Free Republic

On a recent weekday morning, Liu Ai’jun boarded one of eight daily high-speed rail (HSR) services between Urumqi, capital of China’s north-western Xinjiang region, and Hami, an oasis town 614 kilometers to the east. The trip, along the longest and most expensive line in the country’s HSR network, took just three hours and cost RMB 167 ($24). Previously Liu, a self-employed elevator salesman and technician, used to rely on infrequent and expensive flights between the two cities. Before the new HSR line was completed in 2014, the train between Urumqi and Hami took seven hours. “If you’re not in a...

Sen. Diane Feinstein’s husband Richard Blum won a construction contract for California’s high-speed rail project, reports the California Political Review. Author Laer Pearce says Perini-Zachary-Parsons, a construction group partially owned by Blum’s investment firm, Blum Capital, and their investors, bagged the nearly billion dollar contract:

That famous golden spike takes on a whole new meaning with the nearly 1 billion dollar rail to nowhere contract that clocks in at a truly golden 35 million dollars per mile. And its recipient, Mr. Diane Feinstein owner of Tutor Perini, just happens to sit in a warm position near the top of the state’s political heap

Bay Area officials are rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of tens of billions of dollars in tax subsidies for a high-speed rail line from Oakland to Los Angeles. This is so wrong on so many levels. Can anyone say “High-Speed Rail to Nowhere?” With the economy in recession, California’s plan to ask the federal government for billions of dollars to help build the nation’s first high-speed rail system might seem like wishful thinking rather than a feasible financial strategy. But transportation officials say that California’s high-speed rail project seems to be on a fast track to a...

PHOENIX A city that once won prizes is now a crime-ridden mess MICHAEL ZISTATSIS, a restaurateur in downtown Phoenix, used to be excited by the prospects that only a gentrifying city, more foot traffic and wealthy new locals can bring. His business had been growing steadily for years. But now things have changed. City planners decreed that there should be a light railway linking Phoenix to neighbouring cities such as Scottsdale. The construction work, which is currently ripping up miles of downtown Phoenix, makes walking and parking almost impossible; so few feel motivated to shop or dine there. Proprietors like...