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Look, HSR will not take off in this country, if you can't make it convenient to get around. You can connect a lot of the cities, but how are people going to get around in the cities for one. Two, when people here think of HSR, they think of the boondoggle that Amtrak has become outside of the Northeast Corridor. Lastly, when train ticket prices are on par with airplane tickets, people are going to choose the airplane, especially so if the TSA goons start to grope people at train stations
Apparently HSR has been abandoned everywhere but the NE Corridor and California. The concept has no traction in the petroleum dominated Republican Party. They prefer to burn as much oil as possible moving people around. Too bad as this concept would really help the economy and not involve building things that deliberately kill people for profit.
Maybe it will be considered again in a decade or two.
Apparently HSR has been abandoned everywhere but the NE Corridor and California. The concept has no traction in the petroleum dominated Republican Party. They prefer to burn as much oil as possible moving people around. Too bad as this concept would really help the economy and not involve building things that deliberately kill people for profit.
Maybe it will be considered again in a decade or two.
I think people need to have patience. It will resurface when the times are right. Human nature has a way of waiting until an appropriate time comes along. Then the free market takes over and stars to meet demand. You don't need government rail to do HSR. The First Group, plc trains in the UK are doing just fine being run by a private company. I rode on the First Great Western in southern England and the service and trains were excellent and not expensive
There isn't a public rail or bus transit system anywhere that pays for itself. All of them are subsidized by tax payers or vehicle owners. So how will taking more money out of the pockets of tax payers and vehicle owners improve our economy?
This is the problem, most vehicle owners think they're paying for their roads all by themselves. Hardly the case. Here's another thread that discusses it:
Alaska tried to sell its one state-funded railroad on e-bay without success a few years ago. I have nothing against railroads. If your state wants one, get your state to pay for it. When you get me to pay for your railroad, then we have a problem.
Buy a car and start acting like a real American, instead of a EuroPEON parasite.
No, your economy is based upon sucking the hard earned dollars out of westerner's pockets so you can fund your EuroPEON mode of transportation. That makes easterners nothing more than pathetic parasites who have absolutely no regard for the Supreme Law of the Land.
Daniel Akerson, is that you?
How is it European to want good mass transit, which is FAR more affordable than owning a car? I believe this country had over 100 streetcar systems long before each household had one car...and IMO, our country was more American then than we are now (at least politically).
Look, HSR will not take off in this country, if you can't make it convenient to get around. You can connect a lot of the cities, but how are people going to get around in the cities for one. Two, when people here think of HSR, they think of the boondoggle that Amtrak has become outside of the Northeast Corridor. Lastly, when train ticket prices are on par with airplane tickets, people are going to choose the airplane, especially so if the TSA goons start to grope people at train stations
A lot of American cities and especially the older ones on the east coast have very good public transit whether that be commuter rail or subways. Now, what do Europeans do when they get a train to London or Paris? They hop on the tube or the metro or they grab a cab. It isn't rocket science.
Now lets talk about airline tickets. First you have to get from the city out to the airport. That will cost anywhere from $25-$50 on both sides of the trip. Then you have those extra fees ... for your checked bags, to sit by a window, etc.. You don't get that on trains. Compare like with like and then factor in speed, comfort and risk of delays and, for trips up to 250 miles the train wins every time. For trips up to 400 miles, HSR wins.
Of course, right now, the airlines are whining about increased fuel costs. How long before they have their hands out for our money again? Funny how Americans complain about money for rail but have been doling it out to the airlines for years with barely a whimper.
Moving freight by train is a losing proposition for most shippers in the US. They make sense when it comes to iron ore or coal, or liquid bulk, but one must rememeber that a receiving facility must have a rail head off the trunk line.
A 18 wheeler can cross the country in 5 to six days. A train takes weeks beacuse it has to make too many stops, drops and reloading, not to mention the damage from "humping" and other rail practices. Companies do not hold inventories any more for storage reasons, so they would rather have a truckload delivery of 45,000 lbs every week rather than one rail car of 160,000 lbs every four weeks.
The US rails system, particularly in the NOrtheast is in shambles. The highest speed Acela can get is about 80 mph and that is only on small stretches of rail. The government has been woefully neglectful with regard to the rail system. The US has designed its commerical systems mostly around truck deliveries and not rail.
It's too late. It may make sense for passenger service to be re-evaluated but it has to be privatized because the people who use it must pay for it, otherwise it will end up as Amtrak is now, a loser.
First off the ignorance of the rail industry by some posters...the railroads maintain their own right of way [ROW] not the taxpayer the Norfolk Southern has their own sea ports [Norfolk Va]Great lake ports,that handle coal,grain,iron ores,etc to foreign customers intermodal facilities [Lockbourne Ohio]to load unload container trucks or your standard trailer trucks this facility is next to Rickenbacker Airport commercial hub.They can have a double-stack container train in Chicago from Norfolk in 48 hrs [Heartland Corridor]...saw two fully loaded stacked trains leave town at 4 p.m. one behind the other then a pig train [trailers on flat cars]Westbounds to Columbus these trains run straight thru stop only to change crews and off they go...and if they get stopped you are answering to the MAN.We handle on time deliveries to the automotive industry Ford is their biggest customer they are high tech with SAD-TSA detectors that scan the trains for defects [an axle can get white hot warp and derail within 25 miles if there is mechanical trouble] and talk to the crews over the radio with an axle count any defects etc AEI's they know exactly where any load is on the line on its way to the customer just like UPS which is another big customer which should tell you something trains can deliver in a timely manner to suit UPS.The Acela can go 150+ m.p.h. on some straight stretches but slows to 35 m.p.h. in the congested northeast corridor [track conditions dictate the speeds allowed]and here lies the problem passenger trains running on freight ROWS.53 BILLION isn't going to buy much of a true HIGH SPEED TRAIN but it is a start if you build a totally new dedicated ROW in little sections over time to link other projects together as part of a master plan but this will take years to plan and build.I could go on and on Youtube has some good Norfolk Southern railroad videos also the railroad has a site check them out.
Look, HSR will not take off in this country, if you can't make it convenient to get around. You can connect a lot of the cities, but how are people going to get around in the cities for one. Two, when people here think of HSR, they think of the boondoggle that Amtrak has become outside of the Northeast Corridor. Lastly, when train ticket prices are on par with airplane tickets, people are going to choose the airplane, especially so if the TSA goons start to grope people at train stations
A lot of assumptions. Look no further than the developed world in Europe and Asia. IMO, USA stopped being progressive in the 1950s, it cruised on its laurels for couple of decades and since then, friction with the demand of taking the country back is keen on putting it to the final resting ground.
First off the ignorance of the rail industry by some posters...the railroads maintain their own right of way [ROW] not the taxpayer the Norfolk Southern has their own sea ports [Norfolk Va]Great lake ports,that handle coal,grain,iron ores,etc to foreign customers intermodal facilities [Lockbourne Ohio]to load unload container trucks or your standard trailer trucks this facility is next to Rickenbacker Airport commercial hub.They can have a double-stack container train in Chicago from Norfolk in 48 hrs [Heartland Corridor]...saw two fully loaded stacked trains leave town at 4 p.m. one behind the other then a pig train [trailers on flat cars]Westbounds to Columbus these trains run straight thru stop only to change crews and off they go...and if they get stopped you are answering to the MAN.We handle on time deliveries to the automotive industry Ford is their biggest customer they are high tech with SAD-TSA detectors that scan the trains for defects [an axle can get white hot warp and derail within 25 miles if there is mechanical trouble] and talk to the crews over the radio with an axle count any defects etc AEI's they know exactly where any load is on the line on its way to the customer just like UPS which is another big customer which should tell you something trains can deliver in a timely manner to suit UPS.The Acela can go 150+ m.p.h. on some straight stretches but slows to 35 m.p.h. in the congested northeast corridor [track conditions dictate the speeds allowed]and here lies the problem passenger trains running on freight ROWS.53 BILLION isn't going to buy much of a true HIGH SPEED TRAIN but it is a start if you build a totally new dedicated ROW in little sections over time to link other projects together as part of a master plan but this will take years to plan and build.I could go on and on Youtube has some good Norfolk Southern railroad videos also the railroad has a site check them out.
Just to add .... drive along I40 through Arizona and New Mexico and you will see train after train, usually 100+ cars long and double stacked with containers. One train = 200+ 18 wheeler trucks. And they don't have to stop for gas or because they are out of hours.
People do not oppose the never ending and completly useless Afghan war, what's wrong with additional infrastructure?
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