So High Speed Rail isn't needed?

[leftwinger]

I have taken the Acela and it is much like that. Hurry up and wait. There are sections where you may go 130 mph and then you grind to a crawl when you reach city suburbs.
The advantage of taking the train is there is ample parking around the station and you only need to arrive a few minutes before your departure. You carry on your bag and throw it in the overhead. Much more legroom and you can walk around.

I used to fly between NY and Boston and NY and DC.
Used to be easy to arrive just before the flight. Now, with security it takes over an hour

CA already has Amtrack and CAL trains. Example: Gilroy to SF (with stops, SJ, Burlingame etc.). Takes 2-3 hours to go anywhere?

Light rail avgs. 17mph thru silicon valley. Cars do better even with traffic. Always the problem …. Station drop off to work site. America is spread out. Not safe to walk thru heavy car areas also. Weather doesnt help to arrive dirty, sweaty, wet to a job with others nearby. People wheeling dirty bike wheels thru carpet so it doesn’t get stolen, scooters, seen it all. Stinking up the conference rooms. Wet towels hanging in cubicles. Socks, bike shoes.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Amtrak makes money on the Northeast Corridor between Boston, NY, Philadelphia, Baltimore and DC
I have taken it many times including the Acela

It is far from a modern rail system

We can do better, other countries manage to do it

Not when we spend $20 billion to build 10 feet of rail. In China they'd all be vaporized for stealing money that should go to helping the nation

 

[Robert W]

That is the way things work while you are building something

California is ultra slow. Imagine CA was sending out Social Security checks....

 

[Robert W]

CA already has Amtrack and CAL trains. Example: Gilroy to SF (with stops, SJ, Burlingame etc.). Takes 2-3 hours to go anywhere?

Light rail avgs. 17mph thru silicon valley. Cars do better even with traffic. Always the problem …. Station drop off to work site. America is spread out. Not safe to walk thru heavy car areas also. Weather doesnt help to arrive dirty, sweaty, wet to a job with others nearby. People wheeling dirty bike wheels thru carpet so it doesn’t get stolen, scooters, seen it all. Stinking up the conference rooms. Wet towels hanging in cubicles. Socks, bike shoes.

I spent much of my life living in CA. So let me explain how that state operates.
When CA started the high speed rail project think of a child who was 8 years old at the time. That system can't open for action prior to 2030, likely actually 2033. That kid will then be 30 to 33 years old. We spent 8 years constructing BART in the SF Bay Area. It seemed to take forever. I worked on maybe 6 of the sections. It can't compare to the high speed rail system in total miles.

By the way, I also did construction in Gilroy and San Jose and all the way north to Crescent City, CA and down into the San Joaquin Valley to Merced. Short and sweet, I know those areas very well.

 

[Robert W]

California is running high speed to major population centers
They go through rural America but don’t stop

You are speaking of commercial airplanes.

 

[Manonthestreet]

 

[Independent thinker]

At least according to trump. Apparently air fare is only $2.00

Which is good because I need to fly back to Kansas and get my ID so I can buy some milk here.

Trump Says High-Speed Rail Isn’t Needed Because ‘You Take an Airplane – It Costs You $2’

The president alleged that high-speed rail would be a less efficient and more expensive alternative than air travel, which in his estimation, costs $2.

www.mediaite.com

“We’re gonna start a big investigation on that because it’s– I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said. “Nobody’s ever seen anything like it. Nobody has ever seen anything like it. The worst overruns that there have ever been in the history of our country. And it wasn’t even necessary. I would have said, you don’t buy it. You take an airplane – it costs you $2. It costs you nothing. You take an airplane. But this got started. And if you have to, you drive, you can drive.”

We already have a 36 trillion dollar national debt.

 

[Robert W]

We already have a 36 trillion dollar national debt.

Why can't rail be constructed by regular firms? Airplanes are bought by regular firms!!!

 

[Independent thinker]

Why can't rail be constructed by regular firms? Airplanes are bought by regular firms!!!

That was my exact thought when I first read that. The poster was comparing apples to car tires.

 

[Crepitus]

We already have a 36 trillion dollar national debt.

So then no more flying back and forth for tRump?? Even at $2.00 a trip?

 

[rightwinger]

China, India, Japan, Europe, Indonesia afford High Speed Rail

The US, the wealthiest nation on earth, still uses 50 year old technology

But those countries do not have to deal with Republicans

Jakarta High Speed Rail

 

[frigidweirdo]

China, India, Japan, Europe, Indonesia afford High Speed Rail

The US, the wealthiest nation on earth, still uses 50 year old technology

But those countries do not have to deal with Republicans

View attachment 1096881

Jakarta High Speed Rail

The problem here is that Indonesia and China are still relatively poor. You can have trains and people will use them because they don't own cars. Yes, Chinese people are buying cars like crazy, but still many who don't have them because they've gone from being poor, to having been screwed over by their govt which has made apartment prices go through the roof, that and the cost of getting married being too high.

 

[rightwinger]

The problem here is that Indonesia and China are still relatively poor. You can have trains and people will use them because they don't own cars. Yes, Chinese people are buying cars like crazy, but still many who don't have them because they've gone from being poor, to having been screwed over by their govt which has made apartment prices go through the roof, that and the cost of getting married being too high.

And we are freaking rich and are unwilling to invest in infrastructure that will take us into the next 50 years instead of the last 50 years

But we always find money for the military and tax cuts for the wealthy

 

[frigidweirdo]

And we are freaking rich and are unwilling to invest in infrastructure that will take us into the next 50 years instead of the last 50 years

But we always find money for the military and tax cuts for the wealthy

Yep, Trump says "I'm the no war President" and then goes off fighting and bragging about his fighting.

 

[Robert W]

China, India, Japan, Europe, Indonesia afford High Speed Rail

The US, the wealthiest nation on earth, still uses 50 year old technology

But those countries do not have to deal with Republicans

View attachment 1096881

Jakarta High Speed Rail

If you want to pay for my travel costs, I will be pleased to travel by high speed aircraft and trains. One thing Democrats never bring up is the cost for other countries and who foots the bill.