Recent content by Swede

The AEM-7 are based on the Swedish RC4 engine, which is still in common use here. The swedish cargo operator Green Cargo has recently announced that they will modernize their fleet of RC engines (mostly RC4), and thereby extend their lifespan with at least 20 years. Electric engines can go a...

Very good link, but don't click his "Tresspass incident" story unless you're prepared for a disturbing and gory picture.

It's a good idea, and the swedish operators do it here as well. However, for rail to be really environmentally friendly, it should be electrically powered, not diesel powered. So for the NEC it would work, but otherwise I'm doubtful.

This is exactly what I think also. The US should electrify more track. It is not cheap, but it is doable, just look at other countries!

A swedish Y1 (italian diesel train, not sure what they're called in english - in swedish they are literally called "engine wagon", ie basically a passenger wagon with it's own engine and "cockpit") has been converted to run on biogas. There is a picture of it here...

Thanks a lot! This is a great source of information :)

I have googled for this for a while but not found any info.. What is the length of electrified railways in the US? The CIA World Factbook gives the total length of the railways to 226,605km, but does not state how much of this is electrified. Does anyone here know?

From a swedish viewpoint, I take trains because they are cheap and plentiful, and also much more environmentally friendly and energy efficient than other modes of transportation (especially if we're talking electrified trains). However, I also enjoy flying and have a private pilot license. To...

Why not just do what we do in Sweden? Pre-assigned car and seat numbers that are reserved at the time of ticket purchase. Sure, people sometimes wander around trying to get at better seat, but when you have a ticket with a specific seat number printed on it, it's hard to refuse that seat.

Ok, I wasn't aware that they were that fast. Perhaps I have to revise my opinion on the speed. It was dark and I was very tired after the flight from Sweden (and I didn't get a window seat), so it was difficult to estimate the speed. Anyway, my impressions were generally positive.

This is my first post, so hello to you all! I live in Sweden, and train travel here is relatively more large than in the US. The main operator SJ alone had approx 26 million sold train tickets in 2005, and this in a country of 9 million people. During my last visit to the US in december I got...