Task for engineers-resuscitating the U.S. rail system

It is noted that, to create an effective new rail system in the US, passenger and freight services would be needed, both of them integrated and standardized in a national plan. It is suggested that it is absurd to pose the future of railroads as a complete dichotomy between superspeed passenger lines on one hand and slow freights meandering over decrepit trackage on the other hand. One would hope that the latter category would steadily shrink, but a unified system means that long-distance passenger service, commuter lines including airport access, and freight would move at optimal speeds and provide maximum convenience for their users. This objective-an integrated system, electrified for maximum energy saving and security-defines the details of what should be national policy as well as the tasks that US engineers must face in tackling the job. It is concluded that, if a new system is to fulfil its purposes, engineers will have to become part of an industrial rescue operation that has few parallels