Transport Modes: Rail

Rail transport.

Advantages.

• Fast over long distances.
• Is cheap over long distances.
• Suitable for carrying:
• heavy goods like motor vehicle parts.
• Bulky loads for example coal and mineral ores
• Is not easily affected by bad weather conditions.
• Saves on the use of labour.
• Can carry a variety of goods.
• Can carry containers.
• Accidents and congestions are very rare.
• Can be electrified and thus clean.
• Modern trains can be very fast even over short distances.

Disadvantages

• Very high initial capital cost.
• High costs of installaling railway lines.
• Can be slow over short distances.
• Not suitable for carrying small loads.
• Accidents can be very costly as well as lead to loss of life.
• It is not direct i.e.:
• Does not make door to door service.
• Requires road transport to move goods to their final destinations.

Freightliners

Freightliner. Image credit wikimedia

• These are trains
• They travel over very long distances at great speeds.
• They carry mixed cargo or a variety of goods.
• They carry passengers
• They operate on: fixed routes and
• fixed schedules/timetables.
• They link:
• Inland cities with seaports
• Inland cities with other inland cities.

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