Posted on 02/27/2010 11:22:28 PM PST by Steelfish
The some are correct.
Some Fear California’s High-Speed Rail Won’t Deliver On Early Promises,
Most Conservatives Know California’s High-Speed Rail Won’t Deliver On Early Promises.
JR West Nozomi 500 train passing station at 300 km/h
This is a YouTube video of a JR West Nozomi 500 train passing a train station at 300 km/h (186 mph). Now imagine this at an even higher speed--the 220 mph maximum that the proposed California High-Speed Rail system will use. The noise level would be so intense that unless the State of California is willing to pay to sound-insulate every building within 150 feet of the tracks (like JNR did before they split into JR East and JR West!), high-speed rail is a non-starter.
It's far worse than that. Most of the coastal region soils are either highly erosive or unstable clay. The latter is expansive with seasonal changes in moisture. The system would require constant adjustment to keep the trains from tearing apart on the track. I cannot imagine a worse place to build such a track unless with the exception of tundra. Even a swamp would be more predictable.
BART was expected to cost $792 million for the total system. It became a construction union cash cow and a gold mine for corrupt suppliers providing dimensionally-unique materials. By the time it was done the cost over-run was 200%.
This disaster will be far worse because in addition to corrupt unions we have a bottomless environmental pit looking to get its cut of the action. Just look at the current rebuild of the Bay Bridge. This project's backers will claim that this project is "too big to fail" because they're looking to use public money to subsidize their real estate investments. It should fail now before a lot more money is flushed down the dumper.
Even if they use the freeways and put the thing in the middle it to reduce right of way costs. Its still going to ccst more than the allocated ammount. Instead of doing all of this here is what a true socialist would have done;
http://www.theusmat.com/natldesksatire.htm. Order traffic guards 24/7 throughout the US at all RR crossings...
As I sat in my car at an LA intersection, I looked over to the east and saw a huge train going by;
10 or 15 passenger cars in the train;
2 or 3 human heads sticking up in the windows.
Daily loss of ....???????????
What is it with Liberals and choo choo trains?
Their Euro envy is not enough to explain it.
Not enough toys as kids or what?
Cheers,
knewshound
Putting a high speed rail through fruits and nuts country is a bigger problem. Many nuts will find getting hit by a 200mph train and disrupting the commute of several hundred people irresistible. Cal-train already has a steady stream of suicides.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.