The world leaping ahead of us, the U.S. still has no fast trains.

[Markle]

If there were a market for fast trains there'd be fast trains.
There is no market for fast trains so there are no fast trains.
Of course some future Democrat regime may mandate that there be fast trains.
It would take an outright Communist regime to mandate that anyone use them.

Be patient.

Should I go into my $7 trillion Iraq war analogy
or do you see my point ?

Do you always compare apples and avocados? Why?

 

[james bond]

ll of those combined don't close to that which has been wasted on just the failed California high-speed rail to date much less completing the boondoggle.

It's coming to Abu Dhabi/Dubai and China first. California later.

 

[Markle]

American exceptionalism.
$28.4 trillion and counting......
not counting the $20 trillion shift in wealth from the bottom 70% to the top 1% in just 40 years. A remarkable feat I must say. You Reagan boys did your homework no doubt.

 

[Unkotare]

Trains are dial up modems in the era of fiber internet.

Really ?
Japan has had them since before the Internet even. Bad analogy.

And with one exception they all lose money.

How much did that winter freeze in Texas cost because of poor infrastucture ?
How many people were killed in ice storm crashes last winter ?
What's the cost of cleaning up a 70 car pileup ?

Considerably less than building 10 miles of high speed rail line.

China has 40,000 miles at less then the cost of 2 aircraft carriers and any given 5 years of war in Iraq.

China does not have the kind of very complete interstate highway system, and people are limited in their movement around and between different parts of the country. Easier to keep track of train tickets than individual automobiles.

 

[Unkotare]

The OP seems to be mixing his fantasy of wasting billions upon billions for nothing with his general hatred of the United States.

I love this country.
Don't put words in my mouth Dickhead.

You cannot love this country and advocate for wasting hundreds of billions of dollars on a system that would need hundreds of billions of dollars to run the system.

^^Another nut putting words in my mouth.
Pretty tough to have a normal discussion around here.

When everyone else is the problem..........

 

[Markle]

The OP seems to be mixing his fantasy of wasting billions upon billions for nothing with his general hatred of the United States.

I love this country.
Don't put words in my mouth Dickhead.

You cannot love this country and advocate for wasting hundreds of billions of dollars on a system that would need hundreds of billions of dollars to run the system.

^^Another nut putting words in my mouth.
Pretty tough to have a normal discussion around here.

Specifically, what words did I put in your mouth?

There is one corridor in the United States where a high-speed rail can be profitable. That would be the NE corridor which has 41 MILLION people. No other proposed high-speed railway has anything even in the ballpark with that number. Without that number of potential riders, they make no sense whatsoever.

 

[Markle]

 

[Unkotare]

.....

There is one corridor in the United States where a high-speed rail can be profitable. That would be the NE corridor .....

Which loses millions every year, and would never be mistaken for the shinkansen, the KTX, or TGV by any means.

 

[the other mike]

https://twitter.com/RealScottRitter

I love my country, but the collective ignorance of the American people empowers so-called public servants who abuse their positions of trust to push policies that further individual agendas at the expense of the nation they ostensibly serve. Fact-based logic no longer matters.

 

[westwall]

American exceptionalism.
$28.4 trillion and counting......
not counting the $20 trillion shift in wealth from the bottom 70% to the top 1% in just 40 years. A remarkable feat I must say. You Reagan boys did your homework no doubt.

In 1932, according to a communist Party newspaper I own, 2% of the population controlled 76% of the nation's wealth. The next year, the Domcrat Party took over both houses of Congress, and didn't lose control for 40 continuous years. At the end of that 40 year run, 1% controlled 90%.

So who were the Dems working for?

 

[surada]

ll of those combined don't close to that which has been wasted on just the failed California high-speed rail to date much less completing the boondoggle.

It's coming to Abu Dhabi/Dubai and China first. California later.

Saudi Arabia's bullet trains have been completed for several years. now.

 

[westwall]

ll of those combined don't close to that which has been wasted on just the failed California high-speed rail to date much less completing the boondoggle.

It's coming to Abu Dhabi/Dubai and China first. California later.

Saudi Arabia's bullet trains have been completed for several years. now.

So what. They don't make enough money to support themselves.

 

[Markle]

ll of those combined don't close to that which has been wasted on just the failed California high-speed rail to date much less completing the boondoggle.

It's coming to Abu Dhabi/Dubai and China first. California later.

Saudi Arabia's bullet trains have been completed for several years. now.

 

[Mushroom]

The OP seems to be mixing his fantasy of wasting billions upon billions for nothing with his general hatred of the United States.

I love this country.
Don't put words in my mouth Dickhead.

You cannot love this country and advocate for wasting hundreds of billions of dollars on a system that would need hundreds of billions of dollars to run the system.

^^Another nut putting words in my mouth.
Pretty tough to have a normal discussion around here.

Specifically, what words did I put in your mouth?

There is one corridor in the United States where a high-speed rail can be profitable. That would be the NE corridor which has 41 MILLION people. No other proposed high-speed railway has anything even in the ballpark with that number. Without that number of potential riders, they make no sense whatsoever.

There are a few, but that number is shrinking every year.

One of the original proposals 40 years ago was for one to run from LA to Las Vegas. That one was actually far along in the planning, with construction due to start at almost any time. But ultimately, it was cancelled because some screamed it would kill turtles. And in the decades since, the explosion of Indian Casinos in California has made the plan outdated anyways. Nowhere near as many go to Vegas anymore from LA, as there are casinos all over California, and the explosion in Prim.

I still remember when that town was literally a gas station, a small motel, and a casino not much bigger than a convenience store.

There was also a plan for one to run from San Diego to LA, but that was also scrapped as the cost of land became excessive. What in 1980 involved mostly buying up farmland by 2010 would have become buying up housing developments so it was cancelled.

But the only other one that could have (and almost was) made was the upgrading of the Capitol Corridor. A 170 mile route from Sacramento to San Francisco, that one was actually about to start construction. At the time of COVID, the route was expected to pass over 2 million riders a year, so that stretch would have been an anchor to build the rest of a bullet train system off of.

But the Governor cancelled the project, as he had his own idea for a bullet train in California. And it involved going from LA to San Francisco, not from Sacramento. That is why they have sunk over $100 billion into a train that will never be completed, and they have not even figured out how to get it to LA.

The US is simply a poor choice for any kind of National High Speed rail. The cities are too far apart, to dense, and to large. Add in we already have a great Interstate Highway system and the large percentage that own cars, it is simply not needed. Myself, I would love to see them used for an upgrade to some of the commuter rail systems in the country. But out of the 4 most used ones in the country, only a single one could really use such a train.

The Boston-NY-DC-Philly region is simply so congested that clearing the required right of way would be impossible. In Los Angeles they could eliminate some of that for some lines, but then you have the entire issue of topography. Most of those trains do not even hit their top speed as it is, because of terrain. The only one with the extant right of way and demand is the Sac-SF line, but the state will not let them do it because they want the Bullet Train to Nowhere instead.

I could see some possibilities, but I think LA-LV is dead. Seattle-Spokane is possible, but I do not thing there is enough demand for such a service.

And the biggest problem that threads like this miss is just the area. All of Japan is around 145k square miles. That is smaller than just the state of California. And pretty much every other country listed is a fraction of the size of the US. And the others, when examined are generally totalitarian states, where private vehicle ownership is restricted, and the government regulates all transit inside the country.

When you have no choice but to use the government for travel and only with permission, giving them bullet trains is a bit like bread and circuses.

 

[Mushroom]

ll of those combined don't close to that which has been wasted on just the failed California high-speed rail to date much less completing the boondoggle.

It's coming to Abu Dhabi/Dubai and China first. California later.

Saudi Arabia's bullet trains have been completed for several years. now.

Train. Singular. And it is not even designed for locals to use.

The Haramain high-speed railway connects the King Abdulaziz International Airport to King Abdullah Economic City, then onwards to Medina and Mecca.

It was not made for use by the citizens, but by the tend of millions that arrive each year on pilgrimages. In essence, think of it as a more impressive theme park ride, like the Disneyland Monorail. It does not even connect to the Mecca Metro system, it is entirely built for tourists.

 

[surada]

ll of those combined don't close to that which has been wasted on just the failed California high-speed rail to date much less completing the boondoggle.

It's coming to Abu Dhabi/Dubai and China first. California later.

Saudi Arabia's bullet trains have been completed for several years. now.

Train. Singular. And it is not even designed for locals to use.

The Haramain high-speed railway connects the King Abdulaziz International Airport to King Abdullah Economic City, then onwards to Medina and Mecca.

It was not made for use by the citizens, but by the tend of millions that arrive each year on pilgrimages. In essence, think of it as a more impressive theme park ride, like the Disneyland Monorail. It does not even connect to the Mecca Metro system, it is entirely built for tourists.

Right... phase one.

Haramain high-speed railway - Wikipedia

Haramain High Speed Railway - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The Haramain high-speed railway (Haramain referring to Mecca and Medina Islamic holy cities), also known as the Western railway or Mecca–Medina high-speed railway, is a 453-kilometre-long (281 mi) high-speed rail line in Saudi Arabia. It links the Muslim holy cities of Medina and Mecca via King Abdullah Economic City, using 449.2 kilometres (279.1 mi) of main line and a 3.75-kilometre (2.33 mi) br…

 

[Markle]

ll of those combined don't close to that which has been wasted on just the failed California high-speed rail to date much less completing the boondoggle.

It's coming to Abu Dhabi/Dubai and China first. California later.

Saudi Arabia's bullet trains have been completed for several years. now.

Train. Singular. And it is not even designed for locals to use.

The Haramain high-speed railway connects the King Abdulaziz International Airport to King Abdullah Economic City, then onwards to Medina and Mecca.

It was not made for use by the citizens, but by the tend of millions that arrive each year on pilgrimages. In essence, think of it as a more impressive theme park ride, like the Disneyland Monorail. It does not even connect to the Mecca Metro system, it is entirely built for tourists.

Right... phase one.

Haramain high-speed railway - Wikipedia

Haramain High Speed Railway - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The Haramain high-speed railway (Haramain referring to Mecca and Medina Islamic holy cities), also known as the Western railway or Mecca–Medina high-speed railway, is a 453-kilometre-long (281 mi) high-speed rail line in Saudi Arabia. It links the Muslim holy cities of Medina and Mecca via King Abdullah Economic City, using 449.2 kilometres (279.1 mi) of main line and a 3.75-kilometre (2.33 mi) br…

 

[Uncensored2008]

And the US will be a third world shithole.

Luckily it won't affect me much.

Well yeah, without 18th century technology, how can we hope to keep up?

Use with only supersonic jets and no choo-choos....

 

[Uncensored2008]

But we're so good at bombing people you mean ?
Oh yeah.
How could I forget that?

How can we bomb people without advanced technology like choo-choos to drop the bombs?

 

[Dusty]

https://twitter.com/RealScottRitter

I love my country, but the collective ignorance of the American people empowers so-called public servants who abuse their positions of trust to push policies that further individual agendas at the expense of the nation they ostensibly serve. Fact-based logic no longer matters.

Smoke you pot kid