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The NY Sun has a status report on the proposed rocket train. Good news for rail riders, "the House passed legislation [The Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act] requiring the federal government to solicit proposals for its financing and development." The plan has Bloomberg's full support, and would make the NYC to D.C. trip under two hours...but it will cost a pretty penny.
New York was in full support calls for $14.4 billion in rail investment in the next five years. Some of those funds could go toward the development of the high-speed passenger train, as well as other local projects, such as a renovated Pennsylvania Station to be named after Senator Moynihan.The plan is being touted as a new era for the rails, something that has been a long time coming -- but before we reach Galt's Gulch, President Bush may prove to be the end of the line as he threatens to use his veto power. After the Dept. of Transportation solicits funds, proposals will be evaluated and recommended to Congress.
If passed into law, this would reauthorize the federally subsidized struggling Amtrak's rail service for five more years, and give them an option to bid for, or become a partner in the new service.
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Sandy Hook is a great option. Its also Ferry Accessible
http://www.seastreak.com/SeaStreak/SpecialEventCruises/EventFlyers/Sandy+Hook+Beach+Excursion.htm
Finally, $4 per gallon gasoline is doing something good.
Oops, Sandy hook was not supposed to be here.
Ah - a public transportation bill being threatened of veto by a President with deep ties to the oil industry. Its not even surprising anymore. What a legacy he leaves us.
nice tits, babe!
Is this safe? I'm imagining high-speed accidents in Midtown.
We need a nationwide $2+ trillion high speed rail program. Is Barack Obama advocating such a visionary concept? Of course not, he doesn't think americans are ready for "change" in the way they travel. His proposals are utterly vacant bullshit. Good luck with this one. If one could privately finance anything, a nice Maglev train from NY to DC and Boston would be a start. Then other high speed trains to Buffalo, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami, and points west would set off a movement. Hopefully one without the aid or even the notification of worthless politicians that stand for nothing.
Ah - a public transportation bill being threatened of veto by a President with deep ties to the oil industry.
Can't argue much with a veto of a $14 billion wild goose chase.
Pork is pork. The government shouldn't be developing a rail system. The market should be. D&H was able to figure it out in the early 1900s before the government taxed them to death.
#8 -- there isn't a rail line on this planet that wasn't built without government backing -- too expensive and too complicated (getting right-of-way). This ain't pork -- this about maintaining our competitiveness with other nations.
But I guess you think it's cool dropping $720 million a day in Iraq!?!?!?!?
In the early 1900s, the country was much more sparsely populated and there wasn't the specter of NIMBYism around every corner. I guarantee you'd never be able to lay new tracks for a high speed train in any area with any population at all and current tracks were never designed to accommodate speeds that high. The only way to get the rights-of-way needed for new tracks would be eminent domain, which private companies obviously can't use.
Why does the theme for Supertrain keep runing through my head as I read this?
To answer [6]: It can be very safe. One example is Japan's Shinkansen network.
"During the Shinkansen's 40-year, 6 billion passenger history, there have been no passenger fatalities due to derailments or collisions..."
Some people died to other causes, but a suicidal person jumping in front of an oncoming bullet train is not exactly the train's fault. But it would definitely leave a mark on the jumper. Ouch
The US has a shamefully bad passenger rail network compared with those that link major cities in Europe and Asia. Know why? Too many years of dirt cheap gasoline and government policy that has fostered our car culture. A lot of good that does... Makes for endless suburban sprawl and mega-rich foreign oil economies (see Russia, Venezuela, and most of the Middle East)...
"We need a nationwide $2+ trillion high speed rail program."
I couldn't agree more Sonyactivision.
At least within the NYC area we have three decent railroads. LIRR, NJ Transit, and Metro North, with Metro North being the better of the three and probably LIRR the worst of the three.
We can't afford these toys. Get back to business and drill for more oil and allow shale to be harvested for oil. This story is just a Hollywood dream.
A rocket powered train? Somebody is smoking dust!
Even if we were going to invest in a high-speed rail system i'm not thinking fucking ROCKETS are the best form of power!
If it's ok for the government to spend over $30 billion a year paving highways that are designed exclusively to accommodate motor vehicles, I don't see why the government can't spend half that amount one time to build rails for a competitively-bid railroad.
What kind of highway system would we have if we waited for the "market" to build it?
Right now TGV trains can take you from Torino to Paris, more than twice the distance from NY to DC, in a little over 5 hours, with stops in between. If you woke up this morning in a country with a decent rail system, you could be in Chicago by now. I'd be leaving now for a weekend trip to Montreal, and I'd be there in time for dinner.
Thanks, Kojak. I found the same stats while researching, but I swear there have been some big accidents in Japan...will report back.
#8 - The "market" NEVER built a railroad. In the early years of railroading, the most expensive item was essentially given away to the railroad robber barons - the land AND a right-of-way usually one mile wide on either side of the tracks. SO, not only was the government giving the railroads the land to run the lines, but they were also given the land to develop towns, industry, infrastructure, etc. After being given the land, then building the towns, etc., the railroads sucked as much money as possible out of it. Then, refusing to invest in maintenance, they ran the railroads into bankruptcy until they were sent out of business or taken over by the government. Instead of your knee-jerk "the market is always better," please learn your history. It is only government that can develop something as costly and complex as a railroad.