Hi-speed Rail Article

[paulzmay]

Hi Paulzmay,

This was a well reasoned post. But it was hypothetical. Where is all the capital for these lines going to come from? The government. Where will it go? To the place most likely to generate re-election votes. Where will it be administered? Visit any USA department of motor vehicles.

Do we need that?

Bernie

It's only hypothetical in the USA . High speed rail has been funded (not always entirely by governments) in Europe and Asia, and IIRC there have been serious privately funded proposals in the US (e.g FOX), which may have been successful with even modest government support (legislative and/or financial).

The evidence from elsewhere also seems to be that people need little persuasion to use high speed rail when it is provided, and when rising oil prices and airport security are factored in even Amtrak (with decades of under-investment) is seeing it's highest ridership ever.

Paul

 

[Tokkyu40]

...If high speed rail is such a time and money saving desirable alternative to other modes of transportation, why has not some greedy capitalist built one and made a bizzilion dollars of off of it? ...
Best wishes,

Bernie

Because the greedy capitalist would have to put several billion dollars up front to build the initial rail line, plus two or three times that to fight the lawsuits from the eco-terrorists afraid that a cleaner technology might endanger the lesser tufted slime worm and the nimby crew who's afraid that a rail line running 20 miles from their house might impact the serenity of their car-alarm infested gated community. This would take longer to build than the modern 2-5 year time frame in which current investments are meant to be profitable.
And as you said, no other greedy capitalist has already done it, so it may or may not involve some risk, which modern stock based capitalists can't stand. We're a little short on the old fashioned industrialists who didn't mind gambling on being the first in a new technology.
Oddly enough, the "new technology" here has already been proven profitable in several other places. But it takes money to get started.
And those gun-toting officers must have been working overtime lately, because those trains no one wants to ride are jammed.

Claude

 

[Isaacg]

May I let you people know that Virgin, back in 2000-2004 came over and surveyed Florida to start something of their own. Now, this came to a surprise to Florida, but they backed it fully, until Gov. J. Bush (R) decided it would put Florida in major debt and make children illiterate and keep illegal Mexicans from coming over to the state and making themselves legal.

Isaac

 

[gisa]

Well put Tokkyu

This is why the government needs to step in. They can invest the required amount, both from the public and private sector. It could be run properly and efficiently if run by an honest politician or two. :hehe:

However, I don't see this happening in the near future (at least in America) b/c of too many people thinking they are richer than they really are and buying things they could never really afford. I think the first priority is to balance out the whole banking crisis/debt problem first.

:wave:

Gisa ^^