I'm looking at that 1700 number and considering the cost, and trying to think in terms of Lean manufacturing/ Theory of Constraints. And I bet the number could be cut to 1/4 (on its way to much, much lower than that) if the train business wasn't so commingled the government business.
Can you imagine someone like Musk putting up with 1700 derailments a year....for more than a year?
The first question I'd want hard answers to is WHERE did the trains derail? And which trains, SPECIFICALLY, derailed. Compare and contrast with those places and trains which have relatively clean records. Oh, and eliminate federal subsidies to the bad players, at least. (Actually, I'd likely favor getting rid of all subsidies, but if I felt it was a national issue, involving national money, I would be looking for new thinking and new leadership and ownership.
Trains deserve to be brought into the 21st century. You can pretty much bet they are still carrying forward tech and thinking from 50-100 years ago.
1700 derailments a year! That is even worse than the US military!!
| 