I’ve always been a fan of trains.  I remember taking Amtrak to Philadelphia and New York with Jason, Mama, Grandmother and Uncle Christopher in July 1994.  Palmetto School trips took us on the train to New York and Washington.  I discovered frequent train travel when studying in Scotland and have renewed that interest since last September.  In January 2002, I was a member of the “American Railroad Odyssey”, an independent project with six other Wofford students as part of the college’s Interim program.  We covered 9,671 miles on a 25-day trip around the United States and into Canada.

A couple of weeks ago, my brother Jason and my parents visited me on separate occasions—offering a chance to catch up with them, and serve as a tour guide.  Jason and I rode the train from London to Salisbury before heading up to Coventry.  My parents and I took northbound trains from London to St. Andrews, stopping in York and Edinburgh along the way.  This trip gave views of the English countryside filled with sheep, cows and lots of mustard seed this time of year.  After crossing into Scotland, we enjoyed views of waves meeting the rocky cliffs of the Scottish coast.  Our six-hour journey from St. Andrews to Coventry took us across Scotland and south through the Lake District before reaching our destination.

It’s always amazed me at the irony of transportation systems in the US and Europe.  The US is approximately three times larger than Western Europe. Yet, during the 1950s, the US built the Eisenhower Interstate System while Europeans put down thousands of miles of rail lines.  Detroit’s lobbying effort in Washington surely didn’t have anything to do with this decision.  One would think that smaller space would mean more reliance on cars and larger space would bring more trains.  Instead, the automobile became America’s supreme mode of transportation and Europe continued to mix its use of cars with trains.

Population density is also a factor.  Europe has many more people per square mile than most parts of America.  Metropolitan areas are required for large mass transit systems of buses, subways, and trains.  But another big reason for American reliance on automobiles is cheaper gasoline prices.  A US gallon of gasoline (or "petrol" for the British) would cost almost $5.00 in England right now.

I’ll be the first to admit that trains are not ideal for travelling in rural areas, one of the reasons they are not used much in the South.  An example of this was my recent trip to Wales…by car.  Wales is very rural and famous for its green landscape, sheep-filled countryside, national parks, and beautiful coastline.  Two friends and I covered over 300 miles during a two-day adventure that took us through Brecon Beacons National Park and up the Welsh coast in Pembrokeshire.  We stopped to take pictures of rolling hills that suddenly met the sea, and stared at the 15^th century wooden ceiling in St. David’s Cathedral.  (By the way, the Welsh language is the strangest combination of consonants I have ever seen.)

In January 2003, US Senators Fritz Hollings and Lindsey Graham, and US Rep. Jim DeMint announced their support of a bill to build a high-speed Southeast rail corridor linking Washington, Charlotte, Raleigh, Greenville, Columbia, Florence, Charleston, Myrtle Beach and Atlanta.  This corridor would pattern itself after Amtrak’s high-speed Acela Express that now moves passengers from Boston to Washington faster than planes.  Business people can make use of conference tables and computer hook-ups instead of waiting in long airport lines.

Hollings, Graham and DeMint are all aware of train’s advantages—less pollution, ability to move people in national security crises and capacity to run in bad weather.  An added benefit is the people you meet on the train.  I’ve met many interesting people on train trips—from story-telling grandmothers to officials in the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office. 

I do miss having a car here in England, and admit that I’ve experienced delays on some train journeys.  But, I have also been delayed on plenty of highways—from I-95 to the M42.  The US should put greater investment into trains, especially “lite rail” services around our cities.  The Northeast and California have already made great use of trains for business or tourist travel.  Following these examples, Congress should move ahead in establishing high-speed rail corridors, in the Southeast and elsewhere.

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Lucas McMillan is a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar studying for a master's degree in international relations at the University of Warwick in Coventry, England. He represents the Rotary Club of Mullins and Rotary District 7770 of South Carolina.

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