A rail's tale

Since Christmas Eve 1801, when inventor Richard Trevithick drove the first high-pressure, steam-powered carriage around Cornwall, England, rail transportation has transformed the world and its people as no previous invention ever had.

Almost overnight and with herculean efforts, rail lines laced across every conceivable landscape, connecting cities, moving the masses and providing the means to tame and tap the wilderness. Railroads were the way almost everything and everyone moved around the countryside, regardless of which country it was.

Winston Churchill described railroads as one of the great civilizing influences on mankind. (Readers interested in railroad history will enjoy "The Ultimate TRAIN," an informative new compendium by Peter Herring and DK Publishing.)

Passenger traffic in America reached its peak in the 1920s, but the Golden Age of Rail lasted until the mid-1950s, when sweeping investments and improvements in highways and skyways began to erode the dominance of the iron ways. Over the last 40 years, railroads steadily curtailed their inter-city services in the United States.

As passengers increasingly opted for planes to cover long distances and cars to cover shorter ones, railroads responded by focusing their priorities on moving freight. Many less-than-mainline trains simply stopped running, letting their stations, rights of way and rolling stock rot.

Eventually, trains became a viable, reliable, frequent passenger option only in several high-traffic, largely commuter corridors. For the rest of the country, passenger trains virtually ceased to be a realistic primary means of transportation.

In recent years, however, Amtrak has made significant improvements in the quality of its primary long-line passenger trains, upgrading the cars and on-train services on many routes to a level of comfort that surpasses anything found in an economy-class airplane.

Unfortunately, schedule options remain scanty. Pittsburgh, for example, sees only four Amtrak trains each day. The two that head west to Chicago depart at 11:25 p.m. and 11:59 p.m. eastbound, the train to Washington departs at 7:11 a.m., while the train to Philadelphia and New York City leaves at 8:30 a.m. Maybe.

To compound its difficulties, Amtrak and on-time performance have become something of an oxymoron, so much so that Amtrak has resorted to offering its passengers a money-back satisfaction guarantee that they'll have a safe, comfortable, enjoyable trip.

While that's a laudable promise, one the airlines could do well to emulate, it's not likely to make the trains faster, more frequent and more reliable or to win the "new Amtrak" many more Pittsburgh passengers. With so few schedule options, inconvenient departure times and journeys that all take seven or more hours to reach their destination, it's little wonder that area travelers eschew the rails. And Pittsburghers have more train service than most Americans.

Railroads in other countries are in a far better situation. In Europe, for example, where the distances are shorter and well-developed national railroad systems, schedules and operations have kept pace with modern times, trains are often the fastest, cheapest, most comfortable way to get from place to place, even with the advent of many new air carriers. Though much of that service is still on traditional trains, high-speed lines are gaining ground everywhere.

This spring, when Germany announced that it had shelved plans to build a magnetic levitation transportation system, it simultaneously reaffirmed its commitment to high-speed rail. The German ICE lines now link most of its major cities with trains that travel faster than 150 mph; high-speed service has even been extended to Frankfurt's airport.

In fact, most of the nations in Western Europe have made steady progress constructing high-speed rail links. The Eurostar Chunnel has slashed travel time between London, Paris and Brussels. France has the TGV and the Thalys. Italy has the high-speed Cisalpino and Eurostar Italia, along with the Pendolino tilting trains. Spain is completing its second high-speed rail line. On July 1, the new Oresund rail tunnel opened between Denmark and Sweden, with a high-speed X2000 system that provides links to Stockholm and other cities. Even England is getting in on the high-speed act, improving its Eurostar links to the Chunnel and upgrading its west coast line between London and Glasgow with tilt-train technology.

Each new development makes European inter-city rail an even more suitable alternative to travel by air or highway. In fact, high-speed trains often provide faster, more reliable service from city center to city center than flying between airports, especially when the weather is problematic. These trains also rate high in the comfort factor, offering wide, plush seats and plenty of leg room, not to mention the chance to enjoy some spectacular scenery (albeit passing by at 150 mph) or to get up and walk around during the trip.

Even the service on regular European trains tends to be superior, with more frequent departures and a wide range of destinations. On longer international routes, many European lines offer very comfortable overnight compartments. That's particularly true if you have a rail pass.

European Rail passes permit passengers to ride anywhere in a system as often as they wish for a certain number of days within a particular time period. For example, one common pass can be used on any 10 days over two months. Passes can be further customized, providing transit within one country or as many as a dozen. Europasses cover France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland. A Eurail Pass includes those five nations, plus Austria, Belgium, Greece, Ireland, Hungary, Portugal and Scandinavia. England, Scotland and Wales have BritRail passes.

Rail passes provide plenty of flexibility for the money, especially for small groups traveling together. But they do require riders to use the more costly first-class compartments. Nor do they guarantee a seat; that may require an additional reservation fee.

No pass is a bargain if you don't make good use of it. In many cases, single-way and round-trip tickets, which can usually be bought right at the train station, are a better deal for one-time journeys. Also, you must buy European rail passes before you leave the United States.

Amtrak is still struggling to introduce its new high-speed Acela on track between Boston and New York. High-speed rail works in Europe. Why can't we get it rolling in the United States? And we're not even talking maglev, but just steel wheels on smooth, straight rails.