Then offer a penalty clause for trains that have more than 80 cars. Each car over 80 gets penalized a certain dollar amount. 

Make it such that the most profitable trains are 80 cars or less after penalties have been incurred!

i.e. 10% penalty for the 81st car, 15% penalty for the 82nd car, 20% penalty for the 83rd car, 25% penalty for the 84th car and 30% penalty for the 85th car. So, for trains that have 85 cars, they would stand at a net profit of $0.

10%+15%+20%+25%+30%=100%.

So, if they ran a train with 150 cars, they would stand to lose 12,775% of their profits!

FWIW

How to propose to make your long train penalties happen, Walter?

I was thinking the opposite.   Amtrak should run more cars on each train.   That would enable Amtrak to carry more passengers for a greater profit.   At present an Acela train set has 8 cars and other trains have about the same number.   Amtrack should run 10 to 12 cars on each train.   

And if there were cars running empty Amtrak could decrease the fare until it reaches the point of maximum profit for the train.   That would move more people at a lower fare while increasing revenue.   

Ish 

According to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), states are responsible for evaluating grade crossing risks and prioritizing grade crossings for improvement 1. The decision to install a specific type of warning device at a particular public grade crossing is made by the state highway authority, not by a railroad, and approved by the Federal Highway Administration 1.

The FRA also states that maintenance of highway-grade crossings and tracks are the responsibility of individual railroads under federal law and regulations.

Therefore, all crossings in the USA to be surveyed, properly graded to accommodate semi trucks, trailers. 

Thank you, I stand corrected, looks like everything I've heard was incorrect on that.

What the law says is one thing.   What actually happens is something else again.   There are examples of grade crossings which, because of the additions of ballast to maintain them, are considerably higher than the roads that intersect them.   And there are cases where large vehicles such as trucks or buses have gotten stock on the railroad tracks because the track is so high above the road.   And they have been hit by trains because of that.   

Ish

Ishmael112 said...

How to propose to make your long train penalties happen, Walter?

Shunting yards are where the cars are assembled. 

Each train has a schedule which includes origin, destination, number of cars, types of cars, weight of cars, etc.

Most yards have a single departure track that switches them on to the main line. Some yards have dual departure tracks.

Cars are inspected while they are in the yards as they're assembled, so there is already an inspection process in each yard.

All that needs to be done is to inspect/count/monitor the number of cars on each train as it leaves the departure track and heads out to the main line. That process could even be automated. Likewise, the yard master and workers couple and decouple cars according to the schedule for each train and both the yard master and the engineer of the train know the number of cars. They need to know the number of cars and weight to determine which engines and how many engines will be required. 

As such, penalize the yard master and the engineer for coupling/transporting more than 80 cars.

As for the rests of your story, you're referring to commuter cars, I'm talking about freight cars. Yes, I believe longer commuter trains would be beneficial on certain lines, but then again... I've never heard of a commuter train longer than 16 cars either. One other thing about commuter trains, for people to get on and off of the train, they require a platform. Some stations are short and don't have enough length to handle longer passenger trains, so that needs to be taken into account too!

FWIW

What I mean is how do you get Congress to pass the legislation?

Just get Biden to write an EO... that's what he's been doing for the past 2.5 years!!! Then no need for Congressional approval.

FWIW

Amtrak Joe Biden is well known for his commitment to rail transportation.   In fact he has already gotten a lot of money to expand passenger transportation.   So if he was inclined to create and Executive Order (if not an actual law) to improve safety from and for freight trains most likely he would have done so by now.   

And to an extent he has.   His current legislation eliminates a number of grade crossings.   That is important to improving rail safety.

PS.   Elysian Fields Avenue in New Orleans has an overpass which crosses 5 railroad tracks.   My father in law told me that  there used to be frequent car train accidents there.   However, Governor Huey P. Long had the overpass build and since then there have been no collisions.  

Here are images of the past and present along with other parts of the city

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1CAZUKV_enUS1007&sxsrf=APwXEdcWPjx1CTG3kfPvbG2z57YTwvVmDQ:1686493382286&q=Elysian+Fields+rail+overpass+New+Orleans&tbm=isch&source=univ&fir=V9Giy-v99dDqNM%252CbjKrkZw2sb_pKM%252C_%253BXcNzXyZ5RmVPgM%252CB68y5DsHR99IkM%252C_%253B21xknz4g0zFT0M%252CbjKrkZw2sb_pKM%252C_%253BK8uUUC7ZBLOU8M%252CKU4Mr4iZY33PBM%252C_%253BqIPf9xVIJFZHaM%252CbjKrkZw2sb_pKM%252C_%253B8lm3CKO6vSNayM%252CHOpOcHnS4U7LBM%252C_%253B2Twl3gcluG9CqM%252CB68y5DsHR99IkM%252C_%253BIM5C6Ic-wNQkzM%252CKU4Mr4iZY33PBM%252C_%253BsnzqfDmwGsR6dM%252CpbzbITYnzJWFLM%252C_%253BA2CFLxKRQOfVOM%252CbjKrkZw2sb_pKM%252C_&usg=AI4_-kSQ_Uc3fdbF_VLOPeniady5LaflSA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiH-d23tbv_AhX0FVkFHW63DtwQjJkEegQITBAC&biw=768&bih=384&dpr=2.5

Ish

Overpasses go a long way in reducing grade crossing incidents. 

But that is up to the state and not Biden. Of course, Biden's dollars will help drastically, but the decision is up to each state. 

Some states spend more money on housing illegals in posh hotels while others build overpasses with that money!

FWIW