[NormsRevenge]

So besides the plans for high speed rail lines from Tampa to Orlando, Fla., and Los Angeles to San Francisco, suddenly lines are already being added to the project on Capitol Hill, including a line between Minneapolis and Duluth that was not on Obama’s list when he proposed it in 2009.

Why? Democratic Rep. James L. Oberstar of Minnesota, the powerful chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, is from Duluth. When the new high speed train map was published last week, it showed Duluth was one of the projects.

--

HSR from Minneapolis to Duluth? Huh?

[AngelesCrestHighway]

Obama's train wreck with our money....

[Starboard]

What about the need for endless enviornmental impact studies or preservation of areas of historical significance? Those types of studies will set the rail projects back a decade. LOL.

[WOBBLY BOB]

What Obama is proposing is a high speed rail system that few will use “but everyone will pay for it,” he said.

In other words, it's like rail nearly EVERYWHERE in the U.S.

[theDentist]

Look, these ****ers in Government, Rep and (especially) Dem can’t even get AmTrak to make a profit.... and they want to make a nationwide effort? Hell NO!!

[NavyCanDo]

Trains can't make money without taxpayer provided subsidies. Period. Its cheaper and faster to fly and passenger trains can't compete on an even playing field.

[Blue Jays]

Trains aren't the only transportation solution, yet they're among good ideas to our infrastructure needs.
A hub and spoke arrangements are needed for middle-distance travel between regional cities.
Ultimately, a reliable way to help travelers get closer to their end destinations when using high-speed trains is essential.
President 0bama is nuts if he wishes to spend trillions in the near-term.

[ltc8k6]

Yeah, who the heck needs to go back and forth between those two in a hurry?

[a fool in paradise]

Follow the money. It leads to Chicago.

[Persevero]

I imagine it will be as profitable as Amtrak!

[Nepeta]

Real high speed rail makes sense in the long term since air travel is becoming congested, but if we're going to do that, we should do it properly, and make those trains very fast indeed. Building these systems as profitable alternatives to air travel is the only possibility that makes sense.

[Truth29]

How about we continue to fund the Constellation program instead? Obama shuts down real programs with real jobs and sells future dreams with much of the money going to other countries.

[End Times Sentinel]

Borrow money from China to buy trains from Japan and have them installed by the French and Americans won’t ride them.

BRILLIANT!!!

[OldMissileer]

When this whole boondoggle is built I vote we have Daphne Taggart run the whole thing.

It may then make money.

[Apparatchik]

Quoting Dear Reader from his SOTU address:
There's no reason Europe or China should have the fastest trains, or the new factories that manufacture clean energy products.

This is an asinine argument for blowing billions on a white elephant that
a. won't be faster than Europe, China or Japan (and who cares if it isn't)
b. won't be used, and
c. won't get paid for in our lifetimes.
jingoism and train envy are poor reasons to divert taxpayer money.

[DannyTN]

[Son House]

These lines are monstrously expensive to build, costing an estimated $1 trillion dollars after full completion, maintenance, operational and subsidy costs are factored in (something Obama never mentions).

^
Another low estimate;

^
The Hiawatha Light-Rail Disaster

http://ti.org/antiplanner/?p=20

This one 11.6-mile light-rail line costs more than $20 million a year to operate. Farebox revenues cover only about a third of that. Half the rest is paid by the state of Minnesota and most of the other half comes from Hennepin County property taxes.

Minnesota residents, who had to pay most of the construction costs, were in for a series of shocks after the legislature approved the project following rancorous debate. First, construction costs quickly escalated: the project ended up costing $715 million.