Airline Mergers Should Push the U.S. to Improve its Rail Systems

The most important current news in travel is the strong possibility that American Airlines may merge with U.S. Airways as a result of the bankruptcy proceedings recently initiated by the former. That's a goal avidly pursued by the chairman of U.S. Airways and frequently discussed by industry figures, and it probably means that the United States is now on its way to having as few as four important airlines.
 
How can that be? Well, consider: United Airlines has now merged with Continental, Delta has merged with Northwest, Air Tran has merged with Southwest, and American may merge with U.S. Air. What will inevitably result from all this are much higher airfares, especially on the extensive and previously competitive routes serviced by American and U.S. Airways, and a possible reduction in the frequent flyer privileges had by passengers of both airlines.
 
One response, from members of the public, might (and should) be a renewed effort to increase the size and efficiency of Amtrak, to set this nation on a course towards an effective rail system. Trains are the most efficient user of fuel per passenger and airlines are among the least efficient. If we are to achieve energy independence, we must attend to the needs of our railroads, replacing some part of our reliance on planes. Only the most committed ideologues could deny that proposition.
 
There is some small progress on the road to high-speed rail, as in California, where planners have now reduced the proposed cost of the San Diego-to-San Francisco high-speed rail route by $30 billion, and where work is about to begin on the first segment of that line. In Italy, the wealthy Ferrari company has announced it will proceed to operate its own high-speed trains on the rail tracks capable of accommodating such vehicles in Italy. Ferrari will soon provide an example of how even private interests may benefit from high-speed rail lines constructed by the government of that nation.