Obama supports high speed rail to Philly from Pittsburgh (Philadelphia: how much, tax)

[pman]

Originally Posted by slamont61

Oh sure, this will surely stimulate the economy. Any one remember Sky Bus?

all the trains between thurdsay and sunday were sold out between pittsburgh and philly last weekend adn the trip current takes a whopping 7 hours. somebody's on em.

anyways, back to HSR. this is not going to be real HSR, just upgrading some routes to standard passenger speeds in most of the developed world. The amou ntof moeny being spent surely means upgrades to existing lines (bringing them back up to early 20th century speeds). I'd also note that I'm not sure all of the HSR money is stimulus (ie must be spent quickly) because elsewhere I read $13 bn over five years. We shall see.

[Hopes]

The high speed rail system will create jobs in construction and later there will be high speed rail industry jobs. Most importantly, it will move us away from being dependent on non-renewable energy sources for transportation. It's actually quite pathetic that the United States is in the dark ages when it comes to high speed rail transporation.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by slamont61

Oh sure, this will surely stimulate the economy. Any one remember Sky Bus?

I do. I took a bus to downtown, then took a street car(remember them) to South Park to ride the Sky Bus. It was truly ahead of it's time, no operators needed, run by computer. Air-conditioned, which at that time not all buses and NONE of the street cars were. The plan was for Pgh to become the rapid transit incubator of Sky Bus and provide the technology and the STEEL needed to build Sky Bus in other Metro areas. But, as usual, politics killed it.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by COPANUT

But, as usual, politics killed it.

I hope politics doesn't kill the high speed rail system. The airlines are totally against it. I'm so tired of industries influencing our politics with lobbyists.

[Copanut]

Sort of off topic, but I grew up riding the train from the Turtle Creek area to Central PA. A great way to travel, don't know if I care for high speed, it's more relaxing at a slower speed, IMHO.

[user_id]

Originally Posted by Hopes

it will move us away from being dependent on non-renewable energy sources for transportation.

Huh? It will do no such thing. Trains either run directly on fossil fuels or indirectly as most electricity is generated by fossil fuels.

Originally Posted by Hopes

I'm so tired of industries influencing our politics with lobbyists.

Yeah, obviously the plans for a variety of HSR or rail upgrades have nothing to do with lobbying. The related industries are rather ethical, there is only hundreds of billions on the line. [/sarcasm]

[Goodjules]

Originally Posted by Hopes

It goes to Philadelphia via Harrisburg, not State College.

Thanks for posting the map. These proposed rail corridors seem to be right on target. I live in CA and I would much prefer taking high-speed rail from SF to LA. Driving takes an entire day and the traffic can be brutal at times, and flying is a pain too. Rail makes so much sense.

[ainulinale]

Originally Posted by Hopes

It goes to Philadelphia via Harrisburg, not State College.

Thank God we're not spending billions to transfer a bunch of idiot college students to Penn State.

[ainulinale]

Originally Posted by Hopes

It goes to Philadelphia via Harrisburg, not State College.

With this map in mind, it seems as though this thread could be tranferred to the General U.S. forum (with obviously different emphasis).

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by ainulinale

With this map in mind, it seems as though this thread could be tranferred to the General U.S. forum (with obviously different emphasis).

Are you on properly-categorized-thread-patrol or what?

Copy the map for your own thread in the General US forum.

This thread is discussing how Pittsburgh should be connected to Cleveland, how Pittsburgh is routed to Philadelphia--among other things of course.