Is this a joke? Private companies will not build infrastructure. What private company would build a bridges like the Ben Franklin Bridge, Walt Whitman Bridge, etc? If we left it up to private companies, there would be no bridges and maybe a few small dirt roads in the entire country.
California High-Speed Rail has been APPROVED - Vol. Westside When We Ride
- Thread in 'General' Thread starter Started by bean pie slanga,
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Are you serious. Like mentioned before America is way far behind and its silly. Highspeed trains are the future. I don't live in cali but i've visited LA. You don't make a 68 billion profit overnight... and this train isn't built to be a quick fix. It's for the long haul and I think its great. Should be implemented all over the world.
I can't believe there are so many negative opinions, how do you expect to ever get anything done with that kind of attitude. Our railroad system was built years ago by immigrants and poverished people for little to nothing, its 2012 slaves can't tackle a huge project like this. but the change will be a great one, and again I hope this sparks interests all through the U.S.
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Some of you need to open up a history book. First of all this is paid for by the State of California. This is not a private industry, but rather public (I presume) so it will collect government funding. This is a way to jump start the economy in the area as well. Think about it, if the project DOES NOT OUTSOURCE, then it will spur development in multiple industries. You have the steel industry, metal industry, ect. because you need those materials to make the tracks and the stations and whatever else is necessary for a railroad. This is also a public works program meaning that it will spur development around all the stops. Plus the railroad itself when it is completed will require employment to operate and manage the trains and whatever else is necessary for railroad operations. Technologically speaking, I'm sure they will adopt the latest innovations as well and this also boosts the engineering sector as well.
Another important reason is because it is GREEN and it is a way for us to reclaim our throne in the field of public transportation. If this project is a success, then railroads will expand throughout the country (they already have plans for a faster railroad system which spans throughout the metropolises on the Eastern seaboard). This is something big, not just for Cali but for our country itself.
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The thing is HPRs make no sense in America like they do in other countries. Also RIP if you're on one of those and there's an earthquake or tremor that causes the tracks to bend.
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The alternative energy ventures that keep going under at the expense of federal tax payers? Both are complete wastes of money... but our CA representatives have no clue about spending within their means.
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Not to sound like a negative nancy, but the process of actually starting a project like this takes years. The approval process itself is going to take the longest time.
For something like this to actually be built statewide? Man...we're talking at least 15 or 20 years, MINIMUM.
This is one of those things that maybe our grandchildren will get to fully enjoy...It's not even worth drooling over. Way too long, expensive, and difficult of a process.
For something like this to actually be built statewide? Man...we're talking at least 15 or 20 years, MINIMUM.
This is one of those things that maybe our grandchildren will get to fully enjoy...It's not even worth drooling over. Way too long, expensive, and difficult of a process.
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Some other way better technology will reach critical mass by then.Originally Posted by 703 Hwy
No bull
This is really about short term stimulus.
Hell Texas had the supercollider before the big one in Europe, but politics as usual and the funding went away. Imagine the u.s. being able to announce what we heard about the higgs boson last week.
Projects on this grand of scale just don't seem to work here in the US because of greed, and the lack of political will to actually see things through.
Does anybody know if there has ever been and effort for a national high speed rail system across the country?
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Yes, this was a joke.
Private enterprise did not create the railroad system in the 1800's. All of those universities, grants, & libraries started by the railroad magnates are illusions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcontinental_railway
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1 hour flight my @$#.
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Why is this the future though? Yes, it can go 300mpg, but the planes we fly on go twice as fast and they are already experimenting with alternative fuels for them. Plus, in a society where we are obsessed with making our lives more efficient, why would we choose to pay more for a form of transportation that goes slower than we are already capable of?
Being from outside the state, it's difficult to get a proper perspective of the history and politics that go into these types of projects. We have been promised lofty projects before, only to see those funds go into slush funds for the politicians and their friends and see nothing done. If I believed that they would actually complete a high speed rail system anywhere near the terms they are proposing, then MAYBE I would be for it. However, knowing how these things have worked in the past, they give a projection and when that projection goes over budget (which it will) they will beg for tax increases to pay for it from us.
To me, it's not that I'm being negative about this project. It's about observing past behavior over and over and realizing how this cycle will work and not falling for it for the "xx" time. We are already $21B in the hole, our class sizes have increased from 30-40 over the past decade, companies are leaving in droves for Texas, Utah, & Nevada because the tax rates are too high and thus leaving us with 11% unemployment. Just with those figures, we have much more pressing issues to deal with than creating a transportation system through the farmlands.
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^^^
Have you ever rode a plane? I don't think you realize the travel time = actual time. Just because a plane can take you somewhere in 1 hour, doesn't mean the total time spend will equal an hour. On average you will spend 2-3 hours in the airport, without flying. Waste of time in my book. I can hop on a train 20 minutes before it leaves. I did it all the time in Europe
Have you ever rode a plane? I don't think you realize the travel time = actual time. Just because a plane can take you somewhere in 1 hour, doesn't mean the total time spend will equal an hour. On average you will spend 2-3 hours in the airport, without flying. Waste of time in my book. I can hop on a train 20 minutes before it leaves. I did it all the time in Europe
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Yes, I do it all the time when traveling to NorCal. I arrive about 45 minutes before the flight, check-in, go through security, and wait in line about 30 minutes before my flight. Like I said, from door-to-door, it's at most 3 hrs if not less. The only time I have ever gotten to the airport 2 hrs. before my flight was when I was either going international or during a holiday.
We're talking about California here. Our idea of a storm is water from the sky.
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CA voters think money grows on trees... probably a result of the failing school systems out here.
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- First off, good luck to the West Coast on seeing this plan come to fruition.
- The East Coast Megalopolis has had high speed rail for quite some time (Northeast Corridor - only in U.S.), and it's great, but we are looking to improve it.
http://weeklypress.com/high-speed-train-world-congress-here-p3202-1.htm
- "July 10th-13th at least 1600 high level representatives from all over the planet are assembling in the United States for the first time at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in
Philadelphia, the old High Speed Rail capital of the Americas. The last World Congress was held in Beijing where they are building and now running an unbelievable
3000 miles and growing list of new 150-200 mph lines. The first American hosted Congress was originally was suppose to be in Washington but Philadelphia where
the mighty Pennsylvania Railroad practically invented the concept with steam engines at the turn of the previous century and perfected with electrification in the 1930s
what became what is still Amtrak's aging Northeast Corridor is a dynamic location as it still the center of the very fastest trains in our hemisphere in all directions."
"...private companies such as Virgin, Ferrari and the Florida East Coast Railway are investing a Billion dollars each into new HS train equipment at up to 220mph now
(they've tested at speeds up to 357mph so far) to make money! And while we continue to debate the merits of HS more and more officials from both parties have come
to realize that the Northeast Corridor even with its existing old line too is also the best place to have a 200+ line success and pay back its construction costs. The implications
for Philadelphia of being 37 minutes or so from New York and not much more from Washington and anywhere else would be enormous. Boston would be 2 hours by the
fastest trains, much faster then flying if airport times are counted."
- The East Coast Megalopolis has had high speed rail for quite some time (Northeast Corridor - only in U.S.), and it's great, but we are looking to improve it.
http://weeklypress.com/high-speed-train-world-congress-here-p3202-1.htm
- "July 10th-13th at least 1600 high level representatives from all over the planet are assembling in the United States for the first time at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in
Philadelphia, the old High Speed Rail capital of the Americas. The last World Congress was held in Beijing where they are building and now running an unbelievable
3000 miles and growing list of new 150-200 mph lines. The first American hosted Congress was originally was suppose to be in Washington but Philadelphia where
the mighty Pennsylvania Railroad practically invented the concept with steam engines at the turn of the previous century and perfected with electrification in the 1930s
what became what is still Amtrak's aging Northeast Corridor is a dynamic location as it still the center of the very fastest trains in our hemisphere in all directions."
"...private companies such as Virgin, Ferrari and the Florida East Coast Railway are investing a Billion dollars each into new HS train equipment at up to 220mph now
(they've tested at speeds up to 357mph so far) to make money! And while we continue to debate the merits of HS more and more officials from both parties have come
to realize that the Northeast Corridor even with its existing old line too is also the best place to have a 200+ line success and pay back its construction costs. The implications
for Philadelphia of being 37 minutes or so from New York and not much more from Washington and anywhere else would be enormous. Boston would be 2 hours by the
fastest trains, much faster then flying if airport times are counted."
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Yea its expensive but its better for us in the long run imo. It probably wont make Fresno or Bakersfield bigger destinations but they will most likely develop with more commuters, just like how Dublin is growing ever since BART extended farther east. Fresno to Silicon Valley takes a little under an hour according to the planner.
but yea im ready to hit the clubs up in socal and knock out on the train back to the bay
but yea im ready to hit the clubs up in socal and knock out on the train back to the bay
ham city
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Uh no. Maybe if you're flying out of SFO on the busiest day of the year.Originally Posted by 1994SS
1 hour flight my @$#.I wish I could spend 1 hour on the actual trip. You get to the airport 1-2 hours early just to MAKE your flight. After all delays, security and everything you spend 2-4 hours in the airport then you go on your 1 hour flight. Screw that. Flying is such a pain in the @$# these days. I'll take the train any day over a flight. I've done it in Europe. Train system there is infinitely superior to any other method of travel over there. I'm glad Cali is making a stepping stone into the process.
I only need to get to Oakland Intl Airport 30 minutes before a flight and that's me playing it safe. If I'm going down south I usually fly into Ontario and on the way back, unless it's during the holidays, I can get to Ontario airport 15-20 minutes before my flight and be coolin.
I see what you're saying but air travel doesn't have to be a pain in the **%. Flying to Socal from the East Bay is about a ninety minute ordeal and extremely cheap and convenient.
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Originally Posted by HAM CITY
Uh no. Maybe if you're flying out of SFO on the busiest day of the year.Originally Posted by 1994SS
1 hour flight my @$#.I wish I could spend 1 hour on the actual trip. You get to the airport 1-2 hours early just to MAKE your flight. After all delays, security and everything you spend 2-4 hours in the airport then you go on your 1 hour flight. Screw that. Flying is such a pain in the @$# these days. I'll take the train any day over a flight. I've done it in Europe. Train system there is infinitely superior to any other method of travel over there. I'm glad Cali is making a stepping stone into the process.
I only need to get to Oakland Intl Airport 30 minutes before a flight and that's me playing it safe. If I'm going down south I usually fly into Ontario and on the way back, unless it's during the holidays, I can get to Ontario airport 15-20 minutes before my flight and be coolin.
I see what you're saying but air travel doesn't have to be a pain in the **%. Flying to Socal from the East Bay is about a ninety minute ordeal and extremely cheap and convenient.
I'm not a 100% sure how effective the California airports are as I've only been to L.A once. I figure it's similar to most airports. I based my judgement on experience from Det to Chi. (I do this almost 3 times a month) I've found it takes approximatley the same amount of time to drive (3.5 hours- 4 hours) than it takes to fly (quickest flight was 3 hours, normally 4, longest was 6), and the air time is only 45 minutes.
The train is a disaster from Chi to Det, it stops everywhere so it takes 6 hours. The good thing about it is a ticket is $20 and there is no wait time. Go to your station and hop on the train before it departs. It's also very comfy. If they could make a 2 hour train for us. It'd be money. That's why I'm glad Cali is stepping up to the plate on this, especially with all the traffic/emissions issues they have.
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Will this even be done in my lifetime
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Y'all gonna be coming back from the club like this by the time its complete:
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Laughter ensues in Tokyo.
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Dang that things a beast. This is great cause it means tons of jobs created, and also everyone will be using it
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from what i hear.. the price of a plane ticket is way cheaper.. but someone cue the simpsons monorail episode
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