{"id":20572,"date":"2013-05-30T09:14:42","date_gmt":"2013-05-30T13:14:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/utu.org\/?p=20572"},"modified":"2013-05-30T09:14:42","modified_gmt":"2013-05-30T13:14:42","slug":"railroads-conservers-of-energy-friends-of-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smart-union.org\/railroads-conservers-of-energy-friends-of-environment\/","title":{"rendered":"Rails: Conservers of energy, friends of environment","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"
You might remember the TV commercial: A single locomotive pulling doublestacked containers through a pastoral landscape, a logjam of trucks and autos on the adjacent roadway, everything moving uncharacteristically slow, but the message conveyed with undeniable clarity: Trains move goods more efficiently than trucks.<\/p>\n
That same scenario is played out every day in countless locations: A mile-and-a-half-long train carrying more than 200 trailers and containers, making 60 mph or better across the wide open spaces, out-performing truckers on the nearby interstate who are moving freight trailers one, two, maybe three at a time. Or a throng of rush-hour motorists, six lanes wide, inching forward at a stop-and-go crawl in suburban Southern California. They can only watch as other commuters whisk by on a train that\u2019s L.A.-bound at close to 90 mph.<\/p>\n