear every other day, and in Dallas, Denver, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City - once a day. In general, if you are not on the East Coast or near the Great Lakes, then the train will suit you only in those few cases when the route and time of the only train coincides with your plans. The situation is approximately the same in Alaska, where there is its own railway company. The only line, Seward - Anchorage - Fairbanks, has one or two trains per day. In the Arctic winter, routes become weekly, and then trains turn into minibuses- to stop you need to vote on the platform. Most recently, on October 1, they broke a record there by organizing a train of 32 cars. Four of these thirty-two were baggage cars and five were dining cars. USA: railroads (part 1) A similar approach is in the rest of the United States. Long-distance trains have been turned into hotels with lounges and restaurants. In general, the American style is felt in everything. Most of the carriages are huge two-story colossuses, leaving a feeling of indestructible power. This feeling is further enhanced by the unpainted iron bodies of the carriages. The same impression is created by the locomotives, which most closely resemble typical American automobile tractors. European style is found only on modern East Coast trains. High-speed trains, modeled on Europe and Japan, are gradually being introduced there. On relatively short distances along the Atlantic coast, these trains successfully compete with airlines. Trains are especially convenient in cases where you need to travel immediately and it is no longer possible to purchase a cheap air ticket. One of the priority areas for the development of railways in America is their integration with airlines, which by definition are the most important transport in America. Here, Americans are also inspired by the example of Europe, where most of the largest airports have their own railway stations. So far in America there are almost no such things, but in the near future passengers of a number of airports will have the opportunity to board both commuter and long distance trains. All this, together with the introduction of new high-speed lines, will attract many new customers to America's railroads in the near future. In the USA, where almost every family has a personal car, and incomes allow the use of air transport, rail transport cannot be the first, however, it has its own percentage of transportation. If in Russia the railway is a highly developed industry in the cargo and passenger segment, then in the USA, railway transport mainly transports cargo. Our road is just being modernized to meet the standards of a market economy, new trains are appearing, satellite monitoring is being introduced, demonopolization is taking place, the USA has had all this for a long time, including a high level of competition. Let's look a little into history to understand what stage of development the US railroad is at today. Just three decades ago, the United States had a fairly extensive network of passenger transportation, but rapid motorization and the popularization of passenger aviation over time relegated railway transport to the background in passenger transportation. At that time, there were many private companies operating in the market, which, due to the outbreak of the crisis, went bankrupt and closed their lines. Most of these companies operated only 2-3 lines. The US government began saving the industry by creating Amtrak from the most profitable lines. It started operating in 1971 and is still operating successfully. Today, America is characterized by uneven coverage of the passenger rail network. It is most developed in east coast, the railroad capital of the United States is Chicago. You can quite comfortably move along the corridor Boston - New York - Philadelphia - Washington - Richmond, along the border with Canada, as well as in Florida. Among the states in another part of America, only California can be distinguished. And, for example, in Las Vegas and Phoenix passenger trains no at all, there are also many places where they go every other day. In general, crossing America by train is quite problematic, although there are a total of four lines between the West and the East. Priority is given to freight trains, as they are highly profitable. Passenger cars on American trains are double-decker, which fits well with the typical American style. Although in those regions where the railway network is developed (New York, Chicago), they follow global trends and install modern high-speed boom-type trains on the lines. There are two types of trains in the United States: short-haul, which run mainly during the day and consist mainly of seated cars (coaches), and long-distance. In double-decker carriages, the first floor is always space for luggage and disabled people, the second is a platform with comfortable seats, like on an airplane. There are carriages with bedrooms of different levels of comfort. Passenger transportation in the USA, although not as popular as traveling by personal vehicle or airplane, nevertheless has its client and continues to exist. Mainline diesel locomotives With hydraulic transmission: Diesel locomotive ML4000CC Diesel locomotive ML4000CC The Krauss-Maffei company built a batch of mainline freight diesel locomotives with a power of 4000 hp. with hydraulic transmission for US railways. The locomotive is equipped with two 16-cylinder V-shaped diesel engines from Maybach, type MD-870, with a power of 2000 hp. each, with a cylinder diameter of 185 mm and a piston stroke of 200 mm. Diesel locomotives: Diesel locomotives D443 and D343 Diesel locomotives D443 and D343 Diesel locomotives D443 and D343 from Fiat with a power of 2000 and 1500 hp, respectively. with electric transmission are intended for non-electrified sections of Italian railways. Diesel locomotives are equipped with standard components and parts (bogies, traction motors, gears, compressors, filters, refrigerator elements, driver's cabins and their equipment, etc.). The fundamental difference between the diesel locomotives of these series is that the D443 locomotives are equipped with low-speed diesel engines with a power of 2000 hp. with a maximum speed of 1000 per minute, and D343 - high-speed diesel engines with a power of 1500 hp. at 1500 rpm. Diesel locomotives: Diesel locomotive GP40 Diesel locomotive GP40 Diesel locomotive GP40- 4-axle diesel electric locomotive produced by General Electric between November 1965 and December 1971. The 16-cylinder diesel engine installed on the locomotive develops a power of 3,000 horsepower. Diesel locomotives: Diesel locomotive GP30 Diesel locomotive GP30 Diesel locomotive GP30 with electric direct current transmission with a power of 2250 hp, it was produced by General Motorors between July 1961 and November 1963. DURING this time, 948 units were built. The diesel locomotive is equipped with a two-stroke diesel engine type 567D3 with a thrust capacity of 2250 hp. at 835 rpm with direct-flow blowing and charge air cooling. The diesel engine has a turbocharger, which is driven at low speeds directly from the crankshaft through a gear transmission, and at high speeds - from a gas turbine running on exhaust gases. Diesel locomotives: Diesel locomotive SD45 Diesel locomotive SD45 with electric AC-DC transmission, was produced by General Motors from December 1965 to December 1971. During this period, 1260 units were produced. The diesel locomotive is equipped with a 12-cylinder diesel engine 645E3 with a power of 3600 hp. Diesel locomotives of this and some other series use diesel type 645. Like diesel type 567, diesel 645 is designated in accordance with the cylinder displacement. Diesel Locomotives: GP28 Diesel Locomotive GP28 Diesel Locomotive The GP28 locomotive is a 4-axle locomotive manufactured by General Electric, powered by a 16-cylinder 567D1 diesel engine producing 1,800 horsepower (1.3 mW), and produced between March 1964 and November 1965. The GP28 locomotive is a basic, non-turbocharged version of the GP35 locomotive. Diesel locomotives: Diesel locomotive G12 Diesel locomotive G12 Diesel locomotive G12 thrust power 1310 hp. with direct current electrical transmission. The diesel locomotive is equipped with a 12-cylinder two-stroke diesel engine 567C with a power of 1425 hp. The diesel engine is started from the main generator. Diesel locomotives: Diesel locomotive GT16 Diesel locomotive GT16 Diesel locomotive GT16 traction power 2400 hp. with DC electrical transmission is being built for delivery to Australia. The diesel locomotive is equipped with a 16-cylinder diesel model 576E3 with a power of 2600 hp. with turbocharging and charge air cooling. In design and main dimensions, the 576E3 diesel engine is similar to the 576C diesel model, which develops a power of 1950 hp. Diesel locomotives: Diesel freight locomotive DD40X Centennial Diesel freight locomotive DD40X Centennial Mainline diesel locomotive DD40X Centennial with a power of 6600 hp. with electrical transmission of alternating-direct current is intended for freight transportation. The DD40X was built by General Motors, a division of La Grange, for use on the Pacific Union railroad. The institutional structure of the United States initially predetermined the absence in the country of single economic entities, the owner of which is the state itself. US railroads were built and developed under the jurisdiction of individual states. The construction of railways in the USA began in 1827, that is, 10 years earlier than in Russia. Today, the length of American railways is more than 220 thousand km, compared to 87 thousand km of the length of Russian main railways. The gauge of US railways is 1435 mm, which corresponds to the gauge of European railways. In Russia, the track width is 1520 mm. The number of personnel of US railways is about 180 thousand workers versus 1200 thousand people working on Russian railways. The last ratio allows us to think about the efficiency of using labor resources in the domestic railway industry. At the same time, the shares of railway transport in the freight turnover of both countries are approximately equal and are in last years in the range of 40-45%. Railroads in the USA are private. The railway market has about 600 companies, but more than 60% of all freight traffic is handled by the 8 largest companies. Railway companies have the right to independently set tariffs depending on the demand for various types of transportation and competition from other modes of transport. The process of determining the level of railroad tariffs is subject to oversight and antitrust regulation by a federal body - the Surface Transportation Board, which until 1996 was called the Interstate Transportation Commission. The results of the council's activities include regular reductions in tariff levels and the establishment of fair tariffs for seven transcontinental routes crossing US territory. The issue of railroad privatization is not relevant for the United States. A pressing issue is the effective functioning and coordination of railway systems belonging to different owners. The American railway management system is based on the principle that it is inappropriate to divide a single railway into companies for transportation and infrastructure management. Reducing costs and improving service for shippers and consignees on US railroads is primarily due to competition with road transport. In the USA, a program for managing a fleet of freight cars on private railways has been developed. It has gained popularity since the 80s of the 20th century, when the leading carriers in North America organized relevant divisions in their structures and staffed them with specialists in the field of railway operation, marketing and information technology. The main goal was to reduce empty mileage and fees for using wagons, as well as increase the efficiency of wagon use. Regulation and management of a fleet of private operators has acquired the greatest relevance in the organization and implementation of international cargo transportation: transit between Eastern and West Coasts, between Canada and Mexico. US private railway companies, in which shareholders make fundamental decisions, pay special attention to the management of transport infrastructure. Currently, the average annual investment in infrastructure here is approximately US$5 billion - 19% of the total operating costs of large class 1 railways, versus US$6.2 billion - 24% of rolling stock costs for a total investment of US$27 billion US dollars. The share of infrastructure costs has recently increased from 14% 30 years ago to 17% 20 years ago and, as stated above, to 19% today, demonstrating significant progress made through the understanding of the need to continually increase railway capacity and for the development of steadily growing volumes of transportation. The obvious desire to ensure the proper condition of track facilities and public areas is confirmed by the steady increase in investment in the industry. Indeed, of the total capital investment of $5 billion, 77% was in infrastructure versus 23% in rolling stock. It follows from all this that in order to maintain and increase investment in infrastructure, investors must be interested in the results of their investments and understand the importance and significance of this infrastructure to ensure further growth in traffic volumes

But really, you might not think it right away, but passenger rail traffic in the United States is very underdeveloped. Okay, it’s Europe, what are the distances there, but in the USA it would still be a decent amount of places to go.

What happened to passenger rail traffic in the United States? The state that calls itself a global superpower and was once a veritable kingdom of busy steel highways, after the Second World War, actually deliberately destroyed the mass transport of people by rail. Grand stations built during the “golden era” of rail were mercilessly demolished, reconstructed and simply abandoned. The legendary and often fantastic-looking transcontinental trains, which for decades had been part of the Americana, the material culture of the country, were simply thrown into the dustbin of history.

Why did this happen?

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the United States should largely thank rail transport for its current role as a superpower. Passenger traffic on the country's oldest railroad, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, opened in May 1830, and it was an event that once and for all changed the way Americans thought about their country and themselves.

The development of steel highways proceeded like an avalanche. Thanks to them, the products of factories, factories and farms began to be quickly delivered to ocean ports for export, bringing money to the United States and prosperity for industry and agriculture. People quickly forgot about the spartan conditions of stagecoaches and began to travel in comfort. Railroads dramatically shortened distances across the vast country, providing unprecedented mobility for its population, and with it the path to that very American dream. The rails and the seekers of fortune who arrived along them truly conquered the Wild West; it was they who made the United States truly United.

Golden age

By 1916, the last peaceful year for America, the total length of the country's railways reached a fantastic 409 thousand kilometers. For comparison: in the same year the length of all similar highways Russian Empire slightly exceeded 70 thousand kilometers. In the USSR - a real railway empire - at the peak of its development, the length of tracks, including access enterprises, was 220 thousand kilometers, and in China, which launched a grandiose railway construction, now the network of roads of this kind has only exceeded 120 thousand kilometers and should increase by 2050 " only doubled.

A hundred years ago, the United States, especially its eastern half, found itself enmeshed in a dense railroad web. Of course, she was far from optimal. There were many competing private operators in the country, whose railways often duplicated each other. Moreover, the rail boom gave rise to phenomenal speculation on this basis. Cornelius Vanderbilt, J.P. Morgan and Jay Gould made their millions, their current billions, on the railroads, and, of course, this method of enrichment could not help but attract swindlers and adventurers of various calibers.

Periodically, the boom turned into a bubble that burst. Uncontrolled construction for the sake of construction, the bankruptcy of the banks that provided loans for it, and speculation in railroad stocks were the direct causes of the stock market crashes of 1873 and 1893, but despite this, the American rail network continued to expand, reaching its peak before the First World War.

The railroads actually ensured the transformation of the United States into a powerful industrial power; thanks to them, hundreds of millions of acres of valuable land in the center of the country were brought into agricultural use, which, in turn, ensured lower prices for food and other goods and contributed to the influx of dispossessed immigrants from the Old Sveta. Railways were at the forefront of progress, they were not just a symbol of the country, but also an important stimulus for the development of science and technology; modern methods of doing business were born in their office buildings. Railroads made America America.

In large cities across the country at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, rail operators built grandiose stations - veritable palaces, the equivalent of European castles, transport temples. For an ordinary citizen, visiting them became a real event. Once inside these gigantic buildings, the worker and the farmer, the newspaper delivery man and the laundress, the official and the clerk, the writer and the gangster felt their involvement in the real sacrament - the beginning (or end) of the Journey. The future of American railroads seemed bright, but it was just a mirage. Clouds were already swirling on the horizon, and each of them had the shape of a Ford Model T that rolled off Henry Ford's production lines.

For about 70 years, until about 1920, railroads remained virtually the only means of intercity transportation in the United States. With the start of mass production of cars, the advent of buses and the construction of the first highways, the popularity of traveling by train began to gradually decline. The process was slow and not very noticeable at first, especially since in the 1930s American railroad companies began to introduce completely new types of rolling stock and travel formats. Streamline came into fashion - an artistic style, an offshoot of Art Deco, which was characterized by streamlined silhouettes, a swift aerodynamic image, associated with something ultra-modern, even fantastic.

Steam locomotives of archaic forms were replaced by futuristic locomotives, trimmed with shiny polished metal and more reminiscent of the first rockets. The famous trains California Zephyr, Texas Zephyr, Super Chief, Flying Yankee, Rock Island Rocket rushed along the roads of the country faster and faster, the very names of which encrypted in every way their main advantage - speed. Speed ​​and comfort. In luxury trains, in addition to sleeping cars, which provided unprecedented comfort, there were restaurants, lounges and even special cars with panoramic glazing, which allowed passengers to enjoy the surrounding nature without interrupting small talk over a cocktail. It was probably a triumph of industrial design highest point development of the country's railways and their swan song.

End of an era

During the Second World War, steel lines received their final impetus for development. Gasoline became a strategic commodity, its supply was limited, and people again switched to trains. However, with the end of the war and the beginning of rapid economic growth in the United States, railroads increasingly faded into the background. Streamline trains, by inertia, enjoyed a certain popularity for about ten years, especially over long distances, but mass transportation was steadily falling. Already by 1946, 45% fewer trains were operating in the States than in 1929, and then the process of outflow of passengers only worsened. Along with the number of passengers, the income of private railway operators fell, their debts grew, the first bankruptcies began, and the state withdrew from subsidizing rail transportation. He has new favorites.

Traditionally, in the United States, railroads have been private businesses. Its successful development was more than once interrupted by crises, but the rail magnates, losing first one or another of their colleagues, always pulled out and continued to earn money on their own. The railroad network was well, perhaps overdeveloped, and the federal government concentrated its efforts on other infrastructure projects. In 1956, the United States began large-scale construction of a system of interstate highways, the so-called “Interstates,” a project that would take 35 years and cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars. President Eisenhower, who commanded the Allied armies in Europe during World War II, was very impressed by the Nazi autobahns in Germany, and he became interested in creating a similar network of expressways in his country. In addition to their defensive value, they were supposed to provide ordinary and increasingly motorized Americans with the opportunity to quickly, safely and independent travel across the USA.

This was a heavy, but far from the only blow that marked the beginning of the complete destruction of passenger rail traffic in America. At the same time, it entered its new, reactive era civil Aviation. The federal government subsidized its development and the fundamental reduction in the cost of domestic flights, including through the construction of airports, not only in large, but also in medium-sized and even small cities and populated areas. The last point was very important. After some time, it turned out that it was possible to fly to literally any town in the entire vast country (or its immediate environs).

Born of the “free market” and having earned billions of dollars from it, private railway companies were suddenly faced with its own grin. Deprived of government support and concerned about competition with each other, they were unable to keep tariffs at a level competitive with road and air transport. For a conditional farmer in Nebraska, who had earned money and wanted to vacation somewhere in Florida, it turned out to be simply more convenient and cheaper to get to the vacation spot in his own car along the highway or to get to the nearest airport and in a few hours, even with transfers, find himself by the warm blue sea.

Railroad companies found themselves in a hopeless situation - with extensive infrastructure, highways that often duplicated each other, rapidly falling passenger traffic and revenues, and equally rapidly growing debts. Faced with complete indifference on the part of the state, they were forced to begin cutting costs: huge palace stations in city centers, in the absence of customers, became an unbearable burden, which they began to get rid of. In New York in the 1960s, the monumental Pennsylvania Station, which occupied several blocks, was mercilessly demolished, which shocked contemporaries. The famous Grand Central in New York was saved only by a miracle.

Their counterparts in other large cities faced different fates: some (like Union Station in Washington or Los Angeles), which nevertheless retained more or less active movement of long-distance and commuter trains, continued to operate as intended, others (like in Cincinnati or St. Louis) were eventually repurposed for other functions - museum or shopping and entertainment. The giant complexes in Detroit and Buffalo were much less fortunate - they were simply abandoned.

Trains were canceled en masse; due to the infrastructure crisis, many remaining trains ran with increasing delays from inconvenient stations on the city outskirts, routes were closed, and along with them thousands of stations. Passengers simply stopped relying on the railway as a reliable means of getting to their desired destination. Rail transport was no longer associated with progress, something modern, in keeping with the spirit of the space age.

took his place jet aircraft And own car, which gave Americans, traditionally individualistic in spirit, a desired sense of independence, and the infrastructure created according to Eisenhower’s plan with interstates literally dotted with motels and eateries provided the necessary space in order to realize this independence.

The final blow to private passenger railroad companies came in September 1967, when the U.S. Postal Service canceled their service. Payments for the transportation of mail allowed carriers to keep many remaining flights on the edge of profitability, and the departure of such an important client provoked another wave of mass liquidation of familiar routes.

In 1968, in a desperate attempt to save themselves, the country's two largest surviving railroad companies, the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central, merged, but it turned out that what they had in common was their own problems. Bankruptcy followed in 1970, but by this time the American federal government had come to its senses. The aviation and automobile lobby, of course, retained its influence, but even with its interests fully taken into account by the Nixon administration, it became clear that the future, and the near future, threatened the complete collapse of the country's railway system, which is fraught with unpredictable consequences. In May 1971, with the formation of Amtrak, the remains of passenger rail service were effectively nationalized.

This was the end of the American railroad dream. In a decade and a half, what had been created over the previous 120 years was virtually destroyed. Of the 409 thousand kilometers of tracks that existed in 1916, only 220 thousand remain now. The US railroad network is still the largest in the world, but 80% of it is missing passenger traffic. Amtrak now carries more than 30 million passengers a year, twice as many as in 1972 (its first full year activities). It would seem that progress is being made, but a third of this traffic comes from the small but very busy Northeast Corridor - a high-speed line between Boston and Washington through New York and Philadelphia. Another 5.6 million people move short distances within California.

The miraculously preserved long-distance trains account for less than half of all Amtrak passenger traffic: they are very expensive and not very comfortable. Over the past 60 years, American railroads have undergone a remarkable evolution from a means of transportation to a luxury enjoyed only by tourists.

The United States has lost the habit of using hardware, and it will be very difficult to accustom the country to it again. The average American will never understand a multi-day trip across the country in a compartment, much less in a reserved seat, with the obligatory chicken wrapped in foil, boiled eggs and a bottle of whiskey. The future of local rail transport lies only in the renewal commuter traffic and possible high-speed highways. High-speed rail in California, which should connect San Francisco and Silicon Valley with Los Angeles and Anaheim, is already under construction, but so far its experience shows only one thing: new China with its thousands of miles of highways, every year in the US is impossible. It will take a long time for the railway romance to be revived and it will be very, very expensive.

And what was this and