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This might be the holiday travel season that gets U.S. high-speed rail projects moving.
Faced with invasive airport screenings and traffic-choked highways, Americans may say “enough!” and demand a transportation alternative that’s already embraced by America’s biggest competitors.
While we’re still waiting for construction to begin on the first mile of true high-speed rail in the U.S., other countries aren’t sitting still.
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But next time you experience the full-body airport scan – or the alternative pat-down – think for a moment about a fast, comfortable ride on a high-speed train you boarded without having to compromise your privacy and dignity.
This obviously was written before the last story (shown below) hit.
another “we told you so” moment?
I’m surprised (and gladdened) that no high speed train has yet been taken out. That easiest of easiest things to do.
#2,
uNTIL THey start scanning all mass transit, then Even the bus will be terrible..
East coast can pay for it ALLL
Yeah, that Cleveland to Cincinnati leg….not happening. Ohio’s new governor, the day after the election, proudly proclaimed “That train is dead.”
This is silly.
EACh installed rail will require 2-3 sets of rails.
1 coming
2 going
3, cargo??
Cargo is the 1 thing that PAYS for the whole thing. Otherwise ticket prices will MATCH DELTA AIRLINES..
anything shorter then a 200 miles JUMP, isnt worth the time. Stopping every 10-20-30 miles is a WASTE to time and energy.
Another point, is that Rail system out of S. Cal?? is going to be ALL UP HILL.
Notice that there is no leg from Cali to PTLD or Seattle? its all mountain range until you get to Eugene.
Despite previous story this is excellent example of Obamanipulation. Make it slow, annoying, dangerous and abusive to travel by air … so that people opt for your pet project of traveling by train. Obstruct, regulate, mess-up with … until your goal is done.
Sorry, Constitutional rights must prevail vs. TSA; enough new Governors are ready to kill rails (and I do not see new Congress giving that money to the wiling ones). Next step – proper usage of air transport as it is intended to be: fast and efficient.
The cost estimates are TOTALLY BOGUS! We built a commuter rail line in Minneapolis from downtown to the airport and the Mall of America. Distance about 20 miles. Cost about a billion dollars. How the F can you build a high speed line from Minneapolis to Chicago Via Madison and Milwaukee for less than 900 Million.
Ahhhhhhem, Bull Shit!
Rapid transit trains. Slower than planes, costs as much and just as inconvenient.
Just one more method of closing the US of A down.
No east to west coast, mid-west almost completely blank, what gives? Wonder if we compared this map with the red and blue election map, if we would find anything?
Inter-city trains are much cheaper to build than rapid-transit lines within a city, that’s just common sense. The people who will be opposing this plan every step of the way are the regional airlines like Southwest, that for example has dozens of short-hop flights every day from Houston-Dallas-Oklahoma City-Tulsa-Kansas City and points in between and nearby. If there was a train between all those places I would take it in a heartbeat instead of fly. It’s a total no-brainer. Every other country on the planet is going after high speed rail as a means of getting their citizens from city to city while here in the US we sit here like luddites saying it will never work, when in those every other countries on the planet it does work.
The Ohio governor has it right – need more of him, why would anyone want to take a train to Columbus from Cleveland when it takes half the time to drive it. Oh, and the proposed schedule was crazy too, leave at 6am and arrive at 10:30am? I smell pork.
I guess we’re too good for high-speed rail. I wonder why every other developed country has it?
We need high speed rail. The incentive needed is a little federal government backbone to stop the tax payer subsidies for air and interstate trucking.
* Take away federal highway subsidies. Stop tax payers dollars for hauling your 500lb ass to the mall on a 4,000lb SUV.
* Charge airlines environmental impact fees
* Charge airlines for Cheney’s TSA legal sexual assault program
* Charge airlines for stationing the military in the middle east to protect airline fuel.
*License the airlines for flying over government land.
* Charge trucking for the wear and tear of federally highways from free (tax payer funded) to actual cost.
Use the money to pay for high speed rail to facilitate commerce and eventual passenger travel.
As a bonus .. comfy seats with internet, less stress, get work done, less highway deaths, unclogged roads, less pollution, construction jobs, safer travel, less groping, lay fiber and sensors as you lay the tracks, view scenic America, stop and shop, everything is predictable and on time, no luggage fees, a smoking section for the nicotine addicts, …
#5: Why did the new Ohio Governor think that not having a passenger train in his state was a “good thing?” How much did the highway contractors bribe him to cancel the train project?
Big Sis already has hinted that TSA agents and machines should be expanded to trains and buses.
#14, let’s apply the same rules to HSR:
* Take away federal highway subsidies. Stop tax payers dollars for Amtrak and make Joe Biden pay full price for his ticket.
* Charge environmental impact fees – you think running a rail line through environmentally sensitive areas won’t be a problem? (To an environmental, the definition of an environmentally sensitive area is “Earth”.)
* Charge airlines for Cheney’s TSA legal sexual assault program (coming soon to train stations)
* Charge trains for stationing the military in the middle east to protect diesel fuel.
* License the trains for running across government land. (technically it’s “public” land. it belongs to the people, not the government)
* Charge trains for the wear and tear of federally-paid-for tracks from free (tax payer funded) to actual cost.
* Use the money to pay for tax cuts for the rich. (Ooops, that slipped out.)
As a bonus .. Bwa-ha-ha!! bonus? seriously?
predictable? on-time? no fee luggage?
Wisconsin and Florida and Ohio are all rethinking the commuter rail thing. Hell, I like the idea, but the current money is just a waste and a facade for upgrading tracks for free for freight. Here’s a good link for news, although the site is obviously pro-mass transit:
http://masstransitmag.com/online/article.jsp?siteSection=3&id=13045&pageNum=1
“*License the airlines for flying over government land.”
Why just government land? Make them contract with all the individual private owners who’s land they fly over every day as well.
See how silly we can make things?
Useful passenger rail will be even more expensive if we put it off another 50 years.
>> deowll said,
>> Rapid transit trains. Slower than planes, costs as much and just as inconvenient.
Have you ever lived somewhere that has decent high speed rail? Japan? Europe?
Rail is WAY more convenient than planes … and _much_ faster for short and medium distances.
>> Just one more method of closing the US of A down.
No, what’s going to shut-down America are anti-innovation conservatives.
Despite all the carping we might want to make about our chosen poison, uh, elected officials, passenger travel is going away because of its vulnerability to disruption by people with malicious intent.
Planes are the worst means of transportation, (high vulnerability, high demolition delivery and high mobility.)
The bus terminals are more desirable for terrorists purposes because incidents like the London bombing cause a great deal of disruption though, they are limited in the actual blast damage.
Trains running on fixed tracks in unpopulated, undesirable and/or low value industrial lands, are the best (except in the actual passenger terminals.)
Now we just have to worry about being scanned (with X and non-ionizing radiation) everywhere else we go, (which is not the TSA’s bailiwick)
Now that personal mobility is going the way of the dodo, it is time for venture capitalists to look for companies making tele-presence rigs,to invest in.
It is also te time for us to request from our congress-critters to move on making the internet to be regulated like the electrical grid and be treated like it is in Finland, as a basic right.
That would bottle the terrorists right up.
If it moves, its either got a security clearance or its a target.
So many Americans have not traveled overseas, that they can’t even imagine how great it is to have decent local and high speed rail.
Let me describe it to you:
* You pack a carry-on bag and walk a few minutes to your local light rail train which arrives every ten minutes or so.
You know EXACTLY when to leave the house because the train never gets in traffic jams. You know EXACTLY when it arrives at the train station, so you your transfers are bee-line easy.
* The light rail delivers you INSIDE the train terminal. (No need to park a car or walk take a shuttle from some long-term parking lot.)
* You buy a ticket from a vending machine and roll your suitcase on-board. If you’re worried about a seat, you can also pre-reserve.
You know EXACTLY when your train leaves and EXACTLY when it will arrives. The delays we Americans have in our airports are a very rare thing on rail in places like Japan and most of Europe, from my experience.
You can get some real work done. The seats in the economy section are WAY more spacious than on airplanes. There is often a plug-in for your computer and a real table to spread-out your paperwork.
Or just enjoy the trip!
When was the last time you enjoyed air travel?
The view out the window is FAR MORE interesting than looking at the tops of clouds. You can walk around and stretch your legs or get into your luggage. You can go get a meal in the diner car or a beer in the lounge.
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And yet, most Americans, especially conservatives, oppose this kind of travel. What idiots.
Do the people against high speed rail have any idea how much money is spent on cars and planes every year by our government? The U.S. government subsidizes brand new cars, on average $1500 per vehicle. And then there’s the small airports scattered all over the U.S. that get huge subsidizes so some rich guy can fly his Cessna.
People are opposing this rail expansion/improvement but all over the country there are little roads being built that go through rural areas and maybe a couple of cars use that road every day. You think that’s cheap to build those roads? It costs on average $1,500,000 to build a mile of road in a rural area with flat land and no major obstructions and 70% of that is paid federally.
A lot of the opposition for high speed rail comes from the oil companies. But what happens when oil is $200 a barrel? The fuel cost for planes will be astronomical and people will be driving smaller and less comfortable cars because of high gas prices.
It’s funny that Gov-elect Walker in Wisconsin is against the high speed rail because it will cost $7 million a year to operate. But in the meantime they are spending $1.1 billion a year on their prison system. It’s all smoke-and-mirrors.
#24 – and here’s my version of a trip I had taking the train back from Newcastle to Reading (UK).
* Walk to the train station because the taxi is to expensive.
* I have a rail-pass, so I just wait for the train, which arrives on-time, but leaves 10 minutes late (by my watch). But according to the railway, this is still considered “on time”.
* Got stuck outside London for an hour because a different company is doing maintenance on tracks (there used to be 1 national railway in the UK, then it got split up into a dozen private regional companies, none of which can agree on a proper schedule.)
* Finally got into London. Now I have to take the tube (subway) to the other station to catch the train to Reading. London has 6 main railway stations. You can’t get from Northern England to Southern England without going through London, changing trains (and changing train stations).
* Different train from London to Reading, run by a different train company. But my rail-pass is still valid, which is good. But I got my rail-pass when I was outside the country. Visitors can buy a national rail-pass if they want to. Locals can’t. Locals get screwed.
* Arrived in Reading, switch to a local line to take me to Epsom Downs, then a taxi back to where I was staying.
Elapsed time: 6 hours. High-speed rail! Woo! Woo!
I love the idea that Amrak or any rail is supposed to be “self sufficient”. F**KING seriously? Am I supposed to believe the airline industry and highway system aren’t tax payer subsidized? SERIOUSLY?
Tax payers paid for almost ALL of the roads in the nation. So why not all of the rail?? Tax payers pay for the FAA, huge tax payer chunks (from Transportation department) to communities for new runways or airport improvements.
I also call BS on the chart in the OP. The bond to fund HSR from LA to the Bay Area was 9 billion and it is very likely it will go over that. A huge chunk of that is buying the land on which to put the rail.
#14
Take away federal highway subsidies. Stop tax payers dollars for hauling your 500lb ass to the mall on a 4,000lb SUV.
IIRC, the highway subsidies are for maintenance on interstate highways. Seems a bit unfair to mandate the creation of highways and then force the States to maintain them.
Charge airlines environmental impact fees
And the environmental impact of HSR?
Charge airlines for Cheney’s TSA legal sexual assault program
You can be assured that TSA’s Gate Rape is coming to rail. I’m assuming you would also charge the rail company(s) for this program?
Charge airlines for stationing the military in the middle east to protect airline fuel.
I guess trails are fueled by kittens and unicorns?
License the airlines for flying over government land.
What about the cost for running rail through populated areas (which is a must, otherwise, they are worthless)?
Charge trucking for the wear and tear of federally highways from free (tax payer funded) to actual cost.
Golly batman, how can we manage that? I know! We could charge a tax on gasoline purchased at gas stations to pay for wear and tear on the highways! The more you use the highways, the more wear and tear you inflict, the more gasoline you will buy. No one has ever thought of that! /sarcasm.
It’s as if that is exactly the purpose of the gasoline taxes or something.
Use the money to pay for high speed rail to facilitate commerce and eventual passenger travel.
What money would that be? Wouldn’t, by definition, HSR *have* be directed at passenger travel to supplant airline travel or am I missing something?
RE: #15, because it’s not “high speed”.
I am all for high speed rail and would love to be one of the first to travel on one here in the States. Unfortunately, what we are throwing money at today is far, far, far from anything we could consider high speed.
Build it right and the people will come, but our current attempts are simply wasted effort and we can’t afford throwing money away for 40 mph average speeds.
For Florida’s High Speed Rail, Tampa to Orlando is really: Downtown Tampa – Lakeland – Walt Disney World – Orange County Convention Center – Orlando International Airport.
The High Speed Rail doesn’t get to Orlando. When EPCOT was being built in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Walt Disney World wanted to extend its monorail to Orlando International Airport. Many parties in the regional hospitality industry complained, and the proposed rail link was dropped. US Rep. Mica, an incoming house chair that I mentioned because he is encouraging the privatization of screeners away from TSA (Orlando-Sanford International Airport is in his district), may kill off the link to Tampa and just concentrate on Central Florida “attractions”. Looks like 30 years later, Walt Disney World is getting its way.
Florida is getting $1.25 billion for “Tampa – Orlando”; approx. 80 miles of flat land. California is getting $2.5 billion for “San Francisco – Los Angeles” consisting of mountainous and coastal terrain. Never could understand the math.