High-speed rail is dead in America. Should we mourn it?

[koalabear]

There was a brief burst of enthusiasm around the future of high-speed rail in January 2010, when President Obama announced $8 billion in federal stimulus spending to start building “America’s first nationwide program of high-speed intercity passenger rail service.” Since then, however, the project’s chances of success have been heading in one direction: downhill. First, Tea Party conservatives in Florida and wealthy liberal suburbanites in the Bay Area began questioning their states’ plans. Then, just as Joe Biden was calling for $53 billion in high-speed-rail spending over the next six years, a crop of freshly elected Republican governors turned down billions in federal money for lines in Wisconsin, Ohio, and Florida. Finally, Republicans in Congress zeroed out the federal high-speed rail budget last month.

http://www.slate.com/articles/techn...l_is_dead_in_america_should_we_mourn_it_.html

 

[busybody..]

shoulda put NIGGA! HO! on a HIGH SPEED rail

to

URANUS

 

[unregistered]

 

[busybody..]

Petey needs to be thrown UNDER the rail

 

[koalabear]

Waste of tax payer dollars, good riddance.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Here in Florida the high speed line ran parallel to the AMTRAK line, and both were projected to take the same time to go from Tampa to Orlando. Plus the Tampa station was gonna be in the middle of the projects and flop-houses.

 

[Joe6pack]

It's not the capital to build the projects, it's the ongoing operating costs. No rail system in the U.S. pays for itself - not one. They are nothing more than government jobs programs and cannot survive without ongoing government subsidies.

Just the truth.

 

[piccicatopolka]

Article: The Train To Nowhere

The initial segment of the proposed California high-speed passenger train system – from south of Merced to north of Bakersfield in the Central Valley – may be the only part of the vaunted system that’s ever built, warns a new report from the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office.

The report says that the flow of federal funds has been stopped by Congress and that “it appears doubtful that substantial additional federal support will be forthcoming anytime soon.”

This makes it “increasingly likely” that the Central Valley segment – too short for high-speed trains – “may be all that is ever built,” the report says.

There remain a number of unanswered technical questions regarding whether the segment may be used to improve the existing San Joaquin Amtrak service, as suggested in the business plan, the report says.

The LAO report also questions fundamentals of the recently released draft business plan.

“Our preliminary review of the economic analysis in the draft business plan is that it may be incomplete and imbalanced, and therefore portrays the project more favorably than may be warranted. For example, the plan does not estimate economic loses from negative impacts to business from right-of-way acquisition and rail construction activities or from increases in urban traffic congestion around train stations,” it says.

It also faults another aspect of the high-speed rail’s draft business plan – how many people would ride the trains and how the cost of the system might compare with the costs of more highway and airport capacity.

“The draft business plan compares the estimated $99 billion to $118 billion cost of constructing high-speed rail with an estimated $170 billion cost of adding equivalent capacity to airports and highways. This comparison is very problematic because $170 billion is not what the state would otherwise spend to address the growth in inter-city transportation demand. The HSRA (High-Speed Rail Authority) estimates that the high-speed train system would have the capacity to carry 116 million passengers per year but their highest forecasted ridership is significantly less than that amount—44 million rides per year (roughly 40 percent less than capacity),” the report says.

 

[JohnnySavage]

It's not the capital to build the projects, it's the ongoing operating costs. No rail system in the U.S. pays for itself - not one. They are nothing more than government jobs programs and cannot survive without ongoing government subsidies.

Just the truth.

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[1sickbastard]

It's not the capital to build the projects, it's the ongoing operating costs. No rail system in the U.S. pays for itself - not one. They are nothing more than government jobs programs and cannot survive without ongoing government subsidies.

Just the truth.

You're not making the distinction between passenger rail & freight rail. Freight rail does pay for itself and does so quite well. As fuel cost increase, rail become far more economical for long distance shipping.

If you want to get into Federally subsidized transportation, focus on the airlines

 

[Fagin]

High-speed rail is alive and well

http://amazingcentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/roller-coaster-kingda-ka-e1304702322612.jpg

 

[miles]

High speed rail is alive and well in politicians' phony promises.

 

[Fagin]

Maybe Cedar Point can put in for a federal grant for a new roller coaster... errr... high-speed rail.

At least it will be used.

 

[Joe6pack]

You're not making the distinction between passenger rail & freight rail. Freight rail does pay for itself and does so quite well. As fuel cost increase, rail become far more economical for long distance shipping.

If you want to get into Federally subsidized transportation, focus on the airlines

I assumed we were talking about passenger rail. Forgive me for not making the distinction. Soooo, now that we've cleared that up. No passenger rail service is self supporting.

 

[SgtSpiderMan]

Here in Florida the high speed line ran parallel to the AMTRAK line, and both were projected to take the same time to go from Tampa to Orlando. Plus the Tampa station was gonna be in the middle of the projects and flop-houses.

Not true at all, but you really don't like facts.

 

[BoyNextDoor]

Should we mourn it ... Nope. And I am not even attending the wake.

We love our cars too much for rail to take hold.

 

[JohnnySavage]

Should we mourn it ... Nope. And I am not even attending the wake.

We love our cars too much for rail to take hold.

jesus....

Have you ever been on the east coast, between DC and Boston. Yea, that shit will never catch on

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Not true at all, but you really don't like facts.

I live here and know what the facts are. The station was going on the section of land around the Morgan Street Jail. Nuthin there, and surrounded by the homeless shelters and projects.

 

[BoyNextDoor]

jesus....

Have you ever been on the east coast, between DC and Boston. Yea, that shit will never catch on

I live just out side of Boston and worked in DC. And stop calling me Jesus.

 

[JohnnySavage]

I live just out side of Boston and worked in DC. And stop calling me Jesus.

That makes you look even dumber. You should have said you live in Utah.

 

[LJ_Reloaded]

Should we mourn it ... Nope. And I am not even attending the wake.

We love our cars too much for rail to take hold.

And when gasoline shortages and growing global demand for gasoline push the cost of gasoline up to $6/gallon and higher, most Americans won't even be able to afford to drive.

It'll be worth watching the GOP eat their words when the cars stop moving by right of their sheer cost to operate.

 

[tonethebone]

HSR creates jobs. Thousands of jobs. My printing company is in Sacramento. We worked with two large consulting firms this past summer printing the Environmental Impact Reports for the first leg between Fresno and Merced.

I don't give a rats ass how much the damn thing is projected to cost. All I know is this project has helped keep the doors open and I hope it continues for years!

 

[miles]

I live here and know what the facts are. The station was going on the section of land around the Morgan Street Jail. Nuthin there, and surrounded by the homeless shelters and projects.

Maybe Spidey lives there and took offense.

 

[SgtSpiderMan]

I live here and know what the facts are. The station was going on the section of land around the Morgan Street Jail. Nuthin there, and surrounded by the homeless shelters and projects.

I live here too.

The line would have started at OIA (Amtrak doesn't go there), and would have continued onto the convention center & Disney (Amtrak doesn't go there either). It would have taken 44 minutes to get from OIA to downtown Tampa.

 

[pointless]

yes..