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Worst idea ever, America is not a tiny European nation so a high speed rail system would cost trillions just to build and I don't even want to get into the cost of operating and maintaining it.
Plus most rural areas wouldn't benefit since the train would just fly right past them so travel between big urban areas is quicker. If cities and states or private companies want to build this I'm fine with it, but the federal government doesn't need another black hole to shovel money into. Especially when existing infrastructure already needs massive upgrades, our power grid would be a great example of what really needs some improvements.
To answer the question : Why Rail (any speed) will improve the economy? Go Rail - Go Electric
Unpleasant Facts:
[] Petroleum supply finite, and dwindling
[] Petroleum demand rising, and fast
[] Petroleum is necessary for fuel, plastics, medicine, asphalt pavement, and a host of other products. Burning up an irreplaceable substance is not good.
[] Automobiles, in general, need more surface area per passenger / mile. They need safety clearances, parking space (95% of the time), support infrastructure.
Unpleasant Solutions:
[] Spend more money on subsidized private automobiles, highway construction, and fight over access to scarce oil.
[] Gradually use less and less expensive petroleum, watch petro based mass transit slowly die off (buses, diesel trains, jet aircraft).
[] Doom suburbs to slow collapse.
[] Try to substitute natural gas, but that won't work for jets, nor highway construction, nor replace petroleum demand.
OR
Come to the common sense realization that :
(1) Hitting "empty" when it takes 65 million years to recharge the "fossil fuel tank" is not an option.
(2) Laws of Physics can't be beat.
(3) Partisan politicians are never the solution, and usually the problem.
(4) Paving over America is suicidal, we can't eat concrete.
(5) A single rail has the carrying capacity equivalent to 9 lanes of superhighway, a 4 track high speed corridor is equivalent to 36 lanes of superhighway.
(6) Alternative sources for power derived directly and indirectly from our nearby fusion reactor (Sun) is good for everybody - especially our grandchildren's grandchildren.
(7) Embark on a massive transformation of American land transportation to ELECTRIFIED RAIL in all suitable forms.
I can't believe you are actually asking this question as a lot of your posts/threads are about Obama,Democrats and the Economy and Americans.
If they were not responsible for guiding and leading this Country then ALL your posts regarding them(The Government) and the Economy are absolutely pointless now isn't it???
This is old News , most of Rail community would like to see the $$$ spent in the Northeast and showcase the benefits of HSR. HSR won't work in the South , Texas or Florida....it could work in the Northeast , Ontario , Midwest , West Coast...... It stimlutes smart growth , so after the HSR jobs are gone you have a ton of new jobs to replace them. Its not for every part of the US ,Rail can work just about every part of the US though. Just not HSR , regular and Intercity Rail... For those of you wanting private companies to do it , you should tell the feds to get ride of some ridiculous rules....that hold up companies. There are 14 freight companies who want to get back into the Passenger Business here in the Northeast...
You have me wondering how my community is pulling this off using existing commercial lines. Like I said earlier, I honestly don't know a great deal about the subject, but I believe I will look into the details of this further as I didn't realize there are freight companies trying to get passenger business.
Just seems to make sense to use existing lines for people, as after all THEY ARE ALREADY THERE, there is very minimal cost involved.
To answer the question : Why Rail (any speed) will improve the economy? Go Rail - Go Electric
Unpleasant Facts:
[] Petroleum supply finite, and dwindling
[] Petroleum demand rising, and fast
[] Petroleum is necessary for fuel, plastics, medicine, asphalt pavement, and a host of other products. Burning up an irreplaceable substance is not good.
[] Automobiles, in general, need more surface area per passenger / mile. They need safety clearances, parking space (95% of the time), support infrastructure.
Unpleasant Solutions:
[] Spend more money on subsidized private automobiles, highway construction, and fight over access to scarce oil.
[] Gradually use less and less expensive petroleum, watch petro based mass transit slowly die off (buses, diesel trains, jet aircraft).
[] Doom suburbs to slow collapse.
[] Try to substitute natural gas, but that won't work for jets, nor highway construction, nor replace petroleum demand.
OR
Come to the common sense realization that :
(1) Hitting "empty" when it takes 65 million years to recharge the "fossil fuel tank" is not an option.
(2) Laws of Physics can't be beat.
(3) Partisan politicians are never the solution, and usually the problem.
(4) Paving over America is suicidal, we can't eat concrete.
(5) A single rail has the carrying capacity equivalent to 9 lanes of superhighway, a 4 track high speed corridor is equivalent to 36 lanes of superhighway.
(6) Alternative sources for power derived directly and indirectly from our nearby fusion reactor (Sun) is good for everybody - especially our grandchildren's grandchildren.
(7) Embark on a massive transformation of American land transportation to ELECTRIFIED RAIL in all suitable forms.
We'd be better off investing half the cost it would take to build high speed rail and put it towards developing alternative fuels/energy for our cars, trucks, planes, and existing freight/passenger trains.
Worst idea ever, America is not a tiny European nation so a high speed rail system would cost trillions just to build and I don't even want to get into the cost of operating and maintaining it.
Plus most rural areas wouldn't benefit since the train would just fly right past them so travel between big urban areas is quicker. If cities and states or private companies want to build this I'm fine with it, but the federal government doesn't need another black hole to shovel money into. Especially when existing infrastructure already needs massive upgrades, our power grid would be a great example of what really needs some improvements.
The Northeastern Megapolis is smaller then Europe , yet more dense.. 25 million of the 45 million use Transit Daily......thats supposed to grow to 34 million over the next 2 decades. Were restoring 18,000 miles of Regional , Light , and Urban Rail..... Cost of Operating and Maintaining it less then Roads and Highways , some lines pay for themselves... We have plans for 6,000 Rural lines connecting large and small towns , they'll we be Freight and Passenger lines.... The Rural lines will be done by Private companies....
We'd be better of investing half the cost it would take to build high speed rail and put it towards developing alternative fuels/energy for our cars, trucks, planes, and existing freight/passenger trains.
Does solve the congestion issues , out there in Dakota you don't get traffic jams like here in the Northeast....
Interestingly enough, the American Conservative magazine online has a new section on the conservative case for alternative transportation, mainly trains.
Does solve the congestion issues , out there in Dakota you don't get traffic jams like here in the Northeast....
If you have traffic issues, your local and state governments should figure them out and be ready to fund a substantial portion of the projects needed to fix them. Like I said before I don't care if local/state governments do this or private companies, I just don't think the burden should be on the federal government.
Once completed, hi-speed rail immediately goes from being an achievement to liabilty.
Like all other government monopolies,revenue will be siphoned off,corners will be cut, services will deteriorate and safety will suffer.
Eventually taxes will need to be raised in order to chase, (but seemingly never catch) the resulting operational deficts.
All the same issues we have with our roads,bridges, TSA, public sector unions, etc. will now apply to hi-speed rail.
History is an excellent teacher in this regard.
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