Abstract

Is It Back to the Rails?

This article focuses on the new technological developments in inter-city and suburban rail transportation in the U.S. On the technical side railroads are making important progress, especially by adapting airplane technology, with its objectives of compactness, lightness and reliability, to ground transport. The coordinated transit approach aims to take advantage of the flexibility of the automobile and bus to feed high-volume, high-speed rail lines. In many suburbs feeder-bus transportation could bring passengers to the railroad station during the commuting hours and obviate both parking and walking from the car to the station which, as parking space is provided at greater distances, becomes a significant factor in making the train.