Quote:
Originally Posted by Hersbird
But more like light rail or even very light rail. Things like the existing road beds and bridges would already be strong enough to support the same weights being carried now.
Also you could electrify the rail as well making battery range anxiety on electic cars and trucks meaningless. Go the bulk of the journey without battery usage, then just use the battery for the "last mile".
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How feasible is that over long distances though? I know there are subways that run for 10's of miles, but if I leave the town I work in and head to the state capital (the nearest town of more than 1,000 that direction) it's about 100 miles of nothing in between, and I'm on the more populated side of the state. There are places west of Bismarck that are quite literally unoccupied for 50 miles any direction, especially away from the interstate. Without period power stations to keep the line voltage up I don't see such a system being feasible up here. Add in cold and snow, as well as wildlife crossing the road, and it gets uglier.
However, simply adding steel rail to the road bed for truck traffic (and frankly regular cars too) could be a huge positive in a lot of ways. Probably a pipe dream though.