Major routes to NOLA, Chicago, Texas, East Coast and West Coast. I approve! 
President Obama's Plan for High Speed Rail
- Thread starter Mermaid
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European rail is pretty darn good. We always take the train from Paris to Provence and it's cheap (with the advance fares), the trains are clean and modern, and they go FAST. Japanese high speed trains are the same way as well; a real pleasure to travel on. Would that we could have a system like theirs. I've ridden many an Amtrack train in my day on the Eastern seaboard corridor, and for as much as I adore trains, Amtrack is clunky and dated.
Billions for high-speed rail; anyone aboard?
A very good article discussing the issues, costs, and past attempts at "high speed rail" in the united states. My sense of this is, it'll never happen, but it will cost us quite a bit of money we don't have to spend trying.
A very good article discussing the issues, costs, and past attempts at "high speed rail" in the united states. My sense of this is, it'll never happen, but it will cost us quite a bit of money we don't have to spend trying.
Especially since the private sector has done such of whiz-bang job of managing the assets they currently oversee.
You're clearly misquoting a very small subset of private businesses (banks) and using that to claim all private businesses are bad at managing assets / running profitable businesses. There are countless examples of how private businesses operate more efficiently than government. If you really want the feds to run our transportation system, be prepared to pay through the nose for it, because they couldn't manage a McDonalds without losing money hand over fist.Especially since the private sector has done such of whiz-bang job of managing the assets they currently oversee.
You may be right, and a monkey may fly out of my rear. Same odds.
OK, that's it. You're in trouble. For someone who does mission work I would expect a little kinder tone than the repeated sarcasm to make your points.
I agree in privatising the rail system as well for the same reason as 30ashopper.......the United States Government has no, not one profitable agency except for FHA and I predict that will implode within 2-5 years. I am not anti-government, however.
We can do bond issues (investors will have a somewhat safe investment if we mix between corp. and gov't./munis), put people to work and keep this out of the hands of the feds.
This rail system is a fabulous thought. I hope it comes to fruition! And, if Obama is going to move as fast on this as everything else, we have a great shot with success on this.
Looks great on paper, and hey, it's just another 13 billion dollars. Let's just hope the gov't doesn't run it. Let's look at Amtrak. They operate roughly at a $500 million loss per year. They have never been profitable. Since 1971 they have received 31 billion federal subsidies just to keep running.
Yeahhhhhhhh....
Also, compare train tickets to airline tickets and see just how cheap they are. They aren't...especially, the high speed Acela trains in the NE corridor.
I love trains, but I don't seen this happening. Once all the tree huggers get involved and force environmental impact studies and find litte snail darter fish, black footed ferrets, and other endangered animals...that 13 biillion will look like pocket change.
Yeahhhhhhhh....
Also, compare train tickets to airline tickets and see just how cheap they are. They aren't...especially, the high speed Acela trains in the NE corridor.
I love trains, but I don't seen this happening. Once all the tree huggers get involved and force environmental impact studies and find litte snail darter fish, black footed ferrets, and other endangered animals...that 13 biillion will look like pocket change.