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From: jis1@mtgzz.UUCP (j.mukerji)
Newsgroups: net.railroad
Subject: Re: subways / European rail (really turnstiles)
Message-ID: <1562@mtgzz.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 16-Jan-86 09:30:11 EST
Article-I.D.: mtgzz.1562
Posted: Thu Jan 16 09:30:11 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 17-Jan-86 06:31:22 EST
References: <1545@brl-tgr.ARPA>
Organization: AT&T Information Systems Labs, Middletown NJ
Lines: 35

> If Amtrak goes under, who knows what will happen to the Corridor?  The
> maintenance costs are immense, not only for the catenary, but for
> maintaining 120 MPH track.

The corridor will survive any such eventuality simply because of its
indispensibility. That is one portion of the passenger rail system in this
country for which funding will be found somehow or the other, simply because
if all the passengers that are carried by Amtrak, NJTransit, SEPTA, and MDOT
were dumped on the highways, even the most ardent highway fans would vote
for funding the corridor, just so as to unclog their highways! Of course,
operating procedures, union contracts and such will have to change to
reflect the economic realities of the 80s and the 90s.

> Of course, maybe other countries don't pull freights with electrics; 

NO, no no..., that is not true. You were probably train-watching on a
non-freight or very light freight line. You see the real advantages of
electric operation on high density heavy freight lines. One such line that
comes to my mind is the Grand Chord section between Gaya Junction and Mughal
Sarai Jn. on the Eastern Railway in India. This section is part of the 25 Kv
AC 50Hz electrification that runs all the way from Calcutta to New Delhi.
This is one of the heaviest traffic carrying sections in the India and
perhaps the world. Standing on the platform of Dehri-on-Sone I have observed
freight trains go by every 5 to 10 minutes, with an occasional passenger
thrown in. All the freights are drawn by one or two WAM4 class 4000HP
electrics. It is really imressive.

I have seen similar electric freight operation, although not of that
intensity, on DB, and SNCF. I have read about heavy electric freight
operations in the USSR, and China too.

Jishnu Mukerji
AT&T Information Systems Labs
Middletwon NJ
mtgzz!jis1