Should we built the high speed rail network? (considered, cities, thought)
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In certain corridors, high-speed rail has a good chance at being successful (think the BosWash corridor, California, the Great Lakes, and Florida). On a national scale, I'm sorry, but there would have to be a dramatic cultural change for it to truly succeed. When gas prices hit European levels, airplane costs become prohibitively expensive for most Americans, and/or the entire Interstate network is tolled, then Americans would probably flock in droves to high-speed rail. Until then, I can't see a national high-speed rail network being much of a success.
I'd rather see us focus on building and expanding public transit networks in our cities and metropolitan areas for now.
- skbl17
I think focusing on the inter-city routes is the most logical start too.
If a well planned high speed rail system proved to be as fast in the total time spent as airline travel, I think it would start reacquainting Americans with the advantages of rail transportation again.
While an airplane can travel faster than a train, travel by air now requires an often long trip to the airport, a very long wait before boarding, and most often now, another very long wait before the plane finally takes off. Then, on the other end of the trip, the same thing happens again. Then, on the return home, it happens a third time. Boarding a train's procedures would have to be streamlined, because trains have to leave on time, and exiting would also have to be faster.
Since big depots in major cities still exist, there's no need for a depot to be built 40 miles away from the city limits. Of course, some of them have been torn down, but a new depot wouldn't need the acres of runway any airline terminal requires.
The problem out here in the intermountain west is there is now a lack of either air or rail travel. Citizens of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, the Dakotas, most of Nevada, etc. who don't live close to the few air terminals in their state must travel very long distances just to reach the an airport, and as the map shows, rail lines just no longer exist. The only means of transportation is the automobile.
A high speed train would best serve these states as a high-tech milk train; many brief stops, but the speed of the train would still make the travel faster than a car.
I think focusing on the inter-city routes is the most logical start too.
If a well planned high speed rail system proved to be as fast in the total time spent as airline travel, I think it would start reacquainting Americans with the advantages of rail transportation again.
While an airplane can travel faster than a train, travel by air now requires an often long trip to the airport, a very long wait before boarding, and most often now, another very long wait before the plane finally takes off. Then, on the other end of the trip, the same thing happens again. Then, on the return home, it happens a third time. Boarding a train's procedures would have to be streamlined, because trains have to leave on time, and exiting would also have to be faster.
Since big depots in major cities still exist, there's no need for a depot to be built 40 miles away from the city limits. Of course, some of them have been torn down, but a new depot wouldn't need the acres of runway any airline terminal requires.
The problem out here in the intermountain west is there is now a lack of either air or rail travel. Citizens of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, the Dakotas, most of Nevada, etc. who don't live close to the few air terminals in their state must travel very long distances just to reach the an airport, and as the map shows, rail lines just no longer exist. The only means of transportation is the automobile.
A high speed train would best serve these states as a high-tech milk train; many brief stops, but the speed of the train would still make the travel faster than a car.
That would be the nice factor about high speed rail would be the ability to run them into city centers for connections making them much more direct for regional trips. Amtrak takes one from downtown Portland to downtown Seattle right now.
Sounds great, but the liberals would ultimately be against as it may disrupt the elk population, or a spotted salamander somewhere through it's path...
But lawyers will prosper and flourish!
Quote:
Much like the oil pipeline from Canada that the the current regime rejected...and i quote..
Obama was putting politics ahead of jobs and the nation's energy security by rejecting the pipeline now, Republicans and oil industry leaders said. The president faced fierce pressure from environmentalists who said they would be less likely to campaign for him in November if he didn't block the project to move carbon-heavy oil from the tar sands of northwest Canada.
Another 4 years..Damn
It's 600 miles diagonally all the way across France while it's 730 miles diagonally across just the state of Texas.
Ive seen estimates from 8-82 million dollars per mile for new hi speed rail.
Libs will need to harness a bunch of unicorns and sprinkle a ton of fairy dust to pull it off.
Here in the US, it would take many decades to build en equivalent system, at many times the cost.
I doubt we could even acquire the necessary land for the right-of-way, in that kind of time span. Let alone move the first yard of dirt.
The ability to get things done, to focus resources and to spread the wealth of a society to a majority of the nations people is a Hallmark of the socialist system for organizing a society. The last time the USA did such things and incidentally moved mountains was during the 2nd World War when we suspended our usual way to doing things for what was war communism. We may right now be in a kind of war with China but fail to realize it and will be most surprised when that nation runs us into the ground.
Sounds like a great reason to further **** away our children's future with momentous debt because we don't want to lose our edge by not doing stuff.
Sometimes I just want to bang my head against the wall.
So we are supposed to just sit here and let the Chinese run us into the ground with their expertise, technology and capability for infrastructure?
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