[Reason077]

> "I suppose your reply to that is that it is easier to convert Amtrak to renewables than to convert the highway system to renewables"

It's probably the other way around. The highways (ie: cars and trucks) will gradually convert to electric in the coming decades as the vehicle fleet is replaced and old equipment is retired.

On the other hand, electrifying long-distance rail requires a lot of very expensive infrastructure investment. Battery electric technology may mean that cost comes down, however (perhaps you only need wires on intermittent sections of track).

[adrianN]

Trains are one of the few applications where hydrogen fuel cells make more sense that batteries, or so I've heard.