2002 PASSENGER RAIL AT A GLANCE : A STATE-BY-STATE GUIDE OF PLANNED CAPITAL PROJECTS FROM RADIO UPGRADES TO STATION RENOVATIONS TO LINE EXTENSIONS

This article presents the 2002 state-by-state guide to passenger rail for 2002, including planned capital projects. Railroads need to formulate consensus on the path that passenger rail projects should take. Railroads and the regions they serve need to see how they can link to other geographic areas to create an integrated network. This is especially the case with high-speed rail, which is popular in certain regions, but which needs to be built in a way that the corridors can inter-connect to get the most benefit from the investment. A graph of six-year ridership trends shows commuter rail and light rail inching up slowly. Commuter rail and light rail also have generally newer vehicles and locomotives than heavy rail and others. The number of active passenger vehicles is holding roughly steady for commuter and light rail and heavy rail. Commuter and light rail together have about half as many vehicles as heavy rail. The article provides data for each state on: route miles, rolling stock, annual operating costs, ridership and average trip length and annual capital costs for most.