Posted on 06/08/2010 9:18:54 AM PDT by Willie Green
The expansion of passenger, high-speed and freight rail is critical to the economic growth of the United States. As chairman of the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials, my goal is to have high-speed, intercity passenger and commuter rail lines connecting nationwide to enhance and improve our systems of transportation.
A robust passenger rail system in America will go a long way toward solving some of our nation’s economic, energy, environmental and transportation challenges, as well as create thousands of jobs. These benefits, however, do not come without a price tag, and experience in other countries makes it clear that a successful high-speed rail system will require consistent, committed funding.
On June 21, 2009, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee unveiled a draft bill to reauthorize the surface transportation program. The bill included a proposal for $50 billion over six years for the development of high-speed rail.
It has become clear that Americans need transportation alternatives. Congestion is crippling our major cities; even the infrastructure in our small towns is aging at an alarming rate. In 2007, traffic congestion cost $87.2 billion, including 4.2 billion hours of delays and 2.8 billion gallons of wasted fuel in our nation’s metropolitan areas. The average driver in 28 metropolitan regions experienced 40 or more hours of delay per year. Twenty-seven years ago, only Los Angeles experienced that level of congestion. Families are losing what precious little time they have together because of time spent in traffic going to and from work, picking up the kids at day care or running the endless errands that seem a part of life in today’s society.
We cannot just focus on building more roads. We have to find broader solutions to address our transportation problems. That is why we must develop high-speed rail in the U.S. and build on our intercity passenger rail systems such as Amtrak.
It is no secret that the U.S. lags woefully behind the rest of the world when it comes to developing high-speed rail. Japan, the nation that unveiled the world’s first high-speed rail system in 1964, has a 1,350-mile network and is already at work building a line that will connect Tokyo with Osaka at speeds of more than 300 mph.
France, which holds the world speed record for steel wheels on steel rail — 357 mph — used its high-speed rail system to pull entire regions from isolation, ignite growth and remake quiet towns into thriving tourist destinations. After inaugurating its high-speed rail system in 1981, France developed a 1,180-mile network and plans to add 1,500 miles. The system carries a remarkable 100 million passengers annually.
Spain changed the demographics of entire regions with its high-speed rail line from Madrid to Seville, which opened in 1992. The line is so successful that more people travel between the two cities by rail than by car and airplane combined. Spain plans to spend more than $100 billion over the next decade to build Europe’s largest high-speed rail network. The project will put nearly everyone in Spain within 30 miles of a train station and will create tens of thousands of jobs.
Earlier this year, China announced a plan to expand its high-speed rail system to a network of more than 16,000 miles by 2020. In this year alone, China has poured more than $50 billion into this system.
A few years ago, that type of financial commitment would have been difficult to secure in the U.S.; instead of providing Amtrak with the funds that it needed to get back on track, the Bush administration called for Amtrak’s bankruptcy.
But with the enactment of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act (Pub.L. 110-432) in the 110th Congress and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Pub.L. 111-5) in this Congress, America is on the verge of a new rail renaissance — a transformative moment in the history of transportation.
Just last month, I led a Whistle Stop Rail Tour to promote high-speed and intercity passenger rail in the U.S. We started in Washington, D.C., traveled to upstate New York and ended up in Chicago, where we conducted a major hearing on rail issues.
All along the way we saw stimulus dollars at work to improve our transportation infrastructure and create jobs for the local workforce. And in upstate New York specifically, rail manufacturing could very well replace many of the good jobs that were sent overseas.
Everywhere we went there was very strong support for Amtrak service and high-speed rail. The only complaints I heard were that there wasn’t enough money for rail and that it wasn’t coming fast enough.
Clearly, we need to get serious about funding high-speed rail. With just $1 billion budgeted for fiscal 2011, we need to find a dedicated revenue source so that states, operators and manufacturers aren’t afraid to make investments in infrastructure and manpower.
As we begin to develop and reauthorize the next surface transportation bill, it is critical that the need for additional rail capacity be addressed. There is no one solution that will solve rail congestion. New and creative ideas from government and the private sector must be utilized to increase and improve freight rail capacity.
Rep. Corrine Brown (D-Fla.) is chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials.
The second it was functional it would be the target of every Islamic saboteur on the globe.
The rail alternative would cost much more to keep safe once en route too.
And how does this idiot propose we pay for this? Government Brownie and Cake sale?
When I saw the author at first I saw “Commie Brown”. Upon closer inspection, I saw the author was “Corinne Brown”.
That made me lol.
Utter nonsense. Claiming economic growth as a justification for one's pet project is the real last refuge of scoundrels.
What is it with the hard-on that the left has for high speed rail?
Is it because:
1: It is European, thus “cool”.
2: Requires a union work force.
3: Then they know exactly where everyone is going and at what time.
A high speed rail would make a lot of money, just look at Amtrack
Amtrak heads for ridership record in 2010, chief says
Looks like Amtrak is in a growth market!
I bet if we invest in upgrading Amtrak's performance capability, it will soon become profitable!
They need “a dedicated revenue source”...
And just WHO would that be?
I think BP should pay for at least some of it: the Sunset Limited route along the Gulf Coast from New Orleans to Florida would be a nice gesture.
We have no money. Hence we can not do this, even if it was a good idea.
We are broke.
What’s the deal with liberals and trains?
If money could be made off them someone would be doing it already.
One of the biggest problems both in US and in Canada is that use of Highways is not Pay per Use. Why rail works in Japan? Because in Japan to drive on a highway (which are in an incredible condition btw) you got to PAY. That money is then funneled back into road construction and maintenance. This makes Rail a great proposition, less stress, cheaper and faster. What not to like?
Side effect of is that people seem to live closer to work it seems (just based on personal observation) you wont be able to commute 2hours drive to work, because it would be ridiculously expensive.
are you on crack? BP has nothing to do with rail lines.
if you want to blame somebody for how bad the spill is... you must blame the right person. the POTUS is solely responsible, by law, for overseeing and managing oil spills. this was signed into law during the clinton administration.
if 0bama had acted properly, ie: swiftly and decisively, the problem wouldn't be anywhere near as bad as it is now.
as for lessening our dependence on foreign oil, that would require two actions. one, more domestic drilling. and two, increase nuclear power production by building more nuclear power plants.
and btw, putting tolls on roads to 'nudge' people into paying for a rail system is just another tax. how about not building a rail system and save the tax payers money. (gee.. what a thought!)
Utter nonsense. Claiming economic growth as a justification for one's pet project is the real last refuge of scoundrels.
You're just jealous because she's right and you're wrong.
Point with toll roads that instead of road taxes roads should be maintained by use fees and should be privately owned when at all possible. I live in Toronto, where we have the busiest highway in North America (401) it is a zoo, how people can maintain sanity driving to work on it is a puzle. At the same time there is a toll highway that can be used (407), it is leased to a private company and is a 401 bypass basically, works great. Toll is not a tax, if you are not using the road you are not paying it.
are you on crack? BP has nothing to do with rail lines.
BP is guilty, so I'm awarding punitive damages that go beyond the direct claims against BP.
if 0bama had acted properly, ie: swiftly and decisively, the problem wouldn't be anywhere near as bad as it is now.
No, I never had such lofty expectations of the man,
he must be your Messiah, not mine.
It's BP's well and BP's "accident", so BP is responsible.
It doesn't matter what numbnut sits in the oval office.
>> Well I advocate passenger rail systems as part of a National Energy Policy
We have plenty of resources to completely offset the dependency on foreign resources without incurring the Socialistic downside of rail based solutions.
BP has a lot of work to do which should focus on clean up and wildlife restoration. Solving the economic impact is less straight forward, and I’m leery about ideas that involve shoveling large quantities of cash.
The best economic solution for the Gulf Coast should be one that involves the Country — it begins with Conservative governance.
BTW, I think rail is awesome, but it’s also a liability.
sorry.... 0bama is the one, by law, responsible for managing the crisis and insuring its dealt with properly. the US federal govt has been taking money, via fees, for decades from all rigs in the gulf in order to respond with the proper equipment when the time comes. we did not have the equipment when this occurred.
the fact that he is a useless twit is irrelevant. he is still the one responsible. remember, the ‘buck stops here’ (at his desk in the WH)
funny... i live in florida and we have miles and miles of roads... all being paid for using a ‘use tax’**. the tax is on gasoline and these roads are some of the best i have seen in the nation.
i really can’t fault florida state gov’t... they’ve done a great job. i’m comparing to MA, CA, MD, and VA.
**there might be some property taxes mixed in to also pay for roads... not sure. either way, we don’t have many toll roads and we have no state income tax.
You’ll love this - 21 great photos!!!!
http://www.bing.com/travel/content/search?q=Thrilling+Train+Trips%3a+Blue+Train&FORM=RQTRAV
You Sir, are an unabashed braggart and I am very, very jealous of your railroad yard!
>>When I saw the author at first I saw “Commie Brown”. Upon closer inspection, I saw the author was “Corinne Brown”.<<
They are one and the same.
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