Awareness of rail transport in the general population

[bikkuri bahn]

Living in Japan, and coming off a recent visit to Switzerland, with its tremendous railway infrastructure for such a tiny nation, this article is quite interesting:

 

My stints working at Railway Age aside, railroads and rail-related issues are and have been a standard part of daily life, as it is for the lucky few in the U.S., including so many of my friends and neighbors. So many, yes, but certainly not all, and I need only scan the awareness levels of my own blood ties and extended family to affirm that rail's public relations status has a long, long way to go.

 

I often perform an "internal family review" as a useful reminder that some ideas, like increased U.S. rail reliance, will take time, maybe another generation, maybe more, to become more pronounced, and more visible – one hopes at a pace equal to the increasing reality of being oh so more necessary.

And it's going to take time, no doubt, to see those attitudes adjust.

 

 

http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/blogs/doug-bowen/familial-failing-rail-rarely-registers.html?channel=41

[ozman2009]

I live in Sydney, Australia, and I know that there are a lot of kids here who have never been on a train (or bus). The situation is much the same in the USA, I'd suspect.

[spacecadet]

It's regional in the US. I would say "awareness" of rail transportation where I live near NYC, for example, is 100%.

 

It's kind of surprising to me that the author of that article says he lives in NJ. His family sounds like a family of shut-ins. NYC area trains combined carry about 9 million people per day. Northeast Corridor trains are often sold out. The author acts like his brother-in-law was the first to discover this little-known service called Acela Express - you often can't even get a ticket on it unless you book weeks in advance! I'm not sure how anyone could be "unaware" of rail services in the area, even if they don't personally ride. If I asked someone in my town if they knew of the Long Island Railroad and they said "no", I'd call an ambulance because they'd clearly have to be having a stroke.

 

There are a lot of cities in the US with *no* rail service of any kind, though. For those people, rail literally does not exist as an option. But that doesn't describe NJ or anywhere in the northeast, really. The midwest, south and west, sure. But many of those areas are not very densely populated, with a lot of space in between urban centers, so it's somewhat understandable.

Edited January 19, 2015 by spacecadet

[Guest ___]

How did you kike ch? My plans for this year if I don't end up having to relocate is to fly in to Zurih and then spend a week in Lucerne. I planned to do a good bit of SBB CFF FFS on this trip

[miyakoji]

I live in Sydney, Australia, and I know that there are a lot of kids here who have never been on a train (or bus). The situation is much the same in the USA, I'd suspect.

 

Yes definitely, except for spacecadet's example.  Also I'd guess that knowledge of and willingness to use the NEC drops quickly as you get 15 or 20 miles away from it.  Given NJ's shape, and the NEC's alignment, no doubt there are NJ residents for whom the NEC is unknown.

[bikkuri bahn]

How did you kike ch? My plans for this year if I don't end up having to relocate is to fly in to Zurih and then spend a week in Lucerne. I planned to do a good bit of SBB CFF FFS on this trip

It was good, I had only a couple of days, but I used one full day riding and photographing trains.  Unfortunately the lakeside locations along the Gotthard Pass approach line were enveloped in peasoup fog, so I had to change my plans midday, which was not a problem as SBB runs services at Japan-like frequencies (and seemingly identical timekeeping discipline).  If I had an option, I would definitely go when the sunlight hours are longer, to squeeze in another three hours or so of available light photography.  Lucerne is likely a good place as a base, given its central location and proximity to attractions.  Cheaper by a bit than Zurich too, I reckon.

[marknewton]

What Gary says about Sydney is spot-on. For many people here, they're only aware of public transport when things go wrong. Like tonight... :(

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.