So why do I say that high speed rail will not work in the US? One word:
Ridership
Two words:
PEAK OIL
As global demand for oil exceeds global supply, the market will seek more fuel efficient modes of transportation. Passenger rail systems fulfill that market need and ridership will continuously increase.
Seattles Light Rail is now 1 YR old, and its still a failure. At the cost of $200,000 a Yard it is only carrying 6% of the amount of passengers the supporters said it would carry. And most of those would of taken another form of public transportation anyway. Also they neglected to put Parking at the train stops, thinking people would ride a bus to the stop. They don’t
Great post and writing that flowed easily.
Thanks.
After looking over the postings on this topic. Yes, a train would be nice but, here in the good old USA, we are spread out. Now living in Colorado, a train might work for the front range (I-25 corridor) and from Denver to the mountains (I-70 corridor). I live in Colorado Springs and it owuld be interesting to go to Tiffany Square by I-25 and Woodman Rd and hop on the train and go up to Denver. Tiffinay Square is close to my house that it would take about 10 to 20 minutes to ride my bicycle from there to the station or on a bad weather day, drive and park and hope my car doesn’t get broke into.
No worry about dealing with driving to Denver such as speeding tickets, left lane hogs and there are many ! Get on the train and enjoy the scenery !
It is a high speed rail that runs the northeast corridor. It flew by in a blur, and had to be going 120-140 mph easily. I couldn't believe my eyes, and I felt like an idiot for having had no idea it even existed and was up and running.
A friend I was with casually said that her husband has taken it on short business trips, and it "hauls ass and make very few stops."
Then my next thought was, "How much is that costing me?"
They always want to force me to ride public transportation, but they never put a bus that will take me where I want to go, when I want to go there.
