Russian Railway is planning to replace 5,000 obsolete- Sleeping & Coaches Cars over the next 5 years, That a very Big New Order for Talgo building 5,000 new Sleeping cars and coaches for Russian LD trains. Why can’t USA think that big for Amtrak order thousands of new cars for Amtrak. It a real shame that Russian Railway putting big order when Amtrak is order just 130 new cars.
Why? Because the US bailed out GM and gives tax breaks to energy companies and thinks in terms of miles per gallon on interstate highways for you and thinks in terms of defensive airplane research which can be easily converted to passenger planes instead. I mean, not everyone gets to drive a train and you certainly can’t put $100 a week of gas into a passenger car per passenger. NOr could you drop bombs or attack the enemy at night from and SD70MAC like you can from jet planes and helicopters. And insurance companies would miss so much “investment money” if no one was buying private vechicle insurance.
Why can’t Amtrak just tack onto the Russian order, FRA crashworthiness be darned… Are we going to do this or are we just going to keep playing silly games?
Amtrak could use 500 New Superliners and alot more Viewlines cars in coaches and lounge car too say 300 plus more cars in viewliners.
As long as we have our Congress we will have silly games…they show up together in Roget’s Theseaurus! Passenger cars are under different words.
Well, that ain’t happening! More coaches for corridors, maybe. Talgo would be nice… But, by the time Amtrak and the FRA get done with the specs, they’ll be mucho-expensive, for sure!
There are several big differences – first, the Russian railways are wholly government owned; secondly, Russia encompasses such a vast territory that it takes almost a week to travel from one end to the other; third, Russia does not have modern highways or rely on motor transport as much as the U.S., especially across Siberia.
Amtrak should be getting more money then they are now, USA should treat are rail system better. Over Sea Countrys are putting the USA to shame by spend Billions&Billions of Dollars every year on they system.[2c]
Mostly true although I doubt that you heard that RZD sold two large chunks of their freight business off to private Russian Oligarchs, RZD ( Russian State Railways) retained a 25% stake plus one share in each. Also there is a growing Open Access freight business in Russia, strangely enough. But like all business in Russia it is a minefield to navigate all the corruption.
We could have World Class Amtrak if spend money on Amtrak system.[2c]
My observation is that the Russian railway system is extensive and ubiquitious, perhaps more so than any other nation on earth. They’re heavily into lightweight trains like Talgo, pardon the pun. Rider comfort is never a concern in that environment so, if anything, this order is a luxury compared to what the Russians have endured for over a century on their routes.
In addition, as another poster mentioned, they don’t have a nationwide interstate highway system. That, in itself, is what started the doom of the railroads in the United States.
The original post uses the word “planning”, not “ordered”.
That word usually means nothing is going to come of it if the past 20 years+ of Russian history are any indication. Russia thinks big, but nothing much usually comes out of it in post Communist Russia. Anyone that follows their military can vouch for that and the government also controls the railway.
Amtrak could say the same thing if it pleases you, but it doesn’t translate into it actually happening. I’ll believe it when contracts are signed, cars are rolling out of the erecting halls, and Talgo trains are whisking passengers across Russia. Even then, I’d be shocked if more than just a small fraction of those 5,000 cars were actually produced.
Until something concrete comes out of it, it’s little more than a wishlist like Amtrak’s ambitious timetable of when they’d like to replace the current Acela trainsets and Superliner I cars.
These other Countrys are spending Billions and Billions every year, when the USA is just spending 1.4 Billions dollars for Amtrak.[2c]