Canada needs to rebuild its railway system

[mirror]

While he was in power Mulroney began the dismantling of Canada's railways. Now big trucks have taken over our roads in Canada, and are severely eroding our Canadian lifestyle to say nothing about the negative impact on the environment and our health with those cancer causing diseal fumes.

Truck company told to pay damages for deadly crash

An Ontario court has ordered a trucking company to pay $198,000 in connection with a horrific crash on Highway 401 that claimed eight lives.

Two trucks belonging to Schneider National Carriers based in Green Bay, Wis., were among the 71 vehicles involved, but the company had refused to accept any responsibility.

[SirSpanky]

Although you'll still need those big trucks in the urban areas to do the runs from the rail station to the recipiant, which is where they cause the most problems IMO. And it takes alot of freight to make moving goods by rail pay.

You'd probably need some tax incentives or the like to get it going.

[Renegade]

Taking trucks off the road solves nothing. Each mode of transportation is more efficient in certain circumstances.

Of course trucks use the roads, and they do cause a disproportinate amount of damage to the roads, but as long as they pay their share of the cost of the road they should have access to the road just like other vehicles.

[BHS]

Has anyone seen the huge, long mult-trailer trucks they use in Australia? They call them road trains:

Road Train

Any comments?

[mirror]

Just what we need going down Granville Street at 5 AM!

I have heard about those road trains but never ever seen a pic of them so thanks. I understand they are used in certain isolated, or low traffic roads that run down the middle of the continent or something like that. Never saw them when I was there although I spent most of my time on the Gold Coast.

[I Miss Trudeau]

Has anyone seen the huge, long mult-trailer trucks they use in Australia? They call them road trains:

Road Train

Any comments?

While I wouldn't especially like to see them in rush hour, they don't appear like they would cause much in the way of road damage. I count at least 27 axles on that thing. Well, 24 on the train, and 3 on the truck that are under the train.

[cybercoma]

The Schwartz Report for improving the Windsor crossing for international traffic calls for a redeveloped railway system here and a multi-modal transportation hub at Windsor Airport that combines rail, air and truck traffic. The hope is the use of double-decker rail cars -- which presently cannot cross into Canada -- will be used more predominantly as a way of transfering cargo.

I could sit here and talk to you all day about the problem with truck traffic, since I literally live 2 blocks from the main road leading to the Ambassador Bridge. I can also tell you that the government has known for at least a decade that this is a problem and they aren't willing to do anything about it.

There's a high school on the route where the trucks queue for the bridge and a woman was killed crossing the intersection to the school by a truck that ran a red light (a VERY common occurance) so they finally decided to build a pedestrian walkway there. I remember years ago when I went to that high school we had petitioned the government to put one in and they flat out refused. It took someone's death to do it.

Anyway, I agree that trains should be used more and there is a proposal on the table for Windsor/Detroit that would allow for that; however, the government simply refuses to even acknowledge the plan by the New York traffic guru Sam Schwartz (whom coined the term gridlock).

[I Miss Trudeau]

Although you'll still need those big trucks in the urban areas to do the runs from the rail station to the recipiant, which is where they cause the most problems IMO.

Well, in terms of loss of life, I think the highway drivers are a larger problem. In terms of pollution on the large scale, it doesn't much matter where you're burning fuel. Urban areas seem like a bigger problem because the concentration is high enough that you can actually see the results.

And it takes alot of freight to make moving goods by rail pay.

Not to mention the speed factor. Where I work, we are currently shipping a huge amount of lumber to Japan. If it is travelling by rail, it needs to leave our yard at least a week before the vessel sails out of Vancouver. Sometimes it gets there much faster, but the railroad won't guarantee arrival faster than a week. Alternatively, we could have it there by truck in 12-13 hours max.

[Riverwind]

While he was in power Mulroney began the dismantling of Canada's railways. Now big trucks have taken over our roads in Canada, and are severely eroding our Canadian lifestyle to say nothing about the negative impact on the environment and our health with those cancer causing diseal fumes.

Japan, a country known for its extensive rail networks, ships most of its frieght by trucks. Freight by rail is only economic if you have big heavy commodities (like grain, goal, etc) that need to go to a small number of destinations (like a port). If we have a problem with truck safety on the road then we regulate them more - using trains is not an solution.

[crazymf]

It's just staggering to think of all the fuel burned in one day in North America. Whether it's truck or rail, the whole system is dependent on oil. Our whole lifestyle is 100% dependent on oil.

It's going to be a rough go when the known oil reserves start to decline.

[mirror]

Solar power, wind power, hydro electric power, nuclear power are a few alternatives when we run out of oil and gas. Let's forget about coal as it pollutes too much. Of couse we could always go back to canoes.

[crazymf]

Power alternatives are but a smidgen of the uses for petroleum. I read an article a while back in either Time or Alberta Report, can't remember which, and oil is used somehow either directly or indirectly in practically everything we know and do.

They even had it down to how many barrels it takes to produce 1 beef steer.

I'm hoping the transition is gradual enough to switch over to alternatives in a fairly painless way.

On a side note, I had an oil company executive at my business a few years back and during the course of conversation I asked him what the plan was when oil runs out. He gave me a blank stare. The oil companies have no plan for when the oil runs short.

He does not have to worry about it because it will last his lifetime and longer!!

That was comforting.....

[I Miss Trudeau]

Solar power, wind power, hydro electric power, nuclear power are a few alternatives when we run out of oil and gas.

Hydro electric power typically causes at least as much environmental damage as fossil fuels, albeit of a different sort. Solar and windpower are both very good alternatives for immobile needs, though solar power could prove to be very useful for automotive applications with big improvements in the technology. I'm not a fan of nuclear energy given the (extremely) long term storage of (extremely) dangerous goods. Also, I can't see it ever being safe enough to put into automobiles.

At our current technological level, I don't think replacing fossil fuels with another form of energy will be very efficient for quite some time. Allthough, I would like to see urban mass transit systems move toward more electric busses, provided that we move toward more green methods of electricty production.

[I Miss Trudeau]

On a side note, I had an oil company executive at my business a few years back and during the course of conversation I asked him what the plan was when oil runs out. He gave me a blank stare. The oil companies have no plan for when the oil runs short.

They are eagerly waiting for when the oil runs short (ie. now), though I think they'd like to wait a while on it actually running out.

[Riverwind]

Power alternatives are but a smidgen of the uses for petroleum. I read an article a while back in either Time or Alberta Report, can't remember which, and oil is used somehow either directly or indirectly in practically everything we know and do.

Here is a non-doomsday scenario for the end-of-oil:

Once supply cannot meet demand the price will rise to the point that people will find alternatives. As these alternatives become more widespread and economical they will likely compete with oil even at lower prices. The result will be lower prices for oil even as the supply shrinks. Eventually, we could get to a point where oil is only used for applications that really need oil like plastics manufacturing amd air transport. That could mean that the world would have an infinite supply of oil since the demand will be much lower than it is today.

[Toro]

Power alternatives are but a smidgen of the uses for petroleum. I read an article a while back in either Time or Alberta Report, can't remember which, and oil is used somehow either directly or indirectly in practically everything we know and do.

Here is a non-doomsday scenario for the end-of-oil:

Once supply cannot meet demand the price will rise to the point that people will find alternatives. As these alternatives become more widespread and economical they will likely compete with oil even at lower prices. The result will be lower prices for oil even as the supply shrinks. Eventually, we could get to a point where oil is only used for applications that really need oil like plastics manufacturing amd air transport. That could mean that the world would have an infinite supply of oil since the demand will be much lower than it is today.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This is what will eventually happen, or some variation thereof. As oil gets too expensive, people will swtich to/develop alternative sources. Nuclear power is coming back. Buy Cameco stock.

[cybercoma]

Oh and I assure you truck drivers aren't a problem. Take into consideration how often you hear about truck accidents, then think about how often you hear about car accidents. I would venture to guess that the guy who drives a rig for 50 hours a week his entire life is going to be a hell of a lot better (read safer) driver than the average commuter.

Accidents like the one that happened on the 401 happen maybe a couple times per year between Windsor-London. More often than not it's the fault of a driver on the road and not the person driving the truck.

[I Miss Trudeau]

Oh and I assure you truck drivers aren't a problem.  Take into consideration how often you hear about truck accidents, then think about how often you hear about car accidents.

There are also a LOT more cars than trucks on the road.

I would venture to guess that the guy who drives a rig for 50 hours a week his entire life is going to be a hell of a lot better (read safer) driver than the average commuter.

Even after 15+ hours of driving that day and 60+ hours of driving that week? Fatigue is a very real problem, and it is causing deaths.

[mirror]

Except when cars have an accident they don't usually take out bridges in the process:

Pedestrian bridge collapses in B.C.

[Bakunin]

There is a railway near the road when i go to montreal, those thing are huge !! they can push kilometers of containers.

however, outside the big city, those railway have been converted in bike and rollerblade roads.

I think that if we would have a better railway system, like highspeed or larger and electric rail, it would help the environment and be more efficient than truck. However its an impossible task for a government to handle something comlpex like that. They already showed us we can't count on them even for the easyer tasks...

[cybercoma]

Save your breath about truck drivers, they're honestly not the problem. I'd say there's a hell of a lot more trucks on Huron Church (Hwy 3) than cars and they're rarely getting into accidents, it's mostly cars.

Fatigue is a problem, but most truckers will pull over and rest at stops; people in their cars don't usually do that and drive at much higher rates of speed, which is one of the leading causes of accidents.

If you want to talk about the problem of accidents, address drinking and driving and excessive speeding. Transport drivers honestly are not the problem they're made out to be.

[cybercoma]

oh, I forgot to mention about trucks constantly being inspected by the ministry while they're travelling on the roads to ensure that they're maintained properly as far as breaks, tires, etc.

Cars are rarely stopped for those reasons by the police.

[mirror]

You don't get it. When a truck has an accident it is not a little car having an accident. Think of that recent ferry incident at Horseshoe Bay compared to a motor boat having an accident, which is a good analogy. Of course truck drivers are better drivers than people in automobiles as they have to be. That is their occupation and their loads are much more dangerous. And don't give me that crap about all trucks being safe. Some are, usually the ones that drivers themselves do the maintenance on, because it is their own lives that are at stake. I would surmise that most trucks on the road are not safe, to either the car driving public, or the drivers themselves. But of couse you don't want any taxes to pay for safety enforcement. You see what lowering taxes results in, don't you!

Commuters driving on the roads are scared to death of these big trucks. Is that any way to to treat people just trying to get to work in the morning?

[cybercoma]

You don't get it. When a truck has an accident it is not a little car having an accident. Think of that recent ferry incident at Horseshoe Bay compared to a motor boat having an accident, which is a good analogy. Of course truck drivers are better drivers than people in automobiles as they have to be.  That is their occupation and their loads are much more dangerous. And don't give me that crap about all trucks being safe. Some are, usually the ones that drivers themselves do the maintenance on, because it is their own lives that are at stake. I would surmise that most trucks on the road are not safe, to either the car driving public, or the drivers themselves. But of couse you don't want any taxes to pay for safety enforcement. You see what lowering taxes results in, don't you!

Commuters driving on the roads are scared to death of these big trucks. Is that any way to to treat people just trying to get to work in the morning?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Commuters are scared to death of them?

Maybe I'm unique since, like I said, I live two blocks from the corridor to the bridge. I literally drive around transport trucks every day of my life and I feel safer around them than driving in downtown automobile traffic.

I guess my own experiences blind me to the problem.

[err]

While he was in power Mulroney began the dismantling of Canada's railways. Now big trucks have taken over our roads in Canada, and are severely eroding our Canadian lifestyle to say nothing about the negative impact on the environment and our health with those cancer causing diseal fumes.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It began a long time before Mulroney... (but don't take that as my defending Mulroney). When our national railways were sold off, there were conditions that the buyers had to maintain passenger rail service... but nobody ever enforced these conditions.

Railways are by far the most environmentally friendly method of transporting both goods and people. We should put pressure on our government to promote the re-development of railway services... not just in the GTA.

In Walter Stewart's book "Downsizing to Destruction ", there is an excellent chapter devoted to this topic. If I were to plug a book on Canadian politics, this would probably be one of my #1 choices....