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It may happen. The President seems to be on board (pun intended) with it. They are definitely talking about it.
But talk is cheap, and free. Until the infrastructure is shored up or completely overhauled/rebuilt, I seriously doubt any "high speed rail" will even be thought about. There's already enough derailments across the nation with the existing system, why do you think AMTRAK is so damned slow, having to compete with the regular railroad traffic and the pitiful state of the rail system?
OK so we are going to build a high speed train. So the question is where should it be built? I am not against speedy rail service but it seems that the best place to start such a thing would be in highly congested areas with a medium to high population density. I would say Boston to Richmond VA would be the ideal place to start on the east coast and San Diego to San Fransisco on the west coast. But there are other proposals. What do you think?
You think way too small... if I was the federal government, I would build a rail system from Miami, Florida all the way to Seattle, WA and then let the states connect the outer lying cities to the main railway with their own budgets... and then piece by piece, sell parts of the national railway back to the states and let them manage it... that would of been the smart thing to do but the ideological thing would be what the president mentioned...
We in America have been living in a "fools paradise" thinking gasoline has an endless supply to power our SUVs. It seems only when we are faced with $5.00/gallon gas do we seriously look at alternate modes of transportation.
Since we are broke now, the states and feds cannot afford to build more highways we must look ahead to other means of getting around for economic
advantages. Yes, cars are more convenient but really will anyone drive an electric car, much less be able to afford one? Whats in it for Wall Street?
I think the Boston-Richmond would be my first pick since rail travel is more entrenched up there. As far as upgrading it is still cheaper than building highways. What happened to all of the new technology of mag lev trains? Certainly we can't let China, Japan get ahead of us on that one, too!
Good news. President Obama approved big $ for the LA to San Francisco train. It will first start in Anaheim up to San Jose then to San Diego & San Francisco later.
Denver to Albuquerque (with a connection to the existing light rail to Santa Fe) to Las Cruces (with a connection west to Tucson and Phoenix) to El Paso to Dallas...
There is currently no public transpo option from ABQ to Las Cruces except for Greyhound bus (!). With the growing military pop and Spaceport America under construction the need for good, fast public transportation access has never been greater.
Good news. President Obama approved big $ for the LA to San Francisco train. It will first start in Anaheim up to San Jose then to San Diego & San Francisco later.
A good move, in my opinion. That route will also help tourism in California!
Here is a map showing the concentration of urban populations in the US:
If any high speed rail is to be built, it should connect the cities within this megalopolis corridors first before connecting to each other regions. It should also ensure that airports and local mass transit stations are integrated into the high speed network with hubs or Amtrak shuttles for it to be effective..
The NEC Regional Corridor:
Here is the European high speed rail network for comparison:
save the money and dont build it at all, high speed rail as well as light rail in the USA is a complete failure.
rail for passenger use cannot survive without subsidies, and that means a waste of money.
We provide subsidies for federal interstates , state highways , county highways and local city streets...why not light and heavy rail & (Bullets Trains)?????
We provide subsidies for federal interstates , state highways , county highways and local city streets...why not light and heavy rail & (Bullets Trains)?????
So the argument is, subsidies breed excellence?
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