SO PROUD of my state! California = 21st Century Transportation! Woo Hoo nt

[Firebrand Gary]

[dhill926]

1. so......

did High Speed Rail survive today?

[Firebrand Gary]

4. Yes, the vote was close but the project is moving forward. nt

[dhill926]

6. ah...good news. Thanks.

[NYC_SKP]

2. Has the senate finished voting, did they approve Cal Hi Speed Rail????

HOPE SO!

they vote today!

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/07/senators-to-vote-shortly-on-california-high-speed-rail.html

[NYC_SKP]

3. Link (huffpost, sorry)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20120706/us-high-speed-rail/

[Firebrand Gary]

5. NYC, you are super fast! Nice job my friend! Congrats

[villager]

7. Color this Californian quite surprised!

And note this line:

"California was able to secure more federal aid than expected after Florida, Ohio and Wisconsin turned down money."

Plus: Nearly two billion for more local rail projects too! Yay!

[Merlot]

8. This is SUCH great news!

I did not know they were voting, but had heard that the plan for high speed rail might get scrapped.

Oh, and thank you Wisconsin, Florida, and Ohio.

[Control-Z]

9. I said pretty much the same thing

in another thread. Happy Dance. I've wanted this for so song! It's a win-win in my book.

[Firebrand Gary]

12. I will happy dance with you. =)

[Iwillnevergiveup]

10. Is it true

that an Amtrak train ride between L.A. and San Francisco is currently 9 hours???

If that's the case, this is going to be fabulous - an alternative to flying and all the hassle that goes along with that.



Edited for clarification

[Firebrand Gary]

11. Not sure, but it would not surprise me.

Amtrak is slow as can be. This is a huge turning point in the state!

[Kablooie]

13. But it only goes from one small rural town to another rural town.

Once they finish this it will sit empty.
There's no one who needs to travel this stretch on a super fast train of the future.

I hope there is a reason for starting here.

[Firebrand Gary]

14. There are MANY reasons why they had to start there.

As I understand it, that stretch of 130 miles is one of the few stretches that has a straight run of track that neither climbs in elevation or curves/bends, effectively making it the perfect run to test the new trains maximum speed.

Additionally, with its location as being in the center of the entire system, its function is essentially the heart of the project. Think of like the human body, whereas this is literally the heart and the connections to San Francisco, Sacramento, San Diego and Anaheim are the veins running down the limbs of the body.

There is also a financial incentive to start here. Lets be clear, this is an expensive and very important project to the state. With the construction starting in the center of the state, we are in fact giving the economy a jolt from the inside out. In order to finish this project the economy must be running on all four legs, as we will need the revenue to pay for the project.

[Kablooie]

15. I guess it's like ACA. Not the ideal solution but it's the seed that will allow the system to grow.

[Firebrand Gary]

19. That's a great way to put it! I may have to "borrow" your line for fb. nt

[silverweb]

16. Critically important small rural towns.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]Bakersfield is the southern gateway to all of the Central Valley's agricultural production area (though we'll skip the innate problems with that for now, which is another whole topic) and Madera is right in the geographical center of that same Central Valley.

Shipping equipment/supplies in and produce out will help the line pay for itself and will be the hub for future expansion. It will also help eliminate a lot of the stinky diesel truck traffic that currently transports these things, so it's a wonderful environmental move.

A high-speed line between San Diego and San Francisco will happen eventually, but these first 130 miles in the Central Valley will be the heart of California's rail future.

I think it's brilliant.

[Kablooie]

17. If it's used to transport produce and equipment, not just passengers, it might make sense.

[clffrdjk]

18. Isn't freight one of the reasons Amtrak is so slow?

How do you run freight and high speed transport on the same line? or am I misunderstanding and the freight will travel on the feeder routes/ another parallel track?

To those thinking of this as a way to avoid the legally sanctioned rape by the TSA you better start working now to keep them out. better yet just get rid of them all together.