Comparing Rolling Resistance of Highway Vehicles and Trains
While the specific rolling resistance of a train is far less than an automobile or truck in terms of resistance force per ton, this does not necessarily means that the resistance force per passenger or per net ton of freight is less. It all depends on the vehicle weight per passenger or per net ton transported. Thus one needs to know the rolling resistance per passenger (or per net ton) to make such comparisons.
For 1975, Amtrak passenger trains weighed a little over 7 tones per passenger while automobiles weighed only a little over one ton per passenger. To find the rolling resistance per person one multiples the pounds(force) per ton (2000 times the rolling resistance coefficient) by the tons per passenger. This means that even if the rolling coefficient is several times greater for the auto than for the train, then after multiplication to get pounds/passenger, there is not a lot of difference between the two values (of lb/passenger). Thus there may not be a large difference in the rolling resistance energy used to transport a person by rail as compared to auto.
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