2020 Houston-Dallas bullet train (Austin: insurance, tax, costs)

[majicdonjuan]

Originally Posted by Dopo

I-45 was/is built and maintained with taxpayers money

I'm sorry, I should have made it more clear that I was talking about the purported lack of taxpayer money to build the train. If they can combine private financing with reasonable fares it should do well.

[Nexis4Jersey]

Originally Posted by cheryjohns

Bullet trains have a speed between 150 mph and 187 mph. We could get to Dallas in a little over an hour. No TSA, no getting to the station an hour or more between departure. Wonderful.

Actually its 220-230mph....averaging 190-200mph.....


[TGV] Mediterranean high speed - YouTube


[TGV] Roar on the track ! - YouTube


tunelowa RZE


150...


"Stinkston" aka Kingston,RI Acela From Field - 150MPH - Top Speed - YouTube

135mph


Princeton Junction Amtrak Acela Express - YouTube

[predatorprey]

waste of money

[Nexis4Jersey]

Originally Posted by predatorprey

waste of money

Private investors from Japan do not take risks if there are no rewards in the way of profits when doing something overseas....so its not a waste of money....be lucky there building it in Texas , they could do it somewhere else like Northwest or Northeast. If this works out like they hope then look forward to more In't large scale Railway and huge projects in general...

[DiverTodd62]

Originally Posted by Nexis4Jersey

Private investors from Japan do not take risks if there are no rewards in the way of profits when doing something overseas....so its not a waste of money....be lucky there building it in Texas , they could do it somewhere else like Northwest or Northeast. If this works out like they hope then look forward to more In't large scale Railway and huge projects in general...

They haven't invested or built anything here yet. Talk is cheap.

When have these private investors ever invested billions in rail before?

[silverbelles]

Originally Posted by Dopo

Ok, who doesn't drive a car in Houston?
Illegals riding bicycle?

Born and raised here, and I don't have a car.

I welcome any viable alternative to private car usage. It would take more cars off the road, lead to cleaner air, and promote even more economic activity between the cities, whether it be Houston to Dallas or Houston to Austin (both sound like great options!).

And while no one likes paying taxes, they are a way of life as an American. I could deal with a little less money from my paycheck going towards building and maintaining a rail line that could reach larger segments of this state's population instead of just highways for motorists.

[Nexis4Jersey]

Originally Posted by DiverTodd62

They haven't invested or built anything here yet. Talk is cheap.

When have these private investors ever invested billions in rail before?

JR Central is a private Rail Company , they do investments on the billion $$ scale all the time in Central Japan and other parts of Asia. MTR Corp which is a profitable Hong Kong Rail company , invests billions into systems in Europe and Australia...and Canada.... Everything is private in Japan...Highways , Railways ,Ports , Airports and they all turn a profit....they just opened a New 87.8 mi long Expressway last month which cost 25 Billion $ paided for by the Tolls and user fees of the highway network in that part of Japan....another 3,700 miles and 1.4 Trillion in New and moved highways is planned by 2030... The Japanese don't mess around when it comes to investing....although they do it in phases....or break lines or new roads in before extending...


the leading car by peaceful-jp-scenery, on Flickr




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqzLVOCeyk8

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by predatorprey

waste of money

Ok, let's keep on spending our tax dollars putting more lanes on the highway
because I'm sure it cost just a few dollars to add 2-4 lanes to a highway and build overpasses.

Wow, it's almost impossible to find the cost of building a highway on the internet (coincidence?)

I think this numbers combine how much is spent in new highways with maintenance of highways.

Report: Mixed grades for U.S. highways | Fleet Management content from Fleet Owner Magazine

New Jersey still spends dramatically more than every other state on highways, the report found, plunking down $1.1 million per mile on state roads. The second biggest spender, Florida, spends $671,000 per mile, with California laying out $545,000 per mile. South Carolina, by contrast, recorded the lowest expenses, spending just $34,000 per mile.

[DiverTodd62]

We know toll roads work, how about specific examples of profitable rail lines? And not in Japan. I'm talking about here. American construction costs, American liabilities, American demographics.

Population density is much higher in Japan. JR acquired the rail assets constructed by the government and much of the privatisation was only completed a few years back plus the ownership is a maze of subsidiary paper companies.

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by DiverTodd62

We know toll roads work, how about specific examples of profitable rail lines?

Toll roads work?
Tell me when we are going to stop paying for the Beltway
because I see a million cars driving on the Beltway everyday paying ... let's say $3/day and I don't hear anything about making the Beltway a freeway.