By Neena Satija, December 2, 2013
Forget about the need for high-speed rail. An investigation is underway, but yesterday's Metro-North train derailment
in New York City, which killed four people and injured more than 60,
exposes the long-term lack of investment in mass transit infrastructure
in the U.S. In July, a freight train hauling trash had derailed in the same area. And this weekend's incident came just a day after a freight train derailed in New Mexico
and plunged into a ravine, killing three crew members. More than just
long delays and billions of dollars in lost economic productivity,
America’s neglect of railroads has deadly consequences.
The failure to pay attention to basic
maintenance needs has led to much more significant losses of life across
the world. When a 2011 train crash in Wenzhou, China, killed 40 people,
not even 10 years after the country had begun building its high-speed
rail system, even state-run television didn't hesitate to point fingers at the government. Soon after, hundreds were injured in a Shanghai subway accident. Concerns about building track on unstable, sinking soil,
and in earthquake-prone areas of Western China, have also been raised,
but the rapid expansion of the country’s rail is far from slowing.
In India, where billions have been committed in
recent years to expanding and improving mass transit, the situation is
far worse. A government panel accused the country’s railway system of
"massacre" after finding that 15,000 people die each year simply
while crossing the railway tracks. The panel said replacing unsafe
crossings with bridges or overpasses would cost $10 billion. India is
now eyeing foreign investment
for its public transport sector—but it remains to be seen if that will
result in upgrading a decrepit system, or new and flashy expansions.
Investing in basic infrastructure needs like
maintenance isn't a sexy political cause. But it's necessary. And
passenger rail may not even be the biggest concern: freight rail
accidents actually could be the most catastrophic. The American Society
of Civil Engineers said in 2006 that more than $120 billion will need to be pumped into U.S. rail
infrastructure to keep up with increasing demand for freight rail by
2035—and that was before a major oil and gas boom in the U.S. created a
market for rail transport of crude.