The New York Times reporting on President Obama’s push for high-speed rail, some money of which has already been allocated in the stimulus package:
“What we need, then, is a smart transportation system equal to the needs of the 21st century,” he said, “a system that reduces travel times and increases mobility, a system that reduces congestion and boosts productivity, a system that reduces destructive emissions and creates jobs.”
And he added, “There’s no reason why we can’t do this.”
Mr. Obama said the $8 billion included for high-speed rail projects in his stimulus package — to be spent over two years — and an additional $1 billion a year being budgeted over the next five years, would provide a “jump start” toward achieving that vision.
The transportation department has already identified 10 corridors that would benefit from high-speed rail projects. From the article:
They are: a northern New England line; an Empire line running east to west in New York State; a Keystone corridor running laterally through Pennsylvania; a southeast network connecting the District of Columbia to Florida and the Gulf Coast; a Gulf Coast line extending from eastern Texas to western Alabama; a corridor in central and southern Florida; a Texas-to-Oklahoma line; a California corridor where voters have already approved a line that will allow travel from San Francisco to Los Angeles in two and a half hours; and a corridor in the Pacific Northwest.
Each of these projects would inject much-needed infrastructure investment into the local and national economy, create jobs, and be generally beneficial to the environment.
The United States used to be the leading railroad nation, but over the last 60 years, that lead was eroded and surpassed by European nations and Japan. Heck, even China is doing major investments in high-speed rail projects.
Just imagine hopping on a train in San Francisco and being in Los Angeles a short time later, without the hassles of getting to the airport, passing through “security,” and sitting in comfort and being able to actually enjoy the scenery. Personally, I enjoy taking the train to Sacramento on the Capitol Corridor when I go to visit family and friends there. It’s much better than driving.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I hope some of that money gets used for some much needed grade upgrades along those stretches that are currently marked to stay “Other Passenger Rail” aka Amtrak.
[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The poster sent us ’0 which is not a hashcash value.
The big problem with Amtrak is that except for the Northeast Corridor, it doesn’t own its own track, but has to lease from the freight carriers. This is the main cause of poor service and delays. We need a railroad carrier that is completely for passengers, and doesn’t have to share the road (and the lower priority) with freight.
[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The poster sent us ’0 which is not a hashcash value.
You must log in to post a comment.