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Originally Posted by Big Dave
The cost of electrifying the railroads is high not because the catenary is so expensive but because you’d have to build an entirely new electrical T&D system to feed it.
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I don't see why. I'd think you'd want it as part of the grid, if only to provide more "inertia" in both systems. And since the grid needs to be upgraded to handle e.g. all that future distributed & intermittent generation, the railroad lines could be part of it. Use the RR right of way for transmission lines, put stepdown transformers where needed...
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You know electrification is also possible for trucks on the Interstates.
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And buses in cities, as in many European cities.
Though what I think would be an improvement would be electric buses with high-speed flywheels. That way you'd only need short stretches of overhead power lines at selected stops: the bus pulls up, stores energy from the overhead while the passengers are boarding, then uses line power for initial acceleration, and cruises to the next stop on the energy stored in the flywheel.