The Battle for Transportation Supremacy

Book excerpt: Nowhere in all of North America is the competition for passenger travel more intense than in the 450-mile-long Northeast Corridor. In The Battle for Transportation Supremacy, author Lawrence Walsh examines the struggles of transportation companies during the past 170 years as they aimed to be the leader and considers how that leadership is tough to attain and tougher still to hold on to. This study discusses how the southern half of this corridor-New York City to Washington, DC-is dominated by passenger rail travel, although the commercial airlines, buses, and even rental planes and cars are contenders. The northern half has, until very recently, been the domain of commercial airlines and buses. While rail passenger travel was once the dominant player, as were overnight steamships, both slipped away in importance. The overnight steamships disappeared completely, and the rail companies almost did as well. Walsh then details how rail travel surged back to the point where faster and more frequent electrified trains are once again in vogue and enjoying a major renaissance. He examines the environmental, fiscal, and technology factors that caused this and looks at today's titans of transportation. Including a host of illustrations, The Battle for Transportation Supremacy shows how history is, in part, a prologue to the future. Will a major success on the corridor's northern half be the model to further higher speed rail in the United States?