Posted on 10/20/2009 8:29:33 PM PDT by Willie Green
Express passenger trains linking America's major metropolises. It's an idea whose time has come and gone and, thankfully, come again. Just don't expect them to come to Utah any time soon.
When the Federal Railroad Administration released its list of intercity rail corridors eligible for high-speed rail funding last spring, there was a hole the size of the Intermountain West on the map. It wasn't an oversight.
When you start connecting the big-city dots in the Intermountain West, it's a long way between dots. Higher-density corridors in the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest and on the West Coast are more logical places to pursue high-speed rail pilot projects. And it appears Utah will continue to be served by a pokey old Amtrak diesel train -- 15 hours from Salt Lake City to Denver -- for the foreseeable future.
In China, Japan and Europe, bullet trains reaching speeds of 200 mph or more have been in service for decades and high-speed rail networks are expanding, for good reasons. Powered by electricity, the trains are clean, energy-efficient and, by eliminating waiting, provide faster service than airlines on short hauls. They also relieve, to a small degree, air pollution, greenhouse-gas emissions, dependence on foreign oil and gridlock on freeways and airport taxiways.
But in the U.S., where cars are king, the closest thing to a 200 mph train is a bumper-to-bumper NASCAR race. That could change. At long last the U.S. is entering the bullet-train derby, providing grants for promising projects with an $8 billion down payment from federal stimulus funds. The Obama administration also promised another $1 billion a year for the next five years, and the Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act, the nation's proposed five-year transportation spending plan, contains $50 billion for high-speed rail. Will Utah get a taste?
The Utah Transit Authority is carrying the flag for the state where they drove the golden spike, paying dues of $5,000 per month to join the Western High-Speed Rail Alliance, which will conduct a study exploring the potential for high-speed rail in the region. It's a modest investment that could pay big dividends if our rapidly growing population one day warrants inclusion in the national network.
Building off a proposed Los Angeles to Las Vegas route, UTA boss John Inglish envisions an eventual loop from Vegas to Salt Lake City and west to Sacramento, where it would rejoin the Golden State's high-speed network.
It won't happen overnight. Neither did the Interstate Highway system. But the UTA is wise to buy our state a seat at the table, and a voice in the national debate
I can’t imagine a high speed rail line through a mountain range. It would be cool, though, to go under the mountains at high speed.
yeah, gawd knows how profitable passenger rails are.
With pensions, unions, graft , corruption, delay, economics, and government- it would never pen out- but they must try and do good anyway.
would be cooler to go up and down ‘em at high speed, wouldn’t it?
High Speed Rail? That’s something that goes on in Double-wides out in Wise County, isn’t it?
Just say “NO!”
yeah, gawd knows how profitable passenger rails are.
Passenger rail is too big to fail.
“UTA is wise to buy our state a seat at the table”
And where does the author think the $50 billion is coming from?
And where does the author think the $50 billion is coming from?
Same place they always get it.
Along with all the ridiculous "alternative fuels" ideas all you new age knot-heads keep trying and failing to get traction with!!!
“yeah, gawd knows how profitable passenger rails are.”
***
It’s sad. Where I live, we don’t even hae commuter trains from the ‘burbs to downtown anymore. When the last one was discontinued, the pat explanation was that it wasn’t profitable. A woman I worked with at the time who took that train every day said she couldn’t understand that one since the train was always packed.
Train travel in general here is the pits. Time was you could travel from Pittsburgh to Washington DC directly. Now you have to change trains in Philadelphia. There is some talk of adding another train, but even if that happens, how much ya wanna bet it will be discontinued within a year?
A shame. I used to travel to see relatives in the D.C. area by train. It was a relatively cheap and actually fairly speedy trip in lieu of flying. No more. Seems to me the railroad has deliberately made it expensive and a major hassle to get from one place to the other. Ridership might increase if Amtrak was run right. But it’s a federal enterprise; so it will never make a profit.
These are the same people who want to run our health care. Bleah!
Along with all the ridiculous "alternative fuels" ideas all you new age knot-heads keep trying and failing to get traction with!!!
The Oil Lobby had its chance to drill ANWR and flipped us the bird instead.
This time, we're going to build nukes.
Billions and billions and billions and billions of dollars of taxpayers money that will never be seen again. buh-bye. nice knowing you.
A depression is the perfect time to rob the nation for pet projects. not.
If it made economic sense, the private sector would do it.
Follow the money ——> Reid.
Sure he does not own or have a vested interest inthe Salt Lake Tribune casue this garbage sounds alot like the spew Reid gave a few months back?
I'd like to force the airlines industry to subsidize me for a while.
Billions and billions and billions and billions of dollars of taxpayers money that will never be seen again. buh-bye. nice knowing you.
Unlike the Wall Street bailouts, high-speed rail is tangible infrastructure which will benefit taxpayers for decades to come.
“Nukes” are more powerful than petrol but still is not as light and portable or useable for quick bursts of energy as the vastly superior petrol and nat-gas as runner-up!!!
It’s just like the Clinton Administration around here!
Nationalize Healthcare.
Maglev Trains.
Pretty soon some bimbette with a dress stashed away is going to make the news.....
Welcome back, Willie!
All roads lead to CHICAGO...
but still is not as light and portable or useable for quick bursts of energy as the vastly superior petrol and nat-gas as runner-up!!!
So what would I need a quick burst of energy for???
Heck, the previous administration saw to it that I'll never be able to buy a GM or Chrysler SUV again.
And I certainly don't want to drive a little, dinky hybrid Obamamobile.
Maglev, High-speed rail and light rail are the only viable options.
Unless government is involved.
Eliminate all public transportation that doesn’t TOTALLY pay for itself, all operating costs plus retire the cost of construction!
Unless government is involved.
All railroads are "post roads" as authorized in our Constitution.
“Passenger rail is too big to fail.”
So were horses and stage coaches, bury passanger rail forever!!!!
Big Dig’s red ink engulfs state
http://www.boston.com/news/traffic/bigdig/articles/2008/07/17/big_digs_red_ink_engulfs_state/
...the project will cost an additional $7 billion in interest, bringing the total to $22 billion... It will not be paid off until 2038.
Big Dig payments have already sucked maintenance and repair money away from deteriorating roads and bridges across the state, forcing the state to float more highway bonds and to go even deeper into the hole.
Among other signs of financial trouble: The state is paying almost 80 percent of its highway workers with borrowed money; the crushing costs of debt have pushed the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, which manages the Big Dig, to the brink of insolvency; and Massachusetts spends a higher percentage of its highway budget on debt than any other state.
“The Big Dig saddled us with costs we can’t afford,” said Bernard Cohen, secretary of transportation. “We are grappling with that legacy now. There are no easy answers.”
The debt is a big part of why Massachusetts had the highest tax-supported debt per capita in the United States last year.
During the last three years, Massachusetts spent the most of any state, by far, 38 percent of its highway budget, on debt payments, according to Globe analysis of federal data. The median is less than 6 percent nationally.
The state has also been forced to meet payroll demands for 1,400 Massachusetts Highway Department workers with borrowed money because it does not have enough cash to pay them. That means that painters and clerical workers paid around $18 an hour cost the state $28.80 an hour. The 80 percent of the workforce being paid with borrowed money compares to 14 percent before the Big Dig work began.
The Big Dig, which makes up 7.5 miles of an 11,000-mile system, gobbled up about 40 percent of those funds during the last 17 years, data show.
more at boston.com ...
Eliminate all public transportation that doesn’t TOTALLY pay for itself, all operating costs plus retire the cost of construction!
Public transportation pays for itself many times over by increasing commerce.
Commuters arrive at their jobs in a safe, convenient and efficient manner without lost time in congested traffic.
Enough reason right there to fear any expansion of public transit.
Public transportation pays for itself many times over byChosen method of transportation by LHO when he committed his infamous 'acts' too ...
The SEIU and ACORN will run them.
B/S.
Chosen method of transportation by LHO when he committed his infamous 'acts' too ...
???
I don't remember Lee Harvey Oswald taking a train, _Jim...
But if you say so... who cares anyway? LOL!!!
“...high-speed rail is tangible infrastructure which will benefit taxpayers for decades to come.”
Now taxpayers are bailing out bus industry
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2367156/posts
“Public transportation “.
I guess you missed that part ...
(Public transportation robs one of MANHOOD in this country; can’t ‘cruise’ the downtown circuit on a bus ...)
Now taxpayers are bailing out bus industry
All the more reason to divert funds to rail.
I'd rather ride a train then get stuck on some stinking bus.
I want my space elevator.
And a pony.
With a side of fries.
That would have worked out well for you last Saturday...
“They spent the morning trapped on DART’s Green Line, which was just as sluggish as the game.”
“It was a frustrating ordeal,” said Mann, who started his journey in Tarrant County. “I’ll never do it again.”
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/101709dnmetdartwoes.226936c54.html
All the more reason NOT to dump billions into any plans DUh-bama and his RATS are pushing.
(Public transportation robs one of MANHOOD in this country; can’t ‘cruise’ the downtown circuit on a bus ...)
They don't make cars that are worthwhile cruisin' in anymore anyway... so what's your point?
Name one public transit system in the U.S. or elsewhere which isn't in the hands of Rat run marxist union. There aren't any that I know of. But perhaps you will enlighten me.
On a positive note, city officials said Fair Park visitors were not exposed to the unscrupulous parking and towing scams that plagued last year’s Red River Rivalry.
The only problem with DART was it was overloaded with too many people wanting to use it.
DART needs to be expanded and add more trains!!!
"Customers will learn the tricks of riding" - Morgan Lyons, a spokesman for Dallas Area Rapid Transit.
The "trick", next time take a cab....
Too many people waltzed up to the station at 9 AM, thinking it was just going to be a breeze. Problem is everybody else was thinking the same thing.
Obama logic at it's finest...it's a GREAT idea, as long as NO ONE WANTS TO ACTUALLY USE IT!
Oswald got a ride from a co-worker to the book depository that day. Said that the package he had was “curtain rods.”
John McCain 596,030
Barack Obama 327,670
funded with a 15% tax on gasoline?
Expensive, impractical, money-pit, etc. I know all of this, and when push came to shove wouldn’t support it, but I admit to being fascinated by the idea of having high-speed rail service between all cities of 200K+. Mainly, this is because I’ve watched too many old movies that made train travel seem pretty cool, and I hate flying. Trains are just cool.
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