High speed rail or take your car on the train?
 

Thinking about the California high speed rail project, is there enough demand for high speed rail to warrant the infrastructure? I'm trying to figure out who voted for it because no one I've asked is for it. I'd rather see an expansion of current speed rail to allow me to take my car. I'd love to drive onto a rail car in Oakland and drive off in San Diego, Seattle or D.C. More likely, I'll be on the road during the day and ride the rails overnight. Am I the only one who'd pay for such a service?

Sixto
87 300D

Nah!
 

There's been a "Car Train" from Virginia to South Florida almost before the
Tracks of the Railway were Laid Down.[Not High Speed though]Too many East
Coast Cows.

Amtrak - Plan - At the Station - Getting Oriented at the Station - Auto Train Vehicle Requirements

Uber High Speed Rail is the Environmental Replacement for Continental Air
Travel.[Think of ALL that JP5 , JP8 the Jets Burn in the Atmosphere.]
AND Some day Only the DOD will be able to afford Jet Fuel.

I can't believe the Automobile and Airline Lobbys let Y'all Pass that Initiative.

According to the futurists of 1960, we were to be driving our cars to the automates highway by now. The driver would input the destination, and the highway would take over, and the cars would be automatically spaced, timed and directed to the exit ramp. It never appealed to me, but I can see how such a system might be useful in some places.

I like the idea of high speed rail. Unfortunately it will never happen in this country. At least not properly. You might if you are vey lucky find a few local lines here and there but I'd like to see a large national high speed service which I'm afraid will never happen here. The problem with America is that everyone will expect it to be a self financing profit making endeavour. Whereas it needs to be a national infrasturcture project like the interstates. The inability to make that intellectual leap dooms the project from the start.

- Peter.

Why would you want to take your car with you? Just rent one at your destination. I wasted enough time in airports going from Oakland to LAX and John Wayne to know that I'm better off driving. High speed rail is the only thing that would get me out of my car.
Well most airlines lose money but we like to pretend they're profit making endeavors.

Yes, but they didn't use to. It really only started to go wrong after de-regulation and then 911 put the kibosh on what was left.

- Peter.

I wish the high speed rail would make more sense. Link big cities together at long distances. The FL high speed rail was a stupid idea.

I took my 240D on that about 6 years ago when I brought the car from Miami to Philly where I was living at the time. It was a fun trip but I would have arrived faster if I had driven. The train was scheduled to arrive in DC at 8 am but we got there after lunch. The problem with Amtrak is they don't own the lines so CSX trains get priority.

High speed rail would have to be indiependent of exisiting infrastructure to work. Wether that means completely new track or ideally Maglev.

- Peter.

Both. Do like the Chunnel, and have regular passenger trains every hour or so, with car trains running once or twice a day.

We are broke. How would you pay for this idea?

Raise taxes to appropriate levels, revoke all of the retard-chimp-era tax cuts immediately, and arrest everyone who voted for them for treason. (Yes, I'm willing to pay more to have a country with decent infrastructure and social services.)

Cut the murder/defense budget to half of its current size. Put a surtax on all liquid fossil fuels where the revenue goes into a trust fund to pay for alternative energy (incl nuclear) power plants, electric vehicle/hydrogen infrastructure, and both passenger and freight rail electrification.

Oh, and charge appropriate fares. If we're comparing to the Chunnel, the Chunnel is (now) largely self-sustaining.

The US is broke because the f***ing retards running the asylum want it to be broke, not because it needs to be broke.

Oh, c'mon...tell us how you really feel. Don't sugar coat it.

If we removed the speed limits on the interstate highway system we wouldn't even be having this conversation. I'm just saying.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_quSBP7xEq4...peed+limit.jpg

You should run for Congress. You think like the majority of the tax-n-spend types we have there now.