Enough with this high speed rail BS, before we try to get fancy we need a decent intercity rail system. We need to get it to the point where you can show up at the station and know there will be a train in the next hour or two.
In Britain i can go to any little station on the national network, Bearstead,UK for example and catch a train without having to know the timetable, however in my hometown, athens,ga, there is NO passenger rail whatsoever, the closest amtrak stop is in Gainesville, where i either have to be at the station at 8 AM (after a two hour drive) if i want to go south, or at 9 PM at night if i want to go north. Countrys like Britain (ok they have HS1 now) and Austria have no true high speed rail lines but they have a excellent intercity and local train network that does the job perfectly well. Tell the politicians to shove their fancy high speed rail plans up there....you know where, and instead demand a reliable network of intercity and local trains, you dont need to look any further than California to see.
In Britain i can go to any little station on the national network, Bearstead,UK for example and catch a train without having to know the timetable, however in my hometown, athens,ga, there is NO passenger rail whatsoever, the closest amtrak stop is in Gainesville, where i either have to be at the station at 8 AM (after a two hour drive) if i want to go south, or at 9 PM at night if i want to go north. Countrys like Britain (ok they have HS1 now) and Austria have no true high speed rail lines but they have a excellent intercity and local train network that does the job perfectly well. Tell the politicians to shove their fancy high speed rail plans up there....you know where, and instead demand a reliable network of intercity and local trains, you dont need to look any further than California to see.