I’ve just finished ready Christan Wolmar’s the Great Railway Revolution, the epic story of the American Railroad. I found it a great read. As I’m not from the U.S I would like to know how anyone has found the book. I know it’s a very concise history of American Railroading, but as Americans do you think as a single volume it provides a good base of railroading history?
For me it was great to read, how the railroads united your country after your civil war. How they shaped American society, influenced politics. Only to loose their premier position within society. Even having their own version of the current banking crisis. How they coped with Government regulation and then deregulation and the various groups whom seem to be ideologically opposed to them (something railways have to contended with here in New Zealand).
I have not read the book. However, I was in New Zealand 30 years ago and rode the trains from Auckland to Invercargill. I was not aware of groups there who seem to be ideologically opposed to rail. What are they specifically opposed to?
Our current administration, as well as our Land Transport Authority, and some industry groups. are opposed to rail in that it is capital intensive and do not believe it receive any sort of public funding. Unlike our state highways, airports ans coastal shipping. In short rail should pay it’s full costs while other forms of transport should be subsidised. I should also add, We have some political parties and industry groups that do support rail.
Our freight railroads are largely self supporting, however, groups that don’t like government subsidies don’t like our national passenger rail entity, Amtrak, or transit lines.