>> Rail is good at moving large numbers in and out of large urban centres which
>> would otherwise be more congested. Otherwise car, coach, plane do a better job on most
>> journeys.
Rail is outstanding at moving large numbers of people in and out in the commuter sense but it's also good for longer distances. Apart from domestic routes like Manchester or Scotland it's also excellent internationally. Pre-Covid Eurostar had all but killed of London to Paris or Brussels by air. It can probably do Amsterdam and Cologne etc as well.
>> If used for freight, it needs double handling to get from factory to railway, and
>> then railway to final customer. Costly and slower - would need investment in facilities in
>> stations.
Most railfreight uses intermodal containers. Double handling applies to containers on lorries too. The train though is much faster at shifting a couple of dozen intermodal containers from Felixstowe to Glasgow than 30+ lorries. It's also good for truly bulk stuff. Less coal than there was but ores, fuel oil etc all find a niche in rail.
Subsidy is a difficult concept when the road network is maintained at public expense.
|