State looks at Tucson to Phoenix rail service (pros and cons, taxi)

[corydon]

Originally Posted by Nexis4Jersey

They really haven't been any large terrorist attacks on High Speed Rail....senors and lasers and currents montier breaks in the tracks or any heavy thing near the ROW. You can't hijack a train like a plane , so should we not build any large bridges they can be blow up aswell...or tunnels.... Most countries are building massive systems except this country because of ppl like you who make excuses and fear monger...

Trains have been hijacked, terrorist attacks happened just a few years ago on trains. They are a pretty easy target.

People like me probally see the whole picture. What do you think is going to happen to gas prices when the rails are laid but nobody uses the train? Right, they make car driving artificcially expensive, like in that wonderfull Europe....
Please don't paint a picture of me, My bills are paid, I own what I got, and am not all that old, or young.... just practical.
It is absolutly not that I hate trains, but passenger service stopped here for a reason.

[citynomad]

It's nice to have a lot of options when traveling - car, plane, train, bus etc... I like to have options in my life so I can choose. I hate to be trapped with one thing. AZ should have HSR since Phoenix is the 5th or 6th largest city in the whole U.S. It's also closed to densed California and another big city, Las Vegas. Tucson (32nd largest) is more than likely going to get bigger and the place seem to be trending towards denser urban neighborhoods. AZ has the Grand Canyon, giant Saguaro Cactus and Mt. Lemon (snow and pine trees on top, desert at the base)...a tourist attraction. Besides people from the lower east coast need to pass AZ to go to California (southern part at least). It's cheaper to travel by train than airplane.

Here's some fear mongering, if a plane breaks down or runs out of gas , it crashes down to earth but if a train breaks down, it stops in it's own private unshared designated rail track unlike a highway. A Greyhound Bus could also be cheap but it could also get hijacked and hit by a drunk just like a car. If you hijack a plane, car or a bus, you can tell the driver to go to Mexico but with a train you can't.

However, Arizona likes to vote their extremist right wingers in gov't, so the state that's always last (behind) in everything or the A** of America, will likely gets it's HSR last after the lower 47 states get theirs including Mississippi and Idaho.

[shiphead]

Originally Posted by corydon

Trains have been hijacked, terrorist attacks happened just a few years ago on trains. They are a pretty easy target.

People like me probally see the whole picture. What do you think is going to happen to gas prices when the rails are laid but nobody uses the train? Right, they make car driving artificcially expensive, like in that wonderfull Europe....
Please don't paint a picture of me, My bills are paid, I own what I got, and am not all that old, or young.... just practical.
It is absolutly not that I hate trains, but passenger service stopped here for a reason.

Then explained to me why other states in the union have passenger trains and gas prices are the same as Phoenix? We aren't talking the east coast either.

[stephen431]

Originally Posted by shiphead

Then explained to me why other states in the union have passenger trains and gas prices are the same as Phoenix? We aren't talking the east coast either.

Phoenix lost passenger rail service after someone (or a group) sabotaged the Sunset Limited in '95.
CNN - Sabotage suspected in derailment - Oct. 10, 1995

With the exception of Chicago, I'm not sure of many examples of well used passenger trains that aren't in dense areas of the east coast or California.
I believe the reason Chicago has such a heavy rail presence is due to some federal legislation that once mandated most east/west rail traffic passed through their city. There was a great program on PBS recently that discussed the Chicago rail system (and the US transportation system in general). Nation On The Move | America Revealed | PBS

[Greatday]

Remember, the rail line (tracks) are mostly in place between Phoenix and Tucson. It's only a matter of time before those rails are being used for a HSR.

[shiphead]

Originally Posted by stephen431

Phoenix lost passenger rail service after someone (or a group) sabotaged the Sunset Limited in '95.
CNN - Sabotage suspected in derailment - Oct. 10, 1995

This is all it takes for me. Is some nut job, one of many, in the mid 90s, killing many others around the United States. 100% against any of this crap then.

Looks like it's time to invest in auto-driving floating cars then. Someone got $25M for a startup?

[DarkWolf]

Originally Posted by shiphead

This is all it takes for me. Is some nut job, one of many, in the mid 90s, killing many others around the United States. 100% against any of this crap then.

Looks like it's time to invest in auto-driving floating cars then. Someone got $25M for a startup?

But stuff like that is rare in the US and around the world.... I can't think about a incident like that here in the US or the Northeastern US which transports 20.5 Million ppl a day the worst is the suicides by train or bus...

[Boompa]

Problem is, where do you go once you get to the train station. either way you need a car to get to the station and one to get from the train station to your destination. The Public Transportation Systems in neither city are anything like truly urban cities. It is eaasier to just drive the distance than to rely on public transit in 100+ temps

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by corydon

Trains have been hijacked, terrorist attacks happened just a few years ago on trains. They are a pretty easy target.

People like me probally see the whole picture. What do you think is going to happen to gas prices when the rails are laid but nobody uses the train? Right, they make car driving artificcially expensive, like in that wonderfull Europe....
Please don't paint a picture of me, My bills are paid, I own what I got, and am not all that old, or young.... just practical.
It is absolutly not that I hate trains, but passenger service stopped here for a reason.

When you think about it, anything and anybody are easy targets. Ever hear of CAR jackings? They happen quite often ... in fact, more often than hijacked trains or planes. Using the terrorist fear as an opposition to high speed rail and the like is just another lame excuse. If you're against high speed trains, just say so, and please don't use some b.s. excuse.

I think what many people are saying is they want more choices besides just driving. Gas prices have already gone up tremendously in the last few years to the point where it's a lot more expensive just to take a road trip within the state. Why not have rail service? What's wrong with paying for a ticket, sitting back, relaxing, and not having to worry about all the hazards on the road? Besides, I should remind you that driving isn't a right ... it's a privilege just like any other means of travel.

[citynomad]

There's a lot of talk on several blogs and threads with regards to the question 'What will you do once you get to the train station?' . The answer is 'Just like an airport or a Greyhound Bus station, you have someone pick you up, ride a city bus, rent a car (day or hourly) or take a taxi '.

Every mode of transportation have their pros and cons. If I have the patience, want to enjoy a meal, read a book, surf the web, watch a movie, look out the window absorbing that nice view without worrying about the vehicles around me and/or pay a cheaper fare with wider seats than an airplane, I'd take the High Speed Rail .

...let me add, you can also hop in a light rail after getting to a HSR station. There's also potential business investments when new rail tracks are in place.