http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-0YBr-6IxE
Posted on 11/05/2008 7:20:49 PM PST by Lorianne
After half a century as more of a curiosity than a convenience, passenger trains are getting back on track in some parts of the country.
The high cost of energy, coupled with congestion on highways and at airports, is drawing travelers back to trains not only for commuting but also for travel between cities as much as 500 miles apart.
Californians are considering selling billions of dollars worth of bonds to get going on an 800-mile system of bullet trains that could zip along at 200 miles per hour, linking San Francisco and San Diego and the cities in between.
In the Midwest, transportation officials are pushing a plan to connect cities in nine states in a hub-and-spoke system centered in Chicago. The nine states included in the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative are: Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska.
The public is way ahead of policymakers in recognizing trains as an attractive alternative to cars and planes, said Rep. James Oberstar, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
"I think we're at a transformational point in intercity passenger rail service," said Oberstar, D-Minn.
Amtrak, the passenger rail service that struggled for years to attract riders, drew a record 28.7 million in the year ending Sept. 30. That is 11 percent more than the year before and the sixth straight year that ridership has increased. Ticket revenue hit a record $1.7 billion, a $200 million increase from a year earlier.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
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Take it past Harrisburg through the Horseshoe Curve - one of the
most spectacular examples of civil engineering in the nation.
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Sufficiently fantastic to its’ own Wikipedia entry.
That does look like a nice RR ride.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseshoe_Curve_(Pennsylvania)
It's called environmental impact statement, and it's a bitch.
As an example, see The High Speed Rail Corridor. What is that, you ask. Well, it's a high speed rail line from Virginia to Charlotte. It was first proposed in 1992. Environmental impact statements were started in 1998. They'll be done in 2010. Then we can start building the damn thing.
If someone likes trains, let them pay for them and not one taxpayer cent!
Thay are innefficient and go from where you aren’t to where you don’t want to go.
After I crashed my airplane I took Amtrack from L.A. to Oceanside and back twice and hope I never have to ride another one!
As far as their “bullet” from San Diego to the bay are, i’ll drive before I would ever take it, it’s only about 6 hours by car and you have your transportation when you get there and set your own time schedule.
“As long as the government funds roads”
Gas taxes and weight fees build the highways, quit stealing the funds for your indigent people movers!
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Actually the entry is here:
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Thanks for the correction...I guess I mindlessly copied the “diambiguator”
page and just failed to get the URL for the real deal.
I think it’s up by San Luis Obispo in California that they have a
similar horseshoe type turn for a railway. But IIRC, it didn’t look
as scenic as the Pennsylvania curve.
“
Actually the entry is here:
“
Thanks for the correction...I guess I mindlessly copied the “diambiguator”
page and just failed to get the URL for the real deal.
I think it’s up by San Luis Obispo in California that they have a
similar horseshoe type turn for a railway. But IIRC, it didn’t look
as scenic as the Pennsylvania curve.
"Places are to be remembered how you experienced them....Ben Franklin."
I have been fortuniate to be on trains in several places in this world. We are not even close to them in service and speed. Such a shame.
Eisenhower decided we needed roads, not trains. As great as he was, that was a mistake. As I take I95 to see my daughter tomorrow I will be reminded of that.
Amtrak isn’t safe.
Gee I am glad to know that. I take Amtrak into Denver every so often. Cheaper to do that than to drive the 350 miles each way.
I would fly because no planes ever go down, but I would have to drive to Denver to get to the airport, or go 230 miles east to get to Omaha to fly to Denver.
I can’t think of any method of travel that is totally safe. Including driving myself which is what I usually do.
I’m 35, and the Dallas North Tollway has been in operation my entire life. Since 1968, according to wikipedia.
They should eliminate all passanger rail service and use the RR only for freight.
As far as i’m concerned all public transportation should be eliminated.
I grew up in a place like that, Germany. Environmentalism, social equality and justice (Der Soziale Frieden), a smug sense of intellectual superiority, and of course the all important safety and security are used as arguments for creating a world with a big government and little people. Little people who for their own safety and security do not need guns, for the environment pay $9 a gallon for gas and drive a smart car, who live in a 400 square foot apartment freezing in the winter and sweating in the summer, who live a life more or less managed by a government from cradle to grave. But...... life is good there, since after all, people are no longer responsible for their actions, unproductive people are rewarded economically, and you need not worry about much anymore. From health care to your retirement, big brother will provide for you no matter how worthless you choose to become. Let's hope the “change” we get doesn't take us too far in that direction.
Socialism is renamed in America. We usually disguise it with words like "national" or "universal." The American socialist will never call it a socialist health care system. No, it will be called something else, but the net result is the same.
You never lived in germany - you lived in a G.I. camp.
You think a big block motor and a pick up truck are technology of the ongoing century.
You think europe still uses dial disk telephones.
You think that unproductive people wouldn’t be rewarded in the US but you’ve paid your taxes to pay for the biggest frauds in history - now the divend payed to the sharholders of BOA and other comes directl from your pocket - without a contract, without a service or a good delivered - nevertheless it’s booked as an operational success.
Your car industry is states run.
Your banking system is states run.
You are slaves of your debt.
Your infrastucture is 70ies standard.
On 9/11 the biggest eavesdropping action against formerly free people on this planet was carried out and under the patriot act the Government took unprecidented measures to profile any living citizen of the US and the World to ‘protect’ the people.
After 8 years of unilateral politics the international ties of the west lie in shables - the US are broke to the bone - China and Russia are mightier then ever -10% of the economy of the US are financed and owned by saudi arabia.
Put a fork in this pile - you are done (if not a black guy from kenia safes your sorry but)
I took a train to work about 3 days a week for 6 years in California. Other than two incidents with other trains breaking down and delaying the whole line, I never encountered a problem.
When I commuted by car, I’d run across an accident *every* day on my commute, and was rear-ended once in that same span of 6 years. Same essential route.
You’d have eliminate all federal and state and county roads to do that. Just have toll roads everywhere.
Well then, fuel taxes and weight fees could build the railroads too.
All our transportation systems are subsidized to some degree. If we're going to cut out the subsidies, I'm fine with that. Then every transportation mode can pay for itself with user fees, etc.
“You’d have eliminate all federal and state and county roads to do that. Just have toll roads everywhere.”
That’s fine as long as all taxes on oil and gas are eliminated which account for 78% of the cost of gas from the ground to the pump.
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