Biden's High-speed rail initiative

[BrightShinyGirl]

Excellent news from the White House!

$8.2 Billion to build high-speed rail and improve intercity rail service. President Biden is delivering infrastructure for the 21st century.

 

[cermin]

degenerate

 

[Rightguide]

The effort will probably fail.

 

[Chernosoth]

The plan would do more than fail. It would highlight the depopulation from climate change in Nevada and California. The Central Valley becoming an inland sea could be a century ahead, but building new very expensive infrastructure there is still a bad bet. High speed rail anywhere is a silly extravagance for a broke nation. But more conventional rail will be necessary.

 

[BrightShinyGirl]

The plan would do more than fail. It would highlight the depopulation from climate change in Nevada and California. The Central Valley becoming an inland sea could be a century ahead, but building new very expensive infrastructure there is still a bad bet. High speed rail anywhere is a silly extravagance for a broke nation. But more conventional rail will be necessary.

I agree that we should immediately stop building new highways. Even maintaining the existing overbuilt road network should be subject to strict cost/benefit analysis. Some routes may not serve enough people to be worth repairing, and should be allowed to rot.

But we still need to ensure there's a way to move between major population centers when cars and planes are abandoned.

 

[Chernosoth]

But we still need to ensure there's a way to move between major population centers when cars and planes are abandoned.

River transport could eventually be more common than rail transport, since rivers don't need road maintenance.

 

[Lazaran]

I agree that we should immediately stop building new highways. Even maintaining the existing overbuilt road network should be subject to strict cost/benefit analysis. Some routes may not serve enough people to be worth repairing, and should be allowed to rot.

But we still need to ensure there's a way to move between major population centers when cars and planes are abandoned.

The Deplorable you responded to is a fatalist. They don’t ever entertain the possibility that humans CAN “work the problem” (any problem) in the various ways you have been proposing in various threads.

They have given up.

JFC

SAD!!!

 

[SgtSpiderMan]

I’m hoping this gets built and America can catch up to other countries.

 

[BabyBoomer50s]

With regard to the $3.1 billion awarded to California, it’s called a federal bailout and it’s too little, too late.

When voters approved the California High Speed Rail project in 2008, it was projected to cost $33 billion, get you from LA to SF in 2 hours and 40 minutes, and be completed by 2020. Fast forward to 2023. Fifteen years later, the projected cost has now hit $128 billion, the project is $100 billion in the red, not a single mile of track has been completed, the new guesstimated completion is 2030, and it will be a five hour ride.

 

[jaF0]

I do not support this ... sort of.

Rail for freight needs to be hardened against failures. Passenger rail for some areas and long distance are fine and could be expanded and made more reliable. Crossings for both need to be made safer. Whatever money needs to go to those two systems.

The tourist/gambler speedy funfun train to the organized crime capitol of the world needs to be scrapped. NO government money should go to the toy for the rich.

 

[DeluxAuto]

The effort will probably fail.

Nah, your hero Elmo isn't involved.

 

[LLCox]

I'm still waiting for the Trans Continental Railroad to make money.

 

[butters]

I do not support this ... sort of.

Rail for freight needs to be hardened against failures. Passenger rail for some areas and long distance are fine and could be expanded and made more reliable. Crossings for both need to be made safer. Whatever money needs to go to those two systems.

The tourist/gambler speedy funfun train to the organized crime capitol of the world needs to be scrapped. NO government money should go to the toy for the rich.

this covers 10 projects, jaFO, including money towards improving the freight side of things, and even the 'tourist/gambler speedy fun train' will expand jobs for those not even interested in gambling

Key selected projects include: building a new high-speed rail system between California and Nevada, which will serve more than 11 million passengers annually; creating a high-speed rail line through California’s Central Valley to ultimately link Los Angeles and San Francisco, supporting travel with speeds up to 220 mph; delivering significant upgrades to frequently-traveled rail corridors in Virginia, North Carolina, and the District of Columbia; and upgrading and expanding capacity at Chicago Union Station in Illinois, one of the nation’s busiest rail hubs.

These historic projects will create tens of thousands of good-paying, union jobs, unlock economic opportunity for communities across the country, and open up safe, comfortable, and climate-friendly travel options to get people to their destinations in a fraction of the time it takes to drive.

The Biden-Harris Administration is building out a pipeline of passenger rail projects in every region of the country in order to achieve the President’s vision of world-class passenger rail. Announced projects will add new passenger rail service to cities that have historically lacked access to America’s rail network, connecting residents to jobs, healthcare, and educational opportunities.

Investments will repair aging rail infrastructure to increase train speeds, reduce delays, benefit freight rail supply chains to boost America’s economy, significantly reduce greenhouse emissions, and create good-paying union jobs. Additionally, electric high-speed rail trains will take millions of cars off the roads and reduce emissions, further cementing intercity rail as an environmentally-friendly alternative to flying or driving and saving time for millions of Americans. These investments will also create tens of thousands of good-paying union jobs in construction and related industries – adding to over 100,000 jobs that the President is creating through historic investments in world-class rail.

 

[GirlFur]

Excellent news from the White House!

$8.2 Billion to build high-speed rail and improve intercity rail service. President Biden is delivering infrastructure for the 21st century.

I think it sounds like a good thing.

 

[GirlFur]

degenerate

You're completely bonkers

 

[RandyRebecca]

After he crushed the rail workers' union and their strike attempt? And then has the audacity to call himself "pro-labor"?

 

[BabyBoomer50s]

Newsom morphs from bullet train skeptic to booster, but his criticisms remain valid​

IN SUMMARY

“A newly elected Gov. Gavin Newsom was skeptical about completing California’s bullet train project, but he’s morphed into a booster. However, his reservations about the project remain valid.”
—————————————————-
“The current estimate for a complete San Francisco-Los Angeles system is up to $128 billion – nearly four times the 2008 bond issue estimate – and continues to grow due to time and inflation.

“And what would we get if the project is fully completed decades hence? By the project’s own data, a complete system would reduce automotive travel in California by 10 million vehicle-miles a day, which sounds impressive until one learns that Californians drive about 900 million miles each day.

“In other words, under the most optimistic scenario, auto traffic would be reduced by scarcely 1% – the proverbial drop in the bucket.”



https://calmatters.org/commentary/2023/12/newsom-bullet-train-booster-criticisms/

 

[Chernosoth]

As California depopulates, the land needed for a LA-SF route will be cheaper.

 

[RobDownSouth]

As California depopulates, the land needed for a LA-SF route will be cheaper.

"California depopulates".....tee hee.