> To be frank, while that number looks significant, when one considers how many miles of track there is in this country and how many miles the rolling stock travels (bad track is just as guilty as bad rolling stock), it could be far worse.
No, that's putting your head in the sand. Per ton-mile it's already far, far worse than in Europe & Russia.
We lag behind Europe and Russia on other things as well.
I wasn't trying in any way to bury my head in the sand, I know for sure things can be better.
I opined looking from inside and knowing maintenance. I have seen bent track spikes and bolts reused (on mainline track!), rotten ties ignored, tracks sitting on ballast with nothing securing them. I have witnessed for years at a facility where the tracks had spread wider than gauge due to rotted wooden ties, and the solution was "just go real slow," in order to avoid shutting down the track and doing proper repairs.
That was a fascinating read. For the period reported, US derailments, while still way higher than in other places, have declined 60%, whereas they've been pretty constant elsewhere. A huge factor seems to be the weight of US rail car loads and train sizes, which are substantially heavier and longer than those elsewhere in the world.
I wasn't trying in any way to bury my head in the sand, I know for sure things can be better.
I opined looking from inside and knowing maintenance. I have seen bent track spikes and bolts reused (on mainline track!), rotten ties ignored, tracks sitting on ballast with nothing securing them. I have witnessed for years at a facility where the tracks had spread wider than gauge due to rotted wooden ties, and the solution was "just go real slow," in order to avoid shutting down the track and doing proper repairs.