Posted on 07/02/2009 3:29:49 PM PDT by decimon
President Obama is pouring $13 billion into an ambitious high-speed rail project. Some say it will never make money. Some say it will. And still others say profit is not even the point.
Obama's plan is "to jump-start a potential world-class passenger rail" in 10 major corridors, linking cities within the Northeast, California, Florida and other regions with "bullet trains" that exceed 110 miles per hour. State governments are in the process of applying for the federal funds.
Sam Staley, director of urban growth and land-use policy at the Reason Foundation, a libertarian think-tank, said the project is risky, and that forecasts used to promote high-speed rail are "notoriously unreliable" because they "overestimate ridership and underestimate cost."
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
Bambi thinks money grows on trees.
Mag-Lev?
Monorail?
A new Czar?
It will never be finished, airplanes are much more efficient.
Money down the tubes, would have been better to prepare for the light jets and expand small airports to handle them and improve the air traffic control system which is in near meltdown.
Well I live in Texas and if we had a train system I would still have to get to the station by car so I might as well drive my car.
Boondoggle. Big time!
Monorail!
(RIP, Phil Hartman)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3xGtjhZ_Yg
Life imitates art, once again.
It’s been SIX MONTHS, people. Six months! Good Golly. We are NEVER going to survive this Administration!
Hahahahaaha!
13 billion?! That’s nothing, it’s going to cost 90 BILLION just for the highspeed rail from LA to San Fracisco!!!
Which the voters approved recently, just FYI.
The cost estimates, just for Ohio, are staggering. But Obama wants to transfer wealth to his friends. THAT is the major goal of his administration.
And once you got to your destination you would likely have to rent a car or take a taxi or be at the mercy of public transportation.
I think the guy who said that running these systems to make a profit isn't the point is showing the true lib card. They want us all in apartment houses in the central city, using mass transit to get around, and going to political rallies every night for entertainment. That's the ideal liberal world.
My wife audited the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) half a lifetime ago. She said the cost structure vs fees received was appalling.
I think you're right. 13 billion is but a fraction of the costs mentioned in the article and the article mentions but a fraction of the total costs. So...the feds offer a fix to the junkies in the states and the junkies take a habit they can't pay for.
California, for instance, will take on endless billions in further debt despite being currently broke. Governor Putzinator will likely call this an investment in the future. Insanity.
High speed rail needs high population density. It can work in the northeast corridor and in a few other areas, but not nationwide.
IMHO, the best use would be connecting regional airports to replace some frequent commuter flights. If rail and air travel can be integrated into a seamless package, they can work together instead of trying to cannibalize each others’ ridership.
Rail can get the shorter distances while air will cover the longer trips.
Even so, I’m not sure it would ever be cost effective anywhere except the northeast.
I think we’re talking 110 mph for specially-geared diesel-electric trains many routes in the Midwest. The proposed California system uses electric trains to go twice that speed—220 mph maximum.
13B could make huge improvements in airport infrastructure, but they might as well burn it out in the middle of the desert.
You’re probably right, but with the mention of ten routes, what I would judge to be a euphemism for commuter trains, it seemed silly to talk of trains having to go just 110 mph or more.
Like you, I’m thinking in the neighborhood of 220 for this to be worthwhile.
If you can’t get there in two hours by train, it’s worthless for what they seem to be gearing up for.
I see this as one more way for the left to get people out of their cars, the ultimate goal.
Obama isn’t going to be that concerned if he drives GM out of business. It fits into the lefts long term game plan IMO.
Just ask the citizens of California...they tried it and have thus far failed miserably. Pres’ent DUh-bama’s plan doesn’t have the central hub in CHICAGO for no reason.
Interestingly, I actually did some research on passenger rail outside of the special dedicated high-speed main lines around the world and much to my surprise, the top speed of these trains are not really that great—most of them top out around the 180 km/h (112 mph) range. Many of these 180 km/h trains use specially-geared diesel-electric locomotives that can cruise all day at these speeds (until they run low on fuel, of course).
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