Florida Loses $2.4 Billion For High-Speed Trains

[Political Junky]

that's true T, but 300 mph can cause a lot of havoc, they're too vulnerable

Train speed has not been a safety problem anywhere, that I've heard. Do you have a link?

It does if the rails and equipment are faulty...

Eschede train disaster<Germany, 1998

Of course, but the post I replied to was about the danger of going 300mph. The train you cited was traveling at 80mph.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Train speed has not been a safety problem anywhere, that I've heard. Do you have a link?

It does if the rails and equipment are faulty...

Eschede train disaster<Germany, 1998

Of course, but the post I replied to was about the danger of going 300mph. The train you cited was traveling at 80mph.

So, imagine the same crash at almost 4 times the speed, and then factor in that momentum is the square of the velocity. That makes the potential 14 times as bad as going 80.

 

[The T]

Train speed has not been a safety problem anywhere, that I've heard. Do you have a link?

It does if the rails and equipment are faulty...

Eschede train disaster<Germany, 1998

Of course, but the post I replied to was about the danger of going 300mph. The train you cited was traveling at 80mph.

Doesn't matter.

 

[The T]

The fact that you don't know or care what that would do to commerce, infrastructure and small businesses is bad.....

It would improve commerce by making energy costs lower, improve infrastructure by getting many trucks off the highways (trucks do the most damage to roads), and small business would have the benefits of cheaper transportation costs for their goods.

Ahhh, life is just so grand living in a theorhetical, liberal utopia .....

Which they still strive for...as long as everyone but them pays for it.

 

[hortysir]

Shouldn't the title read:
"Florida chooses not to spend billions of dollars" for bullshit???

We can't "lose" something we don't phukkin want

 

[Big Fitz]

Like saying I lost the lottery. Oh really? You're in the hole (what is it today) $201million suddenly because you didn't pick the right numbers? Horseshit. You 'lost' nothing. You just didn't GAIN that money that was not necessarily yours to begin with.

 

[Synthaholic]

Yes, it is running.

Amtrak - Routes - Northeast - Auto Train

I think it's the best of both worlds. If I could pack my family and my car onto a train in Florida and be in NY seven hours later, driving my own vehicle? That's perfect.

Seven hours? Are you talking about HSR or the current system we have?

I wanted to visit my brother in Va Beach from Tampa a few years ago. Having never been on a real train (as opposed to the Disneyland Train), I called Amtrak. The cost alone was prohibitive without adding the car and it was going to take something like 21 hours to go from Tampa to Richmond, Va and then I had to switch to a bus and that was going to take another 4 hours, if I am not mistaken.

Well, I drove instead which takes 14 hours... I know, I drove it yesterday.

Immie

I was talking about a high speed auto train. I think that would be a very popular option.

 

[Synthaholic]

The fact that you don't know or care what that would do to commerce, infrastructure and small businesses is bad.....

It would improve commerce by making energy costs lower, improve infrastructure by getting many trucks off the highways (trucks do the most damage to roads), and small business would have the benefits of cheaper transportation costs for their goods.

Ahhh, life is just so grand living in a theorhetical, liberal utopia .....

Hey fuckstick - are you going to actually refute anything with links, or even a well-reasoned opinion, or are you just a troll, living up to your username?

 

[Synthaholic]

that's true T, but 300 mph can cause a lot of havoc, they're too vulnerable

Train speed has not been a safety problem anywhere, that I've heard. Do you have a link?

It does if the rails and equipment are faulty...

Eschede train disaster<Germany, 1998

Then maintain your rails and equipment.

 

[Big Fitz]

I think it's the best of both worlds. If I could pack my family and my car onto a train in Florida and be in NY seven hours later, driving my own vehicle? That's perfect.

Seven hours? Are you talking about HSR or the current system we have?

I wanted to visit my brother in Va Beach from Tampa a few years ago. Having never been on a real train (as opposed to the Disneyland Train), I called Amtrak. The cost alone was prohibitive without adding the car and it was going to take something like 21 hours to go from Tampa to Richmond, Va and then I had to switch to a bus and that was going to take another 4 hours, if I am not mistaken.

Well, I drove instead which takes 14 hours... I know, I drove it yesterday.

Immie

I was talking about a high speed auto train. I think that would be a very popular option.

Could be... But just think of the up-charge that will be coming for hauling that much weight. Regional Autotrains would be a nice experiment (St. Louis to New Orleans run, SF to SD, Denver to Salt Lake City, and Minneapolis to Chicago), though I suspect I know the answer already.

You'd have to average at least 150mph and do it cheaply enough to compete with airlines effectively while making sure you do it significantly faster than driving it yourself. That's a narrow moving target to hit here. Regardless, I'd prefer to see a private company do it, and don't think the technology or advantage is there.

 

[Immanuel]

I think it's the best of both worlds. If I could pack my family and my car onto a train in Florida and be in NY seven hours later, driving my own vehicle? That's perfect.

Seven hours? Are you talking about HSR or the current system we have?

I wanted to visit my brother in Va Beach from Tampa a few years ago. Having never been on a real train (as opposed to the Disneyland Train), I called Amtrak. The cost alone was prohibitive without adding the car and it was going to take something like 21 hours to go from Tampa to Richmond, Va and then I had to switch to a bus and that was going to take another 4 hours, if I am not mistaken.

Well, I drove instead which takes 14 hours... I know, I drove it yesterday.

Immie

I was talking about a high speed auto train. I think that would be a very popular option.

I kind of thought so.

HSR would be a great way to travel. Unfortunately, I don't think that in these times our government should be throwing money at it. We desperately need to quit spending like there is no tomorrow.

If a private conglomerate wanted to undertake the endeavor, I would be fine with that, but I am adamantly against throwing public funds at this for the time being.

Not that I suspect that makes much difference.

Immie

 

[Political Junky]

Seven hours? Are you talking about HSR or the current system we have?

I wanted to visit my brother in Va Beach from Tampa a few years ago. Having never been on a real train (as opposed to the Disneyland Train), I called Amtrak. The cost alone was prohibitive without adding the car and it was going to take something like 21 hours to go from Tampa to Richmond, Va and then I had to switch to a bus and that was going to take another 4 hours, if I am not mistaken.

Well, I drove instead which takes 14 hours... I know, I drove it yesterday.

Immie

I was talking about a high speed auto train. I think that would be a very popular option.

I kind of thought so.

HSR would be a great way to travel. Unfortunately, I don't think that in these times our government should be throwing money at it. We desperately need to quit spending like there is no tomorrow.

If a private conglomerate wanted to undertake the endeavor, I would be fine with that, but I am adamantly against throwing public funds at this for the time being.

Not that I suspect that makes much difference.

Immie

Expanding high speed rail would create jobs, boosting the economy. Plus, it would cut down carbon emissions and clogged highways.

 

[Douger]

Hi speed rail only works for countries not occupied by murkins and The Chosen........like Chile ( peppers) France ( commies) Germany (drunks) Japan ( gooks). Places like that, with inferior populations.
Hi speed rail us completely un-murkin.
Take that money and buy Hummers.

 

[Immanuel]

I was talking about a high speed auto train. I think that would be a very popular option.

I kind of thought so.

HSR would be a great way to travel. Unfortunately, I don't think that in these times our government should be throwing money at it. We desperately need to quit spending like there is no tomorrow.

If a private conglomerate wanted to undertake the endeavor, I would be fine with that, but I am adamantly against throwing public funds at this for the time being.

Not that I suspect that makes much difference.

Immie

Expanding high speed rail would create jobs, boosting the economy. Plus, it would cut down carbon emissions and clogged highways.

When I was in San Jose, CA, they told us the same thing about the Light Rail. Guess what... they lied.

Immie

 

[Political Junky]

I kind of thought so.

HSR would be a great way to travel. Unfortunately, I don't think that in these times our government should be throwing money at it. We desperately need to quit spending like there is no tomorrow.

If a private conglomerate wanted to undertake the endeavor, I would be fine with that, but I am adamantly against throwing public funds at this for the time being.

Not that I suspect that makes much difference.

Immie

Expanding high speed rail would create jobs, boosting the economy. Plus, it would cut down carbon emissions and clogged highways.

When I was in San Jose, CA, they told us the same thing about the Light Rail. Guess what... they lied.

Immie

San Francisco to San Jose is not high speed rail. It's dated, but still has riders.

 

[Immanuel]

Expanding high speed rail would create jobs, boosting the economy. Plus, it would cut down carbon emissions and clogged highways.

When I was in San Jose, CA, they told us the same thing about the Light Rail. Guess what... they lied.

Immie

San Francisco to San Jose is not high speed rail. It's dated, but still has riders.

That is not Light Rail.

The Light Rail is Silicon Valley's mass transit system (along with its buses) and did nothing but tie up traffic.

http://www.vta.org/services/light_rail_services.html

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2009/09/07/daily44.html

Immie

 

[hortysir]

I was talking about a high speed auto train. I think that would be a very popular option.

I kind of thought so.

HSR would be a great way to travel. Unfortunately, I don't think that in these times our government should be throwing money at it. We desperately need to quit spending like there is no tomorrow.

If a private conglomerate wanted to undertake the endeavor, I would be fine with that, but I am adamantly against throwing public funds at this for the time being.

Not that I suspect that makes much difference.

Immie

Expanding high speed rail would create jobs, boosting the economy. Plus, it would cut down carbon emissions and clogged highways.

Trading in my 85 Chevy truck for a Prius would spur some jobs, save me money on gas, and lessen my "carbon footprint".

But I can't afford the payments or afford to wait until the savings add up to a plus figure big enough to erase the investment.



Why is this so hard to grasp?


WE CAN'T AFFORD IT

 

[Political Junky]

I kind of thought so.

HSR would be a great way to travel. Unfortunately, I don't think that in these times our government should be throwing money at it. We desperately need to quit spending like there is no tomorrow.

If a private conglomerate wanted to undertake the endeavor, I would be fine with that, but I am adamantly against throwing public funds at this for the time being.

Not that I suspect that makes much difference.

Immie

Expanding high speed rail would create jobs, boosting the economy. Plus, it would cut down carbon emissions and clogged highways.

Trading in my 85 Chevy truck for a Prius would spur some jobs, save me money on gas, and lessen my "carbon footprint".

But I can't afford the payments or afford to wait until the savings add up to a plus figure big enough to erase the investment.



Why is this so hard to grasp?


WE CAN'T AFFORD IT

The same argument could have made against Eisenhower's plan to develop our interstate highway system.

 

[The T]

Expanding high speed rail would create jobs, boosting the economy. Plus, it would cut down carbon emissions and clogged highways.

Trading in my 85 Chevy truck for a Prius would spur some jobs, save me money on gas, and lessen my "carbon footprint".

But I can't afford the payments or afford to wait until the savings add up to a plus figure big enough to erase the investment.



Why is this so hard to grasp?


WE CAN'T AFFORD IT

The same argument could have made against Eisenhower's plan to develop our interstate highway system.

Bad arguement. It is the Feds responsibility to post roads per Article 1, section 8.

 

[Big Fitz]

it think it's no coincidence that this happens just as atlas shrugged is coming out.
high speed trains are easy targets for terrorism.

*ANYTHING* in a free society such as ours are ripe targets.

that's true T, but 300 mph can cause a lot of havoc, they're too vulnerable

You will never see 300mph rail in this nation until you go maglev, and that is an entirely different system with incredible costs to construct. You think it's expensive to build roads, let alone railroads? You've not seen anything yet. The TRACK is essentially half the motor.

Secondly, there is the problem of geography. You've got towns to worry about, grade crossings, elevating track, tunnels, bridges, switching, equipment yards and all the infrastructure you would see in a railroad, plus the maintenance of the track which will be extreme in comparison because one bad magnet could cause a disaster akin to multiple airliner crashes. And then... you have to idiot proof and protect the damn thing so kids don't try to do stupid stuff (let alone real acts of terrorism) like put rocks in the track or who knows what else they'll think of.

Although Maglev is an awesome technology... it's cost is ludicrously high as compared to improving air transportation.