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Where do people get the idea that high-speed rail is inherently a money loser? The evidence seems to show otherwise. If you want to get upset over government spending and waste, then you can scream against the interstate highway system, which cost taxpayers trillions of dollars but has never made a penny ever since it was built. Even the Amtrak Acela line, the fastest passenger train in the US is running at a profit. So much for the anti-rail propaganda. Let's look at the facts instead of relying on blind partisan ideology.
Of course, High speed rail will not work everywhere in the US. No one is proposing to build it on a national scale. That would be stupid. But in certain dense metropolitan regions that will attract high ridership levels, HSR makes a lot of sense.
....In fact, it is NOT a “very big if” whether the train can support itself. It’s actually highly likely that it will be able to do so. It’s not like California is proposing to do something radical and untested. We’ve known for 50 years that high speed rail works. And it turns a profit – in Japan and France, Spain, Russia, Taiwan, even the Amtrak Acela. And California compares favorably to those globally successful routes. In most of these cases, riders have flocked to HSR from planes – including the Acela.
Over 100 Billion dollars plus (as it stands now) for high speed rail and the state is laying off teachers and closing all types of public assistance programs.
Makes perfect sense to me..
And what do they say about the first leg of this HSR?
Quote:
It would be a 130-mile line from just north of Fresno running south to Bakersfield in the Central Valley, one of the state's least populated areas, where bullet trains would run.
All the people opposing it are generally not bright and forward thinking enough to realize our population is going to increase and we need more and better transportation options. They're the same type of ignorant luddite that thought our Interstate Highway System would be an expensive boondoggle that would just be a massive money drain when it has in fact been one of the most important engines in American commerce.
Where do people get the idea that high-speed rail is inherently a money loser? The evidence seems to show otherwise. If you want to get upset over government spending and waste, then you can scream against the interstate highway system, which cost taxpayers trillions of dollars but has never made a penny ever since it was built. Even the Amtrak Acela line, the fastest passenger train in the US is running at a profit. So much for the anti-rail propaganda. Let's look at the facts instead of relying on blind partisan ideology.
Of course, High speed rail will not work everywhere in the US. No one is proposing to build it on a national scale. That would be stupid. But in certain dense metropolitan regions that will attract high ridership levels, HSR makes a lot of sense.
....In fact, it is NOT a “very big if” whether the train can support itself. It’s actually highly likely that it will be able to do so. It’s not like California is proposing to do something radical and untested. We’ve known for 50 years that high speed rail works. And it turns a profit – in Japan and France, Spain, Russia, Taiwan, even the Amtrak Acela. And California compares favorably to those globally successful routes. In most of these cases, riders have flocked to HSR from planes – including the Acela.
Where do people get the idea that high-speed rail is inherently a money loser? Well that would be from the fact that just about every rail transit system in the U.S. is a money loser. The main cause of this can be summed up in a word: Unions
All the people opposing it are generally not bright and forward thinking enough to realize our population is going to increase and we need more and better transportation options. They're the same type of ignorant luddite that thought our Interstate Highway System would be an expensive boondoggle that would just be a massive money drain when it has in fact been one of the most important engines in American commerce.
We had a chance with the stimulus money.
China used theirs to build high speed rail.
We broke ours up into a bazillion little projects in cities all over the US.
We repaved roads that were just paved, built turtle tunnels under highways, hike and bike trails that go nowhere and literally 1/2 of a bridge. Oh and don't forget that busy John Murtha airport renovation to the tune of over $200 million..those handful of folks that use it are mighty greatful.
And we threw some cash to green energy companies that went bankrupt.
That's what we did with our stimulus. It was supposed to go to infrastructure. I'm sure the turtles are thankful for their tunnels.
Where do people get the idea that high-speed rail is inherently a money loser? Well that would be from the fact that just about every rail transit system in the U.S. is a money loser.
That's a valid point. But remember, Amtrak is mostly an ancient low speed rail system, not HSR.
Amtrak is just too slow to compete with the speed and pricing of the airlines. So of course it will be a money loser. But if Amtrak were ever upgraded to HSR standards, you bet it could compete with the airlines.
Where do people get the idea that high-speed rail is inherently a money loser? The evidence seems to show otherwise. If you want to get upset over government spending and waste, then you can scream against the interstate highway system, which cost taxpayers trillions of dollars but has never made a penny ever since it was built.
The Interstate system is funded through the taxes on fuel you pay at the pump and is also vital to the self defense of this country.
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