Electrifying Rail Lines
The Southern California Regional Rail Authority Task Force has stated that the electrification of the 806 miles of Southern California commuter and freight rail service will cost $4.6 billion and take 18 years to complete.
This works out to a cost of $5 million per mile and a construction speed of 4 miles per month.
I should like to point out the following: In 1978 South Africa electrified 542 miles of track, a rate of 45 miles per month. In 1977 Russia electrified 497 miles of track. There are numerous other examples. With regard to cost, in 1977 the French instituted a 10-year program to electrify 780 miles of track at a cost of (U.S.) $800 million, about one-fifth of the rail authority estimate. Similarly, Italy, between 1975 and 1979, spent only $75 million to electrify 365 miles of track, a rate of about $2 million per mile.
Naturally, these figures have to be adjusted for inflation but, come on guys, I don’t get it.
LAUREN ZUCKERMAN
Sherman Oaks
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