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I have been to China twice and I think their high speed trains are great. A high speed train connection between Asia and North America would be great. But I would prefer a high speed train network within the USA first.
With discount airlines one still has hassles of airport security, having to arrive at the airport way in advance of one's flight and quite often being outside of city center. In China too they have domestic airlines where one can purchase one way tickets (with no penalty like in the USA) and these domestic airlines had to become more competitive in their prices once there was the option for travelers to use the high speed train system.
You have obviously never taken the train up/down California where the scenery changes often and sections of the train tracks are close enough to the shore that if the train stopped, one could jump into the Pacific Ocean.
You obviously do not know anything about me, or apparently the trains in CA. You're thinking of the Coastal Starlight train by amtrak, right? It only hugs the coast only in a select few sections, most notably between Ventura and Vandenberg AFB, mainly in Santa Barbara county. It also goes along the east SF Bay very briefly (if that even counts) and then along Puget Sound for a bit when it gets into the greater Seattle area. The rest of the time, it's all farms, ranches, cities and some mountains. It's still really pretty, especially a the right time(s) of the year, but it's not coastal at all like you're thinking, and you're not seeing anything really different from what you'd see from the road. Besides, in the few sections you are along the coast, there's no guarantee you're going to be on the correct side of the train to see it all anyways. On the other hand, Highway 1 (aka PCH), I-5 and several streets in SD county follow the shore very closely for hundreds of miles. Also, you're free to stop whenever you want and even at $4+/gallon it's still cheaper to take a family (or even just a couple if you get good mileage) by car than by train. So I still vote 'car' if I'm going for scenery/fun or 'plane' if I'm going for speed/efficiency. The train would only be for nostalgia in which case I would just take that Santa Barbara stretch RT and then drive or fly back home.
There's also the Coaster, Amtrak and other Commuter connections between downtown SD, Orange county and LA. None of which run close enough to the actual ocean to "jump in" at any point. There's at least a couple of blocks of businesses and residents between the rail and the beach. Coastal real estate goes between $1-10 million or more just for a lot, so do you really think they're going to run a train line where people can sell a quarter acre of weeds for 3 million dollars?
Last edited by otterprods; 05-12-2014 at 10:52 AM..
Impractical without huge government subsidies, not to only construct it, but just to keep it from going bankrupt since any ticket fees will not be able to keep it in the black.
Right now just our domestic US rail system is essentially just a government subsidized program, only able to stay afloat because of millions (billions maybe) of taxpayer money.
Science fiction. There is another thread on this topic on the California forum. Our looney governor has already made plans to build A Train To Nowhere, we sure as heck do not need another.
I'm glad citizens like the last two posters will not be calling the shots. The Chinese who by October will have the world's largest economy will have worldwide HSR in place while Americans like these are still sucking their thumbs and nay-saying. By the way, the Bering Strait portion is going to be a tunnel. Hope I live long enough to ride it.
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