Editing Rail transport (section)

==Social, economic, and energy aspects==

===Energy===
Transport by rail is an [[energy efficiency in transport|energy-efficient]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.progressiverailroading.com/news/article.asp?id=16740 |title=Railroad Fuel Efficiency Sets New Record |author=American Association of Railroads |access-date=12 April 2009 |archive-date=26 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131126044749/http://www.progressiverailroading.com/news/article.asp?id=16740 |url-status=live }}</ref> but [[capital intensive|capital-intensive]]<ref name="economictimes.indiatimes.com">{{cite web |title=What is Rail Transport? Definition of Rail Transport, Rail Transport Meaning |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/definition/rail-transport#:~:text=Definition%3A%20Rail%20transport%20is%20also,as%20well%20as%2C%20short%20distances. |website=The Economic Times |access-date=27 January 2021 |archive-date=13 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413151604/https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/definition/rail-transport#:~:text=Definition%3A%20Rail%20transport%20is%20also,as%20well%20as%2C%20short%20distances. |url-status=live }}</ref> means of mechanized land transport. The tracks provide smooth and hard surfaces on which the wheels of the train can roll with a relatively low level of friction.

A typical modern wagon can hold up to {{convert|113|t|ST}} of freight on two four-wheel [[bogie]]s. The track distributes the weight of the train evenly, allowing significantly greater loads per [[axle]] and wheel than in road transport, leading to greater energy efficiency. Trains have a smaller frontal area in relation to the load they are carrying, which reduces [[air resistance]] and thus energy usage.

In addition, the presence of track guiding the wheels allows for very long trains to be pulled by one or a few engines and driven by a single operator, even around curves, which allows for [[economies of scale]] in both manpower and energy use; by contrast, in road transport, more than two [[Articulated vehicle|articulations]] causes [[fishtailing]] and makes the vehicle unsafe.

====Energy efficiency====
{{Main|Energy efficiency in transportation#Trains}}
Considering only the energy spent to move the means of transport, and using the example of the urban area of [[Lisbon]], electric trains seem to be on average 20 times more efficient than automobiles for transportation of passengers, if we consider energy spent per passenger-distance with similar occupation ratios.<ref>{{cite web |author=Publicada por João Pimentel Ferreira |url=http://www.veraveritas.eu/2013/02/carro-ou-comboio.html |title=Carro ou comboio? |publisher=Veraveritas.eu |access-date=3 January 2015 |archive-date=8 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150408230511/http://www.veraveritas.eu/2013/02/carro-ou-comboio.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Considering an automobile with a consumption of around {{convert|6|L/100 km|abbr=on}} of fuel, the average car in Europe has an occupancy of around 1.2 passengers per automobile (occupation ratio around 24%) and that [[Fuel efficiency|one litre of fuel]] amounts to about {{convert|8.8| kWh|abbr=on}}, equating to an average of {{convert|441| Wh|abbr=on}} per passenger-km. This compares to a modern train with an average occupancy of 20% and a consumption of about {{convert|8.5| kWh/km|abbr=on}}, equating to {{convert|21.5| Wh|abbr=on}} per passenger-km, 20 times less than the automobile.

===Usage===
[[File:VR Sr1 3015 Kuopio Drawbridge.jpg|thumb|A [[VR Class Sr1|Sr1]]-pulled lumber train crossing the drawbridge along the [[Savonia railway]] in [[Kuopio|Kuopio, Finland]]]]
Due to these benefits, rail transport is a major form of passenger and freight transport in many countries.<ref name="economictimes.indiatimes.com"/> It is ubiquitous in Europe, with an integrated network covering virtually the whole continent. In India, China, South Korea and Japan, many millions use trains as regular transport. In North America, freight rail transport is widespread and heavily used, but intercity passenger rail transport is relatively scarce outside the [[Northeast Corridor]], due to increased preference of other modes, particularly automobiles and airplanes.<ref name="EuDaly, K, et al. 2009. Complete Book of North American Railroading"/>{{page needed|date=July 2015}}<ref name="APTA stats">{{cite web| url=http://www.apta.com/research/stats/ridership/| title=Public Transportation Ridership Statistics| publisher=American Public Transportation Association| year=2007| access-date=10 September 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070815101950/http://www.apta.com/research/stats/ridership/ <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 15 August 2007}}</ref> However, implementing new and improved ways such as making it easily accessible within neighborhoods can aid in reducing commuters from using private vehicles and airplanes.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Baum-Snow |first1=Nathaniel |last2=Kahn |first2=Matthew E. |title=The effects of new public projects to expand urban rail transit |journal=Journal of Public Economics |date=August 2000 |volume=77 |issue=2 |pages=241–263 |doi=10.1016/S0047-2727(99)00085-7 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047272799000857 |access-date=16 March 2022 |archive-date=14 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220314155133/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047272799000857 |url-status=live }}</ref>

South Africa, northern Africa and Argentina have extensive rail networks, but some railways elsewhere in Africa and South America are isolated lines. Australia has a generally sparse network befitting its population density but has some areas with significant networks, especially in the southeast. In addition to the previously existing east–west transcontinental line in Australia, a line from north to south has been constructed. The highest railway in the world is the [[Qingzang railway|line to Lhasa]], in Tibet,<ref>{{Cite news|publisher=Xinhua News Agency|date=24 August 2005|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-08/24/content_3397297.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050913000430/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-08/24/content_3397297.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 September 2005|title=New height of world's railway born in Tibet|access-date=8 May 2011}}</ref> partly running over permafrost territory. Western Europe has the highest railway density in the world and many individual trains there operate through several countries despite technical and organizational differences in each national network.

===Social and economic impact===

====Modernization====
Historically, railways have been considered central to modernity and ideas of progress.<ref>Schivelbusch, G. (1986) The Railway Journey: Industrialization and Perception of Time and Space in the 19th Century. Oxford: Berg.</ref> The process of modernization in the 19th century involved a transition from a spatially oriented world to a time-oriented world. Timekeeping became of heightened importance, resulting in clock towers for railway stations, clocks in public places, and pocket watches for railway workers and travellers. Trains followed exact schedules and never left early, whereas in the premodern era, passenger ships left whenever the captain had enough passengers. In the premodern era, local time was set at noon, when the sun was at its highest; this changed with the introduction of standard [[time zone]]s. Printed timetables were a convenience for travellers, but more elaborate timetables, called [[Train order operation|train orders]], were essential for train crews, the maintenance workers, the station personnel, and for the repair and maintenance crews. The structure of railway timetables were later adapted for different uses, such as schedules for buses, ferries, and airplanes, for radio and television programmes, for school schedules, and for factory time clocks.<ref>Tony Judt, ''When the Facts Change: Essays 1995–2010'' (2015) pp. 287–288.</ref>

The invention of the [[electrical telegraph]] in the early 19th century also was crucial for the development and operation of railroad networks. If bad weather disrupted the system, telegraphers relayed immediate corrections and updates throughout the system. Additionally, most railroads were single-track, with [[passing loop|sidings]] and signals to allow lower priority trains to be sidetracked and have scheduled meets.

====Nation-building====
Scholars have linked railroads to successful nation-building efforts by states.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Cermeño|first1=Alexandra L.|last2=Enflo|first2=Kerstin|last3=Lindvall|first3=Johannes|date=2021|title=Railroads and Reform: How Trains Strengthened the Nation State|journal=British Journal of Political Science|volume=52 |issue=2 |pages=715–735|language=en|doi=10.1017/S0007123420000654|issn=0007-1234|doi-access=free}}</ref>

====Model of corporate management====
According to historian [[Henry Adams]], a railroad network needed:
:the energies of a generation, for it required all the new machinery to be created{{Snd}} capital, banks, mines, furnaces, shops, power-houses, technical knowledge, mechanical population, together with a steady remodelling of social and political habits, ideas, and institutions to fit the new scale and suit the new conditions. The generation between 1865 and 1895 was already mortgaged to the railways, and no one knew it better than the generation itself.<ref>{{cite book |last=Adams |first=Henry |chapter-url=http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/hadams/eha16.html |title=The Education of Henry Adams |year=1918 |page=240 |chapter=The Press (1868) |access-date=11 May 2017 |archive-date=18 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170318035849/http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/hadams/eha16.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
The impact can be examined through five aspects: shipping, finance, management, careers, and popular reaction.

=====Shipping freight and passengers=====
Railroads form an efficient network for shipping freight and passengers across a large national market; their development thus was beneficial to many aspects of a nation's economy, including manufacturing, retail and wholesale, agriculture, and finance. By the 1940s, the United States had an integrated national market comparable in size to that of Europe, but free of internal barriers or tariffs, and supported by a common language, financial system, and legal system.<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor = 2113700|title = Railroads as an Economic Force in American Development|journal = The Journal of Economic History|volume = 4|issue = 1|pages = 1–20|last1 = Jenks|first1 = Leland H.|year = 1944|doi = 10.1017/S002205070008400X| s2cid=154883188 }}</ref>

=====Financial system=====
Financing of railroads provided the basis for a dramatic expansion of the private (non-governmental) [[financial system]]. Construction of railroads was far more expensive than factories: in 1860, the combined total of railroad stocks and bonds was $1.8&nbsp;billion; in 1897, it reached $10.6&nbsp;billion (compared to a total national debt of $1.2&nbsp;billion).<ref>Edward C. Kirkland, ''Industry comes of age: Business, labor, and public policy, 1860–1897'' (1961) pp. 52, 68–74.</ref>

Funding came from financiers in the [[Northeastern United States]] and from Europe, especially Britain.<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor = 3111573|title = Patterns of American Railroad Finance, 1830–50|journal = The Business History Review|volume = 28|issue = 3|pages = 248–263|last1 = Chandler|first1 = Alfred D.|year = 1954|doi = 10.2307/3111573| s2cid=154702721 }}</ref> About 10 percent of the funding came from the government, particularly in the form of land grants that were realized upon completion of a certain amount of trackage.<ref>Kirkland, ''Industry comes of age'' (1961) pp. 57–68.</ref> The emerging American financial system was based on railroad bonds, and by 1860, New York was the dominant financial market. The British invested heavily in railroads around the world, but nowhere more than in the United States; the total bond value reached about $3&nbsp;billion by 1914. However, in 1914–1917, the British liquidated their American assets to pay for war supplies.<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor = 2113694|title = Capital Movement and Transportation: Britain and American Railway Development|journal = The Journal of Economic History|volume = 11|issue = 4|pages = 375–388|last1 = Jenks|first1 = Leland H.|year = 1951|doi = 10.1017/S0022050700085119| s2cid=153714837 }}</ref><ref>Saul Engelbourg, ''The man who found the money: John Stewart Kennedy and the financing of the western railroads'' (1996).</ref>

=====Modern management=====
Railroad management designed complex systems that could handle far more complicated simultaneous relationships than those common in other industries at the time. Civil engineers became the senior management of railroads. The leading American innovators were the [[Western Railroad of Massachusetts]] and the [[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad]] in the 1840s, the [[Erie Railroad]] in the 1850s, and the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]] in the 1860s.<ref>Alfred D. Chandler and Stephen Salsbury. "The railroads: Innovators in modern business administration." in Bruce Mazlish, ed., ''The Railroad and the Space Program'' (MIT Press, 1965) pp. 127–162</ref>

=====Career paths=====
The development of railroads led to the emergence of private-sector careers for both blue-collar workers and white-collar workers. Railroading became a lifetime career for young men; women were almost never hired. A typical career path would see a young man hired at age 18 as a shop labourer, be promoted to skilled mechanic at age 24, brakemen at 25, freight conductor at 27, and passenger conductor at age 57. White-collar career paths likewise were delineated: educated young men started in clerical or statistical work and moved up to station agents or bureaucrats at the divisional or central headquarters, acquiring additional knowledge, experience, and [[human capital]] at each level. Being very hard to replace, they were virtually guaranteed permanent jobs and provided with insurance and medical care. 

Hiring, firing, and wage rates were set not by foremen, but by central administrators, to minimize favouritism and personality conflicts. Everything was done by the book, whereby an increasingly complex set of rules dictated to everyone exactly what should be done in every circumstance, and exactly what their rank and pay would be. By the 1880s, career railroaders began retiring, and pension systems were invented for them.<ref name="Walter Licht 1983 pp 262-63">{{cite book |first=Walter |last=Licht |title=Working for the Railroad: The Organization of Work in the Nineteenth Century |url=https://archive.org/details/workingforrailro0000lich |url-access=registration |year=1983 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/workingforrailro0000lich/page/262 262]–263, 289 |publisher=Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press |isbn=9780691047003 }}</ref>

====Transportation====
Railways contribute to social vibrancy and economic competitiveness by transporting multitudes of customers and workers to [[city centre]]s and [[inner suburbs]]. [[Hong Kong]] has recognized rail as "the backbone of the [[public transit system]]" and as such developed their franchised bus system and road infrastructure in comprehensive alignment with their rail services.<ref>Hong Kong Information Services Department of the Hong Kong SAR Government. Hong Kong 2009</ref> China's large cities such as [[Beijing]], [[Shanghai]], and [[Guangzhou]] recognize rail transit lines as the framework and bus lines as the main body to their metropolitan transportation systems.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1109/ITSC.2010.5625187 |chapter=Effect of integrated multi-modal transit information on modal shift |title=13th International IEEE Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems |year=2010 |last1=Hu |first1=Hua |last2=Gao |first2=Yun-Feng |last3=Liu |first3=Zhi-Gang |last4=Yang |first4=Xiao-Guang |pages=1753–1757 |isbn=978-1-4244-7657-2 |s2cid=38806085 }}</ref> The Japanese [[Shinkansen]] was built to meet the growing traffic demand in the "heart of Japan's industry and economy" situated on the [[Tokyo]]-[[Kobe]] line.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Straszak |first1=A. |title=The Shinkansen High-Speed Rail Network of Japan: Proceedings of an IIASA Conference, June 27–30, 1977 |date=1977 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-1-4831-8916-1 }}{{page needed|date=October 2020}}</ref>

====Military role====
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1994-022-19A, Mobilmachung, Truppentransport mit der Bahn.jpg|thumb|right|German soldiers in a railway [[Passenger car (rail)|car]] on the way to the front in August 1914. The message on the car reads {{Lang|de|Von München über Metz nach Paris}} ("From Munich via Metz to Paris").]] 
Rail transport can be important for military activity. During the 1860s, railways provided a means for rapid movement of troops and supplies during the [[American Civil War]],<ref>Christopher R. Gabel, "Railroad Generalship: Foundations of Civil War Strategy" (Army Command And General Staff College, Combat Studies Inst, 1997) [https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a445773.pdf online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190807180009/https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a445773.pdf |date=7 August 2019 }}.</ref> as well as in the [[Austro-Prussian War|Austro-Prussian]] and [[Franco-Prussian War|Franco-Prussian Wars]]<ref>Dennis E. Showalter, ''Railroads and Rifles: soldiers, technology, and the unification of Germany'' (1975).</ref> Throughout the 20th century, rail was a key element of war plans for rapid military [[mobilization]], allowing for the quick and efficient transport of large numbers of reservists to their mustering-points, and infantry soldiers to the front lines.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stevenson |first1=D. |title=War by Timetable? The Railway Race Before 1914 |journal=Past & Present |date=1 February 1999 |issue=162 |pages=163–194 |doi=10.1093/past/162.1.163 }}</ref> So-called [[Strategic railway|strategic railways]] were or are constructed for a primarily military purpose. The Western Front in France during [[World War I]] required many trainloads of munitions a day.<ref>Denis Bishop and W. J. K. Davies, ''Railways and War Before 1918'' (London: Blandford Press, 1972); Bishop and Davies, ''Railways and War Since 1917'' (1974).</ref> Conversely, owing to their strategic value, rail yards and bridges in Germany and occupied France were major targets of Allied air raids during World War II.<ref>{{cite journal |id={{ProQuest|1296644342}} |last1=Lytton |first1=Henry D |title=Bombing Policy in the Rome and Pre-Normandy Invasion Aerial Campaigns of World War II: Bridge-Bombing Strategy Vindicated – and Railyard-Bombing Strategy Invalidated |journal=Military Affairs |location=Lexington |volume=47 |issue=2 |date=1 April 1983 |pages=53–58 |doi=10.2307/1988491 |jstor=1988491 }}</ref> Rail transport and infrastructure continues to play an important role in present-day conflicts like the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]], where [[Rail war in Belarus (2022–present)|sabotage of railways in Belarus]] and [[Rail war in Russia (2022–present)|in Russia]] also influenced the course of the war.

====Positive impacts====
Railways channel growth towards dense city [[agglomerations]] and along their arteries.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}} This contrasts with [[highway]] expansion, indicative of the U.S. transportation policy post-World War II, which instead encourages development of [[suburbs]] at the periphery of metropolitan areas, contributing to increased [[vehicle miles traveled|vehicle miles travelled]], [[carbon emissions]], development of [[greenfield land|greenfield]] spaces, and depletion of [[natural reserve]]s.{{dubious|date=November 2020}}{{citation needed|date=November 2020}} These arrangements revalue city spaces, local [[taxes]],<ref name="lewandIJEIT" >{{Cite journal |first=Krzysztof |last=Lewandowski |title=New coefficients of rail transport usage |journal=International Journal of Engineering and Innovative Technology |volume=5 |issue=6 |date=December 2015 |pages=89–91 |url=https://www.ijeit.com/Vol%205/Issue%206/IJEIT1412201512_16.pdf |access-date=27 October 2020 |archive-date=31 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031011553/https://www.ijeit.com/Vol%205/Issue%206/IJEIT1412201512_16.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> [[house|housing]] values, and promotion of [[mixed use development]].<ref>Squires, G. Ed. (2002) Urban Sprawl: Causes, Consequences, & Policy Responses. The Urban Institute Press.</ref><ref>Puentes, R. (2008). A Bridge to Somewhere: Rethinking American Transportation for the 21st Century. Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Report: Blueprint for American Prosperity series report.</ref>

====Negative impacts====
There has also been some opposition to the development of railway networks. For instance, the arrival of railways and [[steam locomotives]] to Austria during the 1840s angered locals because of the noise, smell, and pollution caused by the trains and the damage to homes and the surrounding land caused by the engine's soot and fiery embers; and since most travel did not occur over long distances, few people utilized the new line.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bryant |first1=Chad |title=Into an Uncertain Future: Railroads and Vormärz Liberalism in Brno, Vienna, and Prague |journal=Austrian History Yearbook |date=April 2009 |volume=40 |pages=183–201 |doi=10.1017/S0067237809000150 }}</ref>

===Pollution===
A 2018 study found that the opening of the [[Beijing Metro]] caused a reduction in "most of the air pollutants concentrations (PM<sub>2.5</sub>, PM<sub>10</sub>, SO<sub>2</sub>, NO<sub>2</sub>, and CO) but had little effect on ozone pollution."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Guo |first1=Shihong |last2=Chen |first2=Liqiang |title=Can urban rail transit systems alleviate air pollution? Empirical evidence from Beijing: XXXX |journal=Growth and Change |date=March 2019 |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=130–144 |doi=10.1111/grow.12266 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

===Modern rail as economic development indicator===
European [[development economist]]s have argued that the existence of modern rail infrastructure is a significant indicator of a country's economic advancement: this perspective is illustrated notably through the [[Basic Rail Transportation Infrastructure Index]] (known as BRTI Index).<ref>{{cite news| url= https://www.academia.edu/6494981| work= Revue Analyse Financière| location= Paris| title= Transportation Infrastructure and Country Attractiveness| first= M. Nicolas J.| last= Firzli| date= 1 July 2013| access-date= 26 April 2014| archive-date= 4 September 2015| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150904095706/http://www.academia.edu/6494981/Transportation_Infrastructure_and_Country_Attractiveness| url-status= live}}</ref>

===Subsidies===
{{Main|Rail subsidies}}In 2010, annual rail spending in China was ¥840&nbsp;billion (US${{Inflation|US-GDP|127|2010|fmt=c}} billion in {{Inflation/year|cursign=[[United States dollar|US$]]|index=CN}}), from 2014 to 2017 China had an annual target of ¥800&nbsp;billion (US${{Inflation|US-GDP|129|2014|fmt=c}} billion in {{Inflation/year|cursign=[[United States dollar|US$]]|index=CN}}) and planned to spend ¥3.5&nbsp;trillion (US${{Inflation|US-GDP|24|2016|fmt=c}} trillion in {{Inflation/year|cursign=[[United States dollar|US$]]|index=CN}}) over 2016–2020.<ref>{{Cite news |date=4 January 2017 |title=China plans to spend $115 billion on railways in 2017: Xinhua |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-railways-idUSKBN14O0Q3 |access-date=23 March 2023 |archive-date=23 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323053515/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-railways-idUSKBN14O0Q3 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Indian Railways]] are subsidized by around ₹260&nbsp;billion (US${{Inflation|US-GDP|3.8|2014|fmt=c}} billion in {{Inflation/year|cursign=[[United States dollar|US$]]|index=CN}}), of which around 60% goes to commuter rail and short-haul trips.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Govt-defends-fare-hike-says-rail-subsidy-burden-was-too-heavy/articleshow/36982158.cms |title=Govt defends fare hike, says rail subsidy burden was too heavy |website=[[The Times of India]] |date=22 June 2014 |access-date=30 June 2016 |archive-date=9 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709182711/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Govt-defends-fare-hike-says-rail-subsidy-burden-was-too-heavy/articleshow/36982158.cms |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:European rail subsidies in euros per passenger-km.png|upright=1.5|thumb|European rail subsidies in euros per passenger-km for 2008<ref name="SWD2013">{{cite web |date=2013 |title=ANNEX to Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007 concerning the opening of the market for domestic passenger transport services by rail |url=http://www.networkrail.co.uk/European-rail-study-report.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130503015110/http://www.networkrail.co.uk/European-rail-study-report.pdf |archive-date=3 May 2013 |publisher=European Commission |pages=6, 44, 45 |type=Commission Staff Working Document: Impact Assessment |quote=2008 data is not provided for Italy, so 2007 data is used instead |location=Brussels}}</ref>]]According to the 2017 European Railway Performance Index for intensity of use, quality of service and safety performance, the top tier European national rail systems consists of Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Austria, Sweden, and France.<ref name="RPI 2017">{{cite web |url=https://www.bcg.com/en-ch/publications/2017/transportation-travel-tourism-2017-european-railway-performance-index.aspx |title=the 2017 European Railway Performance Index |date=18 April 2017 |access-date=8 January 2021 |publisher=Boston Consulting Group |archive-date=31 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200531104458/https://www.bcg.com/en-ch/publications/2017/transportation-travel-tourism-2017-european-railway-performance-index.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> Performance levels reveal a positive correlation between public cost and a given railway system's performance, and also reveal differences in the value that countries receive in return for their public cost. Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland capture relatively high value for their money, while Luxembourg, Belgium, Latvia, Slovakia, Portugal, Romania, and Bulgaria underperform relative to the average ratio of performance to cost among European countries.<ref name="RPI 2017" />
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Country
!Subsidy in billions of Euros
!Year
|-
| {{flag|Germany}}
| 17.0
|2014<ref>{{cite web|title=German Railway Financing |url=https://www.deutschebahn.com/file/de/2192370/2RLvPOzueXgX19CucGFn4Wofp5E/2267530/data/finanz_eisenbahn_dtl.pdf |page=2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310165357/https://www.deutschebahn.com/file/de/2192370/2RLvPOzueXgX19CucGFn4Wofp5E/2267530/data/finanz_eisenbahn_dtl.pdf |archive-date=10 March 2016 }}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|France}}
|13.2
|2013<ref name=ITF>{{cite web|url=http://www.internationaltransportforum.org/jtrc/RoundTables/2014-Railway-Efficiency/Bonnafous-Crozet.pdf |title=Efficiency indicators of Railways in France |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117030418/http://www.internationaltransportforum.org/jtrc/RoundTables/2014-Railway-Efficiency/Bonnafous-Crozet.pdf |archive-date=17 November 2015 }}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Italy}}
|8.1
|2009<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oxera.com/Oxera/media/Oxera/downloads/Agenda/The-age-of-the-train.pdf?ext=.pdf |title=The age of the train |access-date=27 January 2016 |archive-date=17 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117023204/http://www.oxera.com/Oxera/media/Oxera/downloads/Agenda/The-age-of-the-train.pdf?ext=.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|-
|{{flag|Switzerland}}
|5.8
|2012<ref name=swisscosts>{{cite web |url=https://www.voev.ch/de/Service/Downloadsindex.php?section=downloads&download=2208 |title=Facts and arguments in favour of Swiss public transport |page=24 |access-date=3 July 2016 |quote=6.3 billion Swiss francs |archive-date=26 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026115934/http://www.voev.ch/de/Service/Downloadsindex.php?section=downloads&download=2208 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Spain}}
|5.1
|2015<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.railway-technology.com/features/featurespanish-railways-battle-profit-loss-with-more-investment-4664870/ |title=Spanish railways battle profit loss with more investment |date=17 September 2015 |access-date=10 March 2016 |archive-date=24 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124042426/https://www.railway-technology.com/features/featurespanish-railways-battle-profit-loss-with-more-investment-4664870/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
|{{flag|United Kingdom}}
|4.5
|2015<ref>{{cite web |url=http://orr.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/21039/gb-rail-industry-financial-information-2014-15.pdf |title=GB rail industry financial information 2014–15 |date=9 March 2016 |access-date=9 March 2016 |quote=£3.5 billion |archive-date=9 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309193519/http://orr.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/21039/gb-rail-industry-financial-information-2014-15.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
|{{flag|Belgium}}
|3.4
|2008<ref name=SWD2013/>
|-
|{{flag|Netherlands}}
|2.5
|2014<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/binaries/rijksoverheid/documenten/rapporten/2014/12/15/bijlage-2-beheerplan-prorail-2015/bijlage-2-beheerplan-prorail-2015.pdf |page=30 |title=ProRail report 2015 |access-date=22 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303133634/https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/binaries/rijksoverheid/documenten/rapporten/2014/12/15/bijlage-2-beheerplan-prorail-2015/bijlage-2-beheerplan-prorail-2015.pdf |archive-date=3 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|-
|{{flag|Austria}}
|2.3
|2009<ref name=SWD2013/>
|-
|{{flag|Denmark}}
|1.7
|2008<ref name=SWD2013/>
|-
|{{flag|Sweden}}
|1.6
|2009<ref name=comparison>{{cite web |title= The evolution of public funding to the rail sector in 5 European countries{{Snd}} a comparison |url= http://www.crninet.com/2011/b7a.pdf |page= 6 |access-date= 27 January 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160304094154/http://www.crninet.com/2011/b7a.pdf |archive-date= 4 March 2016 |url-status= dead }}</ref>
|-
|{{flag|Poland}}
|1.4
|2008<ref name=2009railstudyreport>{{cite web|url=http://www.networkrail.co.uk/European-rail-study-report.pdf |title=European rail study report |pages=44, 45 |quote=Includes both "Railway subsidies" and "Public Service Obligations". |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130503015110/http://www.networkrail.co.uk/European-rail-study-report.pdf |archive-date=3 May 2013 }}</ref>
|-
|{{flag|Ireland}}
|0.91
|2008<ref name=2009railstudyreport/>
|}

====Russia====
In 2016, [[Russian Railways]] received 94.9&nbsp;billion roubles (around US$1.4&nbsp;billion) from the government.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ar2016.rzd.ru/en/financial-results/government-support |title=Government support for Russian Railways |access-date=26 November 2018 |archive-date=26 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181126221332/https://ar2016.rzd.ru/en/financial-results/government-support |url-status=live }}</ref>

====North America====
=====United States=====
{{hatnote|For rail subsidies in the [[United States]], see [[Amtrak#Public funding|Amtrak public funding]] and [[Rail transportation in the United States#1970–present|Modern US rail history]]}}
In 2015, funding from the [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. federal government]] for [[Amtrak]] was around US$1.4&nbsp;billion.<ref name="fy15budget">{{cite web |url= https://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/133/704/FY15-Budget-Business-Plan-FY16-Budget-Justification-FY-15-19-Five-Year-Financial-Plan.pdf |title= FY15 Budget, Business Plan 2015 |access-date= 9 March 2016 |archive-date= 4 February 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160204232001/https://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/133/704/FY15-Budget-Business-Plan-FY16-Budget-Justification-FY-15-19-Five-Year-Financial-Plan.pdf |url-status= live }}</ref> By 2018, appropriated funding had increased to approximately US$1.9&nbsp;billion.<ref>{{cite web |title=Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and Consolidated Financial Statements With Report of Independent Auditors |url=https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/projects/dotcom/english/public/documents/corporate/financial/Amtrak-Management-Discussion-Analysis-Audited-Financial-Statements-FY18.pdf |publisher=Amtrak |access-date=3 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191103074256/https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/projects/dotcom/english/public/documents/corporate/financial/Amtrak-Management-Discussion-Analysis-Audited-Financial-Statements-FY18.pdf |archive-date=3 November 2019 |page=33 |language=En |date=28 January 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>