So, if you were going to travel, how would you go? A car? A plane? A train? What about high speed rail if it were available? Transportation is the biggest contributor to greenhouse gases and finding alternative forms of transportation is an important factor in addressing pollution and the changing climate. Though there is no single form of transportation that will serve all needs all the time, high speed rail may offer one potential solution.

William Wong, of the Federal Railroad Administration at the US Dept. of Transportation, said that high speed rail is officially defined as rail that can travel at speeds of 180 miles per hour and travel through corridors with no grade crossing. While he noted that Amtrak’s Acela can reach speeds of 150 mph on certain segments of the Northeast Corridor and the Brightline in Florida can go 125 mph, there has never been a true high speed rail in the US. Japan started the Shinkansen line connecting Tokyo and Osaka in 1964 ahead of the summer Olympics. In 1965, Congress approved the High Speed Ground Transportation Act, which was an effort to develop high speed technology in the US, but those appropriations ended in 1975. Wong also said that American passenger rail largely operates on track owned by freight companies and high speed rail can only operate on a line built specifically for that purpose. He said that in the absence of long term funding and the construction of high speed rail corridors, passenger rail must run at lower speeds.

Roger Hill, an operational meteorologist based in Worcester, VT, said that high speed rail would be “awesome” and would not produce as much carbon emissions, which have contributed to floods and other extreme weather events.

Wong said that the environmental benefits between conventional rail and high speed rail were quite similar. However, he also cited a study from Dec. of 2022 that supported longstanding research that rail is one of the most sustainable forms of transportation. The report compares 4 different trips and looks at what the carbon footprint would be for each trip with different modes of transportation. The emissions are calculated based on kilograms of CO2. The trips in the report are as follows:

Boston to New York for 1 person:

Electric Rail-25.3

Bus-26.7

car-135

Plane-141.1

Los Angeles to San Diego for 1 person

Bus-15.2

Rail-44.2

Car-87

Air-105

Washington D. C.-Orlando for 4 people

Bus-111.1

Car-137

Rail-224.2

Air-246.6

St. Louis to Chicago for 1 person

Bus-37.1

Rail-47.3

Plane-184.4

Car-193.9

The report states that emissions were estimated by round trip. While the report acknowledges that these are not perfect comparisons, because miles for each trip vary, it states that the locations were chosen based on geographically diverse areas as well as ones that had access to all four modes of transportation. The rail routes had the most miles in the Boston to NY and LA to San Diego routes, while the bus had the most miles in the DC to Orlando and St. Louis to Chicago routes. In its conclusion the report states that cars were the most intensive, though air was the most for a shorter trip. It also said that electric trains had the lowest emissions for all modes in the study with the potential for no emissions if they were powered by 100% renewable energy. The report also states that when making comparisons, the full life of vehicles need to be taken into account, such as emissions from production, maintenance, and recycling or disposal at the end. It also notes that passenger decisions are complex and involve time, convenience, and accessibility and all these need to be taken into account as well. However, it says that rail has “a role to play in reducing emissions.” The Union of Concerned Scientists and the Department of Energy were contacted for interviews, but neither responded.

As previously noted, no single form of transportation will fit all needs all the time. However, looking for multiple solutions including greater expanding public transportation, as well as having vehicles powered by renewable energy can go a long way to meeting transportation needs and reducing our effect on the environment.

For more on transportation and the climate, please see my articles from Aug. of 2021 on the NOAA report on climate normals, Dec. of 2021 and May of 2022 on renewable diesel, and Nov. of 2023 on hurricanes.