I spent a few years in DC helping to facilitate the idea of high speed train systems. There are many areas of the US that could greatly benefit from them. The problem isn’t the idea, it’s the implementation. We just can’t build anything cheaply, quickly, and efficiently any longer — and the bigger it is, the more difficult it becomes.
Take a look at any highway project as an example. Consider how quickly Eisenhower was able to get the interstate road system built, then consider how long it now takes to add a couple of simple lanes to an existing road today. It’s become ridiculous. Consider, even, how long it took to rebuild the World Trade Center site. Think, as an example, how quickly we could return to the moon — after having already been there.
We will never be able to construct big things like we did in the past. There’s too many hands in the pot to allow it to happen.
I have noticed that same thing locally. A road that would have taken less than six months to build in the 50s or 60s now takes three or four years. I would be interested to know in more detail why that is.
@ post 17 - well stated
We have become paralyzed by government process, regulation, permits, private property rights, and lawsuits often based on “environmentalism.”
Look at the pipeline process for an insight into how/why we cannot accomplish big infrastructure projects any more. This is not just a problem at the federal government level - it is found in state, county, and municipal government.
High speed rail would be a good thing, but the price of it now outweighs any benefit because it is too difficult. Same thing for nuclear power, hydro-power, enlarging existing highways, etc etc. The private property easements are problematic and deciding what goes where invites all kinds of corruption even assuming you can pull permits and get approvals from layers of bureaucracy.
With that said, you clearly have more insight into this area. There are numerous stretches of interstate in America with a large median - I have often wondered how/why we do not utilize that public land when possible for high speed rail. This might cut some of the costs and directly connect to major transportation hubs, but these medians do not exist in many places on the east coast due to crowding. Just a thought....
We who live in the People’s Republic of King County concur...we of the $4B bridge and the $3.5B tunnel.