[rawhide]

My big question here is, Why do they not build some new railroad lines? The railroads can haul more at any given time, and it would create thousands of American jobs. It would also keep the Mexican trucks off our highways. Solves many problems and answers many questions.

[snowrip]

My big question here is, Why do they not build some new railroad lines?

Railroads would integrate commerce, but nothing else. The goal, however, is to integrate countries, which is why roads like the TTC are being proposed. Road access grants much easier passage to the average traveler, who is not bound by the fares and schedules of rail travel. More roads mean more travel between countries, which makes the integration of societies easier.

Your question shoots the "It's-only-for-trade" argument full of holes.

[untrained skeptic]

Because rail lines would require wasting time staging a bunch of trucks, loading the containers on the train cars, transporting them to a different location, unloading them back on to trucks, delivering the products to their destination.

It isn't efficient or cost effective.

While it wastes a lot of time, it doesn't necessarily waste a lot of man hours, since train transport isn't manpower intensive. Therefore the Teamster's Union hate that idea as well, not to mention that a trains might also be used for domestic transport, where the threat of Mexican trucks delivering foreign goods doesn't pose a large threat to that part of their business.

Trains are most effective when you want to move huge quantities of something from one spot to another all at once. That means storing all that stuff. That means increased inventories. That means tying up huge amounts of assets in the supply chain. That just doesn't work well for most businesses.

[kactus]

Railways are part of the super corridor plans, too.

Where I live we are part of CANAMEX, a high priority corridor kind of a variation of Texas Corridor.

Union Pacific has been here trying to get options on land to build rail from Mexico. Supposed, they are now going to look in California.....

Down in Baja, Mexico.... a new port to rival Long Beach is to be built where millions and millions of containers of Chinese goods are to be loaded on the trains and trucks to ship north to the US and Canada.

I bet every state has corridors planned to be part of “this global” madness.

We are to have power come up from Mexico, right across the border. Natural gas is to come in from off Baja. New highway roads...not openly referred to as CANAMEX. One speaker did say we are “the western leg of CANAMEX.”

So much for all the transparency,the new government buzz word!

[mysterio]

It would also keep the Mexican trucks off our highways.

That is the problem. They want to pay Mexican truckers slave wages to haul everything.

America has been sold out.

[Kieri]

My big question here is, Why do they not build some new railroad lines? The railroads can haul more at any given time, and it would create thousands of American jobs. It would also keep the Mexican trucks off our highways. Solves many problems and answers many questions.

Here in southern Michigan, the Amtrak line runs parallel to I-94. 94 is just two lanes in each direction and semis account for over 25%. It's a dangerous traffic situation, and that doesn't account for smuggled drugs, tainted poultry and produce that the motor carrier patrols find on a regular basis.

I'd love to see fewer trucks and more railway cars, but it boils down to NIMBY. There was a plan to create a large depot in the Detroit area where trucks could pick up shipments from railway freight for local delivery, but that was trashed when residents thought it would be too noisy.