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German Rail website showing environmental impact

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[quote user="schlimm"] However, TRE is not necessarily representative of mass transit outside the DFW area and certainly not comparable to under 500 mile corridor train services.  The ATK trains you cite are examples only of the sort of trains that ATK should discontinue.  Citing personal examples is far more relevant than an aggregate statistical sample from a population that is not comparable to the question at hand.  In other words, if you cite a study looking at 1000 apples, even one example looking at an orange is far more valid if the subject is oranges.  There will always be folks who stick to their autos, of course.  But that does not eliminate the need for developing real services in a limited number of appropriate corridors (beyond the NEC) as a part of the overall mix. [/quote] The TRE was modeled on commuter rail routes in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, etc.  It is a 32 mile commuter railroad.  It is a push/pull operation.  It uses GO cars. I agree on the Eagle and Heartland Flyer.  They should be discontinued.   A point that I was attempting to emphasize was the difference between lab results and the extent to which they are applicable on the ground.   A couple of years ago a Noble prize winning economist claimed that 21 per cent of America's manufacturing capacity was idle.  Where did he get that number I asked?  Well, he got it from the BEA, which is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Part of that idle capacity would be the percentage of generation capability not being used by the nation's electric utilities.  What would it take to make that determination?  One would have to know the generating capacity of every generator in the country.  There are thousands of them.  That information could be gotten off the builder's plate and, in fact, it is submitted periodically to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Operating data is fed to the FERC monthly. Ah, not a problem.  Match up the operating data with potential output data.  Whoops, not so easy.  Older generators cannot attain their state operating output.  And some brand new generators can be run above rated capacity for short periods of time.  Factoring all that information into the model would be a daunting challenge.   Those who calculate the environmental impact of various modes of transport are faced with a challenge similar to the one described above.  What is the difference between the theory and the results on the ground?
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