At long last - money for trains

[barn700]

Following the lead made by Auran, investing in Trainz, the US have announced a multi-billion funding for US rail

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100128/ap_on_bi_ge/us_high_speed_rail_states

 

[mitch456yui]

Great!
Wonderful News!
Time for Australia to follow the rest of the world in high-speed rail!

 

[barn700]

Yes Austrailia has a lot of space for them, only prob I see is the roos (maybe a big snowplough on the front ??)

US debt has risen to $120,000 per person, to pay for the banks, roads, rail etc etc.

We are to get out of Iraq by end August that will save a bunch of cash.

 

[AndrewH]

Yes Australia has a lot of space for them, only prob I see is the roos (maybe a big snowplough on the front ??).........

Ya mean roo bars mate, got 'em on me ute.

The biggest problem is the large distances and the small population (people, not kangaroos!). Much as I would love to see Shinkansen or TGVs it won't be happening here. I'd be very happy to be proved wrong.

 

[paulzmay]

Ya mean roo bars mate, got 'em on me ute.

The biggest problem is the large distances and the small population (people, not kangaroos!). Much as I would love to see Shinkansen or TGVs it won't be happening here. I'd be very happy to be proved wrong.

Melbourne - Sydney is one of the world's busiest air routes (so I heard somewhere ), and about right for High Speed Rail. Perhaps one day? It might even avoid the need for another Airport in Sydney.

Don't see it ever reaching Adelaide though...

Paul

 

[Euphod]

the US have announced a multi-billion funding for US rail

Well; what about all the money Amtrak has sucked up over the years?

 

[Gandalf0444]

And once again 3 states get to suck up the majority of the 8 billion dollars while the rest of us scrounge for the few dollars left over.... Makes perfect sense...let's build new stuff but let the current/old stuff become even more dilapidated making it more money to repair and upgrade.

 

[LoudTrain]

Indiana

:n: From the article, it looks like Indiana didn't get any. :'(

Why is that not surprising? We've been trying just to get light rail in Indianapolis for years with no luck. The attitude is that the automobile industry made Indiana, so "We don' wan' no steenking trains!"

I wouldn't be surprised if somebody specifically lobbied against Indiana getting any money.

-- Russ

 

[jadebullet]

Well; what about all the money Amtrak has sucked up over the years?

Amtrak is still around isn't it? Trust me, while Slamtrak has its problems, it is still more successful than was expected. Go read stuff from the 1970s regarding trains. Everyone was predicting that Scamtrak was going to be gone within a year.

 

[SuperFudd]

Swell. Let's spend more money ($billions$) we don't have for stuff we don't need.

 

[Isaacg]

And once again 3 states get to suck up the majority of the 8 billion dollars while the rest of us scrounge for the few dollars left over.... Makes perfect sense...let's build new stuff but let the current/old stuff become even more dilapidated making it more money to repair and upgrade.

I'm pretty sure I heard that New England was getting some funds (check out US High Speed Rail on Google News), FL only got 1.25B to start with(supposedly Orlando International Airport and Disney will be the first line*, :hehe, then they'll be paid in subsequent amounts until the phase is complete(PH2 ORL to MIA is supposed to start in 2013, one year before PH1 is done). I'm not sure about California or the Northeast, which have fairly good railway service compared to the rest of the country, but I'll say for sure that its definetly an improvement to what FL has now.

*I guess ORL is getting the starting point now because they'll have a connection to DT and other areas with SunRail, so when the HSL comes to this end(they've already started construction for the new train station here), there'll be a connecting rail line(to DT Tampa from here on this crowded small peninsula that is Pinellas county)

(and just out of interest, and while the subject is arisen)JR wants a bid, stock would most likely be the new N700-I's
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704762904575024611266446690.html

 

[diesel9]

I agree, North Carolina is suppose to be getting high-speed rail between Raleigh and Charlotte, but here's then thing.
1. NC already has 4 Amtraks from Raleigh - Charlotte and two more will be coming in March so 6 is enough passenger trains.
2. The akward track struture within the state will not work for 90 mph trains with the max speed of 79 mph.
3. the money should be used for shortlines,regionals, and maybe bring back some abandoned lines w/ the money.
4. some of the money could be used for Norfolk Southern's future Crescent Corridor.
5. The $$$ should be used for freight more than passenger.

 

[Gandalf0444]

Swell. Let's spend more money ($billions$) we don't have for stuff we don't need.

Much agreed.

 

[perry_weekley]

Jee so much negative. California and Florida really need this. California has too much traffic as is and High Speed Rail might calm down the highways and keep those traffic nightmares just that. Florida literally has no High Speed Rail and almost no passenger service if my old Amtrak map is still any good. A line from Orlando to Miami is really going to help. Plus a spur from Orlando to Disney World wouldn't be bad. No matter how much I liked the bus from Orlando International to Disney I would so much prefer High Speed Rail.

You all keep saying freight needs it more. Kinda hard to give freight something when the freight is company owned right now. The cross-country passenger trains are owned by the US Government through Amtrak thus they are able to build their own lines and do what they want with their money for certain projects. Sadly I think if CSX, Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific, and BNSF got a 8 billion dollar grant they would spend it on the frills and giving bonuses to their corporate bosses like the automobile companies did. I might be cynical but I wouldn't trust freight companies with money after how the car companies complained and then spent their money on bonuses.

Just my opinion.

 

[springtransit]

:n: From the article, it looks like Indiana didn't get any. :'(

Why is that not surprising? We've been trying just to get light rail in Indianapolis for years with no luck. The attitude is that the automobile industry made Indiana, so "We don' wan' no steenking trains!"
-- Russ

So it seems Indianapolis has been made "the next LA!":hehe: I thought Atlanta was to be that, but we have the MARTA subway. Granted, MARTA hasn't been allowed to grow to its full potential, but at least the city has "got its foot in the door!"

 

[SuperFudd]

Someone in West Virginia is telling us Californians that we need high speed passenger trains?:hehe:
These are to be inter metropolitan area trains, not intra metropolitan so they will do nothing to help highway congestion. In theory they will cut down on air traffic congestion between northern and southern California, mostly SFO to LAX. It won't help us Joe sixpacks at all. Still, we will get to pay for it.
No, the money should not go to freight. The less unesesary interference by the government in private enterprise the better for us all. Besides the railroad companies would just use the money to improve their businesses and increasing profits so they could pay larger bonuses to upper management and stockholders (like 401K plans).

 

[hert]

Well California did vote and pass for a High-Speed Rail line from SF to LA at least for the planning. Not that we have the money for it:hehe: It would be cool to have a high-speed transcontinental RR or a Railline over the Straits of Gibraltar. But those are far future dreams.
hert:wave:

 

[paulzmay]

Actually, looking at the map: http://www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov/google-map/ it looks like there will be a lot of shorter distance journey opportunities, as well as the longer hauls from one end of the state to the other, so there is potential to relieve highways as well as airports. Admittedly, the effect on highways would be improved if local rail was improved at the same time to create better feeder services to the HSR. It's not one or the other...

And I think you're right about hand-outs to the freight companies - the government needs to have a better handle on stimulus money, and make sure it's spent on infrastructure, not fat-cat bonuses.

Paul

 

[pommie]

As this money is to boost the economy who cares which states get it, as long as it improves the unemployment situation and boosts local spending, believe me when I say if things were sailing along nice (economy wise) there would be no money forthcoming from the government for hi-speed rail or anything else, in this regard all of the 'western' world governments are the same

Just an observation and opinion of someone who does not live in the USA :hehe: :hehe:

Just hope that they get it right and you end up with some high speed corridors.

Cheers David

 

[SuperFudd]

Trust me on this.
Niether Interstate 5 nor US 101 between the San Francisco Bay Area and the Los Angeles Basin have traffic congestion. So just what highways are these trains suposed to de-congest?