Future Train
The New York Times reported this morning that the oil price spike is creating a major boost for passenger rail traffic in the U.S. But unlike Europe and Asia, we have made no investment in High speed rail transportation.
Amtrak set records in May, both for the number of passengers it carried and for ticket revenues — all the more remarkable because May is not usually a strong travel month. But the railroad, and its suppliers, have shrunk so much, largely because of financial constraints, that they would have difficulty growing quickly to meet the demand.
California’s efforts to create its own High Speed Trains received a major boost last week when the House of Representatives approved a $1.75 billion addition to the Transportation bill to aid High Speed Rail. In November, California voters will hopefully approve a $9 billion bond measure to build the system that would run on Electric powered trains at 200 MPH+ from San Diego to San Francisco and Sacramento. The LA to San Francisco trip would be 2 hours and clearly could be less if our trains could get to the speed of the Japanese or French trains. This could allow us to reduce the ridiculous number of commuter air flights between major California cities, dramatically reduce carbon emissions, cut airport congestion and generally improve the quality of life in California. Imagine by 2020 a solar powered transportation system throughout California that dramatically cut greenhouse gases. This is all within our reach.
This is what the New Federalism is all about. If we lead, other states will follow.
No kvetching about how this is 15 years too late. Everything is 15 years too late. It’s time. Let’s go. All aboard!
Having ridden the TGV, I cannot wait for a version of it to hit this country. Way overdue.
To do a TGV will require a massive federal commitment to buy old right of way, or invest in new, as even the eastern corridor has conflicting track rights that would make it very difficult to coordinate. And that’s just the first step, then comes the very expensive cost of bringing the road bed to standards that would support high speed trains.
Not that that isn’t motivation to do it. The sooner we start investing the sooner it will actually be obvious to end users what could have been. It’s like light rail in Portland Oregon; there are still people who argue against it, even though it has proven, in all cases, to be a very sound investment in the metro area’s future.
Massive federal investment? I dunno. UBS wanted badly to fund the California corridor, as they’ve underwritten similar big-ticket infrastructural projects in Europe.
@Ken Ballweg:
“It’s like light rail in Portland Oregon; there are still people who argue against it, even though it has proven, in all cases, to be a very sound investment in the metro area’s future.”
_______
Here in Vegas, a light rail proposal to use existing track that runs all the way down SE through Green Valley into old Henderson got shouted down via a concerted, eardrum-shattering NIMBY campaign.
And, for years we’ve had high-speed rail proposals for the LA – Vegas I-15 corridor (which makes total sense). Guess who doesn’t wanna see that happen? SW Airlines etc.
The Eurostar service from London to Paris and Brussels has nearly eliminated short haul air traffic.
The irony in mass transit is that once cars became affordable, the trolleys, the interurbans, the efficient – but money losing- systems quickly folded and the era of sprawl had begun.
The casualties of gas prices going higher will be the touted edge cities that are completely dependent on the automobile and lack the tax base to even offer limited mass transit options.
Light or heavy rail systems that are limited to existing corridors and to simply mimicking roads or air routes is not the best use of limited resources. Any distance over two hours in length is not economically viable. A rail system cannot replace a highway system and should not be viewed as such.
More and more California is moving away from the rest of the country in terms of looking for new solutions to old problems. Any state can and should be actively seeking new growth and new business. Instead many states are fixated on social and religious conflicts and are squandering limited tax resources in an attempt to… do something, I have no idea.
I get nervous about how vulnerable tracks are to sabotage.
I was in Berlin a year ago and was amazed at their transit systems. That city has only been unified for something like fifteen years, but you could go anywhere on light rail, trains or subways. Truly amazing.
One suggestion the doers in town should consider is putting all international flight operations up in Palmdale with a train connecting that airport with LAX. It would pass through downtown, creating a system which would actually go somewhere, unlike what we have today.
What a heavy point, Rick. Yes, indeed. I wonder what e.g. TRW or Honeywell might have in the pipeline that could mitigate the dangers. If, for example, with satellite remote sensing you can track fissile materials in transit, then perhaps it might be a straighforward matter for such outfits to prepare systems for extremely multivariate surveillance of a fixed rail line. Wow, though. What a question, indeed.
Otherwise how about we station a boozy railroad bull intermittenly along the line, to double-chafe over his squeaky gunbelt and doze in the guardshack over old centerfolds in anticipation of a fine day of rousting hobos or taggers or maybe a stray dirty-bomber or two. Union Pacific would do it that way. Union wages and all.
Hugo,
The interstate highway system, and the airlines have all had “massive federal funding” and had it done in a way that didn’t taint the final product too much. Airlines are now suffering the cost of fuel hikes and deregulation, which are separate evils to the ones of the federal subsidies of air traffic control and airports. Subsidies, if not outright financing, then lying about the project being self supporting is as old as the canal systems.
The National Association of Railroad Passengers
offers a good summary of direct and indirect underwriting of commercial aviation by the feds at this page:
http://www.narprail.org/cms/index.php/resources/more/aviation_subsidies/
The real irony is that, at one time, the railroads were raking in major hidden subsidies in the form of federal land being given as “rightaways” that extended for long distances on either side of the tracks, or prime timber and grazing land far away from the tracks when the land adjacent wasn’t publicly owned. UP and SP got massive holdings in sweetheart deals in order to open up the country.
So, just think of it as a tradition rather than a growing of federal programs.
JH, I really can’t see how a bullet train is any more vulnerable than a Chicago El. The notion that all transportation has to be risk proof from terrorism is going to make sure we never update our infrastructure because it’s impossible to do.
We’re jumping through hoops in Honolulu to get a mass transit train… no more room for highways or parking spaces here.
Ken, I mean no slight agains railroad personnel nor their right to organize whatsoever; was just saying that if we leave such important unturtakings entirely to the “combines”—something that “Candidate of the Rails” Lincoln was unwilling to do—then we’ll get lousy, dangerous service, poor security and a reaming of the personnel and probably the traveller.
Spain notwithstanding, (bless them), Rick’s point is a hairy consideration, and you know as well as anyone that the old way won’t do.
California has within itself all the resources I, as a lay person, can see: the capital, to corridors, the market, the basic science and engineering applications, the security acumen—the need, the need, the need above all.
This is overstating it, but worthily so, I hope. My town, Atlanta, was the rail hub of the American Southeast. That was its identity, and its sophistication. When the rails were gone, first by Sherman and then by California’s airframe production, we lost our genius locus.
And Delta don’t cut it.
California is too many Californias anyway—each glorious of its own—but it could really use a rail-tie to wrap a bow around that Beary Republic, nudge-nudge. Now go out there, Big Bear, and Give ‘em a Show!
Hugo- Maybe this is just a riff on rethinking the words “nation state”. We do have the 7th largest economy in the world in California.
What’s interesting about the California plans is they do not involve Amtrak or any of its baggage. Its a clean start.
If the security issues don’t stop the French, Germans, Brits, Japanese, Koreans from embracing High speed rail, why should we think we’re special?
Well but the security issues do give them pause—now—Jon, and I reckon Rick’s point is very well taken especially if California’s looking at the possibility of third-party lenders outright (e.g. UBS) rather than at further straining the States already pretty absurd indedtedness. Either way, it’s just cool that probably the top security houses in world for this kind of thing (excepting Siemens) are indigenous to California. It’s another one of those deals where, if Californians make up their minds to do some far-out thing that Californians have in fact made possible (Mag-lev, LLNL) then the engineering problems that ensure are probably best handled by people from—guess where!—California. It’s still a talent thing. California is still a talent thing.
I say go for it. (As long as y’all don’t have to repurchase the Bunker Hill Tunnel yet again.)
Hugo- Cool. Thanks for your blessing.
I don’t mean to be picky but where do you think the imminent domain question will arise? Before or after the money has been allocated?
Personally, since I and several of my friends lost our seaside homes to the 5 Freeway, I am very concerned about the massive trade off you guys are suggesting here. So I propose right from the start that we talk about the Bullet Train Corridor being developed along the inland valley with connecting trainline service into the metropolitan centers of San Diego, LA and San Francisco. That’s what has been happening slowly but surely in San Diego County. It works on several levels but especially so for all those commuters who will be able to park their butts on a train and go to work and back. It even works politically since the votes of both sides, the coast and the inland, would most likely to favor this option.
The California one seems to use a portion of the old right of way and the corridor of the freeway, as the basic parts of the ROW.
It doesn’t take a hell of a lot to derail a train. No explosives needed…a crowbar to pull rail spikes is all it takes. A cordless saw with a carbide grit blade would do it, and it could be a one person job…
We may be more vulnerable because we are the world’s hated nation now.
Rick- FUD. Fortunately, no one could ever possibly do that to planes, much safer those. Or Bridges or Tunnels or Subways that already exist. What are you really worried about?
Neat Post!
Hey everyone!
I created a smart phone website a while ago and was wondering if you could check it out.
I hope everyone is having a great weekend!
Ken,
My only question is, why does it have to be a public-private partnership? Why do we need the government strings attached? Be it a railroad or alternative energy, any solution can be implemented by individuals without the hand-holding government in the way. Besides, holding them accountable is virtually impossible when they feed the human desire to vote each other money from a common pot that technically belongs to them all in the first place. http://www.bentpage.wordpress.com.
I think (And have thought for some time) that the casinos should all get together and pay to build a 250mph train direct from LA to the Vegas Strip. You park in some huge garage just north of san bernardino and then it is a straight shot. The casinos could pay for it, and charge people a small fee, maybe $35 for a ride, and of course they would comp it to frequent gamblers. The ride would take under an hour.
Once this works out well the same thing could be done for Phoenix to Las Vegas. Yes phoenix has less people but it should also be worth it. It should cost way less than a new tower at one of these mega casinos, and will probably pay back even more.
Jason Dragon
http://blog.capitalactive.com/
Why should public land be used to support Las Vegas? ‘Vegas is a totally stupid construct, anyway. With just a bit more climate change, it will be hitting 125 to 130 F there sooner than later. It’s one of the most energy inefficient communities on earth. It’s one of the biggest water sucks in the West. Let Las Vegas turn into a ghost town…
Why should public land be used to support Las Vegas? ‘Vegas is a totally stupid construct, anyway. With just a bit more climate change, it will be hitting 125 to 130 F there sooner than later. It’s one of the most energy inefficient communities on earth. It’s one of the biggest water sucks in the West. Let Las Vegas turn into a ghost town…
I’ve always dreamed of something like this:
Neutrally buoyant vacuum tunnel submerged 150 to 300 feet beneath the Atlantic’s surface and anchored to the seafloor, through which zips a magnetically levitated train at up to 4,000 mph. New York to London in an HOUR.
http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2004-04/trans-atlantic-maglev
I’ve always dreamed of something like this:
Neutrally buoyant vacuum tunnel submerged 150 to 300 feet beneath the Atlantic’s surface and anchored to the seafloor, through which zips a magnetically levitated train at up to 4,000 mph. New York to London in an HOUR.
http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2004-04/trans-atlantic-maglev
Which, Rick, calls to mind the famous apocrhyphal of Ben Siegel and Meyer Lansky.
Ben talks Meyer into driving with him through the night from Los Angeles clear into Nevada, where, at daybreak Ben pulls to the curb of an overlook and drags Meyer from the car.
Gesturing upon the truckstop below as though Balboa claiming the Pacific for his queen, Ben asks, “Can’t you just SEE it, Meyer? I mean, all it needs is plenty of water and some good people!”
To which Lansky replies, “But Ben, that’s all Hell needs.”
Which, Rick, calls to mind the famous apocrhyphal of Ben Siegel and Meyer Lansky.
Ben talks Meyer into driving with him through the night from Los Angeles clear into Nevada, where, at daybreak Ben pulls to the curb of an overlook and drags Meyer from the car.
Gesturing upon the truckstop below as though Balboa claiming the Pacific for his queen, Ben asks, “Can’t you just SEE it, Meyer? I mean, all it needs is plenty of water and some good people!”
To which Lansky replies, “But Ben, that’s all Hell needs.”