Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
HSR will not work: not at least the way most people THINK it will work
1. ""high speed"' HAS to be between far distances with NO inbetween stops....otherwise it will never be high speed.....in other words you could have a boston to NYC....but you would HAVE to leave the people of CT in the dust..... or a NYC to WASHDC....leaving the people of NJ and del and Maryland in the dust
2. government rail doesn't work....Amtrak has lost money every year since its creation in the 1970's.....
2a. tyr taking an amtrak from NYC to NC.....time..... 25 hrs...so many stops....meanwhile its a 10 hr drive......now think about all the stops...most people forget about the stops when they '''dream''' of HSR
3. for the west coast..you would need to have Tijuana to seatle, for it to be feasible as a HIGHSPEED rail
In the Northeast there are enough of a demand to just connect the major cities with HSR because there is already local rail and express rail connecting much of CT and NJ to major cities. Adding HSR would just be an added bonus for that region.
As for Amtrak not working, that has a lot to do with their poor time record due to not having exclusive tracks and having to always yield for freight trains. Having HSR doesn't mean we have to also give up our local rail service lines that have more stops. HSR is more for connecting major hubs.
I do however partly agree with you about the issue with it being public. Stations should be city/state owned. Rails should be federal owned, and the trains should be private owned. This would be a similar layout to what we have with air travel in this country.
For HSR to be productive in the Northwest, we would need a Eugene, Salem, Portland, Olympia, Tacoma, Seattle, Vancouver line with the possibility of bypassing a few of those stops so that some trains can just be a Portland, Seattle, Vancouver line.
The HSR is a stupid boondoggle. It benefits few while taxing many. What is the point? You have to drive your car to the station anyway and then how do you get to your final destination. We have airports that do a better job and have many more locations with much less infrastructure. Mass transportation is good for major cities but cars and jets are better for long range travel. Cars give you individual freedom. You go exactly where you want in the privacy of your vehicle. The whole idea is a creation of treehuggers that think HSR will cut down on pollution. Why not just develop natural gas cars (and trucks) and filling stations along our highways?
BTW how has AMTRAK worked out. Get the government out of rail transportation.
One could say the exact same thing about air travel and the interstate system.
This used to be a good excuse. China is practically as big as the US and building high speed rail everywhere.
The North East corridor from Boston all the way down to NoVa is horrendously congested.
The up-front costs for China aren't what they would be for the United States. Their government doesn't have to negotiate and pay market prices for the land they need in order to build HSR. And they have a huge and cheap labor base. And they aren't building it "everywhere". There are huge expanses of China that will not be served by HSR.
If the Northeast corridor would benefit from HSR, the Northeast people who would benefit should pay for it. Why should Nebraskans and Kansans who would not benefit pay for it?
The up-front costs for China aren't what they would be for the United States. Their government doesn't have to negotiate and pay market prices for the land they need in order to build HSR. And they have a huge and cheap labor base. And they aren't building it "everywhere". There are huge expanses of China that will not be served by HSR.
If the Northeast corridor would benefit from HSR, the Northeast people who would benefit should pay for it. Why should Nebraskans and Kansans who would not benefit pay for it?
Everyone should pay to realize the liberal dream of a train, of course the train will be where we already have trains, but it will go a little faster, not as fast as an air plane though, and it will require the displacement of tens of thousands of Americans and cost near a trillion of dollars. But liberals want a train as some sort of national pride and also because Europe and Japan have them even though we don't have enough money to feed, house or support the poor (according to them).
Everyone should pay to realize the liberal dream of a train, of course the train will be where we already have trains, but it will go a little faster, not as fast as an air plane though, and it will require the displacement of tens of thousands of Americans and cost near a trillion of dollars. But liberals want a train as some sort of national pride and also because Europe and Japan have them even though we don't have enough money to feed, house or support the poor (according to them).
I am a liberal. I think HSR is a great idea where population density warrants it. Nationally, we don't have the population density to warrant it. This is a regional issue. And while some federal dollars will certainly be directed toward the development of HSR systems, I think that regional dollars and regional authorities should be directing the development of such systems where those systems are warranted.
Using wrongs to justify other wrongs, this is the problem.
Only if you assume air travel and interstates are both wrong. I do not, therefore I am using two rights to point out why a third right would be beneficial to the country.
The problem is with people who can't see beyond what we currently have and think that just because it isn't there then it will never work. I am sure the same thing was said about air travel, it would only be for the select few, but we would all have to pay for it. Now almost everyone has flown at least once in their life.
I am a liberal. I think HSR is a great idea where population density warrants it. Nationally, we don't have the population density to warrant it. This is a regional issue. And while some federal dollars will certainly be directed toward the development of HSR systems, I think that regional dollars and regional authorities should be directing the development of such systems where those systems are warranted.
To some extent I agree, though HSR is like any other regional project that receives federal funding.
Only if you assume air travel and interstates are both wrong. I do not, therefore I am using two rights to point out why a third right would be beneficial to the country.
The problem is with people who can't see beyond what we currently have and think that just because it isn't there then it will never work. I am sure the same thing was said about air travel, it would only be for the select few, but we would all have to pay for it. Now almost everyone has flown at least once in their life.
We have trains already that are money pits to the tax payers because of low ridership. It is very easy to project the shortcomings of HSR.
Spending money for the sake of spending money is not a good plan.
Tell me again why HSR is markedly better than the already paid for air planes again? Why we should spend more than a trillion dollars on a train?
The up-front costs for China aren't what they would be for the United States. Their government doesn't have to negotiate and pay market prices for the land they need in order to build HSR. And they have a huge and cheap labor base. And they aren't building it "everywhere". There are huge expanses of China that will not be served by HSR.
If the Northeast corridor would benefit from HSR, the Northeast people who would benefit should pay for it. Why should Nebraskans and Kansans who would not benefit pay for it?
China doesn't mess around squabbling about guns or ridiculous who-shot-John political theories. If something needs to get done they get on it.
We used to have that can-do spirit here in the States.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
