Perhaps the most welcome benefit of the rail revival is economic, according to the new study. For example, in the United States, few people realize that direct taxes on automobiles and gasoline barely cover two thirds of the cost of road building, maintenance, administration and safety. The social costs of car travel in 11 countries studied is nearly twice that of air travel and seven times that of trains. Urban trains typically encourage compact, high-value land use rather than the sprawling development that highways and airports attract. Victoria Station in London, Brussels' Central terminal, and Washington, D.C.'s Union Station have all sparked redevelopment in declining urban cores as centers for lively complexes of offices, restaurants, and shops.
Energy savings are also considerable.
Subways and light rail, on the other hand, slash urban smog, cut nitrogen oxide emissions from each trip by 60 percent compared to a car carrying one person, and nearly eliminate carbon monoxide emissions. Experts at the U.S. Office of Technology Assessment unofficially estimate that congestion costs now actually equal or exceed the dollars that federal, state, and local governments spend on building and maintaining highways each year. Rail has proven it can relieve costly air traffic congestion. A dramatic example lies in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol, where trains travel between New York and Washington at speeds up to 200 kilometers an hour. Their speed and relatively low cost help explain why Amtrak, the U.S. national passenger rail service, carries more passengers on that route than any airline.