Third Rail

October 04, 2008

Here's an interesting piece of the Ditch Oil puzzle: electrified rail. Alan Drake lays out a meaty plan that could reduce our oil consumption by twelve percent. Here's the highlights:

• Electrify half of U.S. railways (move trains from diesel to electric)
• Put on rail 85% of the goods that currently go by truck
• Use railroad right-of-ways as electrical transmission corridors (creating a beautiful marriage between electricity guys--that otherwise must work through thousands of individual owners, eminent domain, and so on--and railroad guys, that now need electricity)
• Site wind turbines along the railways
• Use the new rail electrical transmission corridors to move power created by the Wind Belt
• Add tracks next to existing tracks to double up to meet the increased demand

Electrified rail is yet another way to turn petro-dollars into an investment in this country that creates jobs for Americans, improves national defense, upgrades and expands the electrical grid, improves air quality, addresses climate change and mitigates risks associated with the peaking of globabl oil production.

Let's go.

Photo: Marcus Claesson on flickr

Comments

[stomv]

That last one on the list is so important. There are three ways to increase rail capacity -- transfer it faster, transfer it taller, or transfer it wider. Transferring cargo faster is out -- it would take re-engineering the tracks, the railroad cars, and the loading algorithms. Moving taller cargo is possible -- trains can stack boxcars 2 high, so long as all the underpass bridges are high enough to span double-tall rail, and all the overpass bridges are strong enough to support double-tall rail. The third one -- more lines -- is the best way to increase capacity, because it makes the system more robust. If one train fails, it's easier to go around. If you're shipping cargo and faster-moving people, the Amtrak train can safely pass the cargo. It'd be nice to go both double-tall and more parallel lines.

Trouble is... where's the land going to come from? Sure there's plenty of room out west, but on the east coast the track runs adjacent to private property in use, so there'll be plenty of eminent domain to expand right of ways.

That's not to say it can't be done -- it'll be a key way to reduce fuel consumption. But, it's a tough thing to do [as are the others] in the population-dense northeast and Chicagoland.

[Chris]

one of the t hings that struck me about Alan's electrified rail presentation is that it is viewed, not as a silver bullet, but as a silver BB, one of the many solutions needed to get us where we are going. likewise, the double-wide solution is maybe a silver BB within the rail solution: it is applied where feasible out west. maybe high speed rail or going taller or other solutions make more sense in the too dense areas.

[JonF]

The idea of bringing back the rail system is not a new one. There is one major compromise that must be made for this electrified railway system to work. You'll never get enough power to run the rails with wind power alone. You must either expand construction of power plants. Nuclear, coal, hydroelectric whichever is more feasable. Mass transit and comprehensive city planning is key to cleaning our act and increasing our wildlands.

[Chris]

Jon, it makes sense that we'll have to come up with a lot more power production if we're going to move an audacious 85% from truck to rail. I'd like to map renewable potential: wind in the wind belt and off our three coasts, solar in the southwest, overlay with enhanced geothermal if this new tack gets legs, to see what renewables could do as the primary source for rail and other pieces of a new energy order. What renewables can't bring within reasonable cost boundaries, we would fill in with nuclear and conventional power production. Make a comprehensive assessment to help formulate a national strategy to shape and incentivize new energy development.

[Iconoclast421]

I agree that electrified rail can provide a number of hidden benefits, such as the ability to function simultaneously as the conduits of a modern power grid.

Unfortunately it puts us up against the same problems we ran into 50 years ago. The railroad industry got, well, railroaded. Because both consumers and wall street want autonomous vehicles. They are more profitable for wall street, and more appealing to the public. That is why I am suggesting a hybrid autonomous rail system. More details available if you click on my homepage link.

[Alternative Energy]

It's unfortunate that in many cities, they have removed a lot of the old rail spurs that could have been used for local delivery.