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  #1941  
Old Posted May 11, 2014, 8:43 PM
travis bickle travis bickle is offline
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Latest BS from Caifornia "High Speed" Rail...

I know fools and their money are soon parted, but why does have to be certain fools* and my money?

Here's the latest lie brought to you by the frauds at California "High Speed" rail. Hardly deserves a mention though, it's only about a billion dollars worth.

Article also gives a nice recap of the big five lies provided by that great group of snake-oil salesmen and women, the California High-Speed Rail Authority.

I'll be so happy when this farce dies the miserable death it so richly deserves.

*and you know who you are...

This is from CalWatchdog, by Chris Reed, published May 9, 2014.

http://calwatchdog.com/2014/05/09/63423/
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  #1942  
Old Posted May 13, 2014, 6:41 PM
NickB1967 NickB1967 is offline
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Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist View Post
TexasRE:


Only passenger rail is held to this standard. None of the interstates cover their expenses.
Which explains all the gasoline taxes paid, often diverted to programs utterly unrelated to interstate construction and maintenance.

Further News flash: The interstates move trucks. Goods and Services. FREIGHT. Something that rails actually do better, per ton per mile.

How about giving up on the dead horse of passenger rail, which lacks the speed of air travel *and* lacks the flexibility of auto and bus passenger transport, and focus on what railroads do exceptionally well, namely, haul freight over long distances?
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  #1943  
Old Posted May 13, 2014, 8:59 PM
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202_Cyclist 202_Cyclist is offline
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NickB1967:
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Which explains all the gasoline taxes paid, often diverted to programs utterly unrelated to interstate construction and maintenance
Good try but the gas tax pays for only about half of highway costs. Driving is heavily subsidized. This subsidy is subtantially higher if you include parking.

UPDATED: Drivers Cover Just 51 Percent of U.S. Road Spending
http://usa.streetsblog.org/2013/01/2...road-spending/

Quote:
How about giving up on the dead horse of passenger rail,
Except that for most of the past decade, passenger rail ridership has increased nearly every year and set record riderships while vehicle miles traveled has decreased every year starting around 2006-07.
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  #1944  
Old Posted May 15, 2014, 3:31 AM
dragonsky dragonsky is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gizmodo



China's Maglev Train Prototype Could Reach Speeds of 1,800 MPH

A research team in China just successfully tested a blisteringly fast transportation concept: super-maglev, a high speed train that could theoretically hit speeds of up to 1,800 miles per hour. That's three times the speed of a passenger jet.

The concept, put forth by the Applied Superconductivity Laboratory of Southwest Jiaotong University, uses the same technique proposed for Elon Musk's Hyperloop: run the train inside a vacuum tube, removing air resistance and enabling super high speeds uninhibited by wind resistance. Research shows that, for vehicles traveling faster than 250 MPH, up to 83 percent of the energy used goes toward fighting aerodynamic resistance.

But with a (highly theoretical) top speed of 1,800 MPH, super-maglev would blow the doors off of Musk's 300 MPH trains. That's because the train inside the Evacuated Tube Transport loop only encounters one tenth of the air resistance of the outside environment.
http://gizmodo.com/chinas-maglev-tra...1-8-1574030943
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  #1945  
Old Posted Aug 24, 2014, 3:23 PM
dragonsky dragonsky is offline
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Originally Posted by LA Times



L.A. County supervisor's alternate bullet-train route gaining traction

To get high-speed rail from Palmdale to Burbank, planners have focused for years on two potential routes that parallel the 14 Freeway and course through the rural and growing communities of Acton, Agua Dulce and Santa Clarita — hostile territory for the bullet train project.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich thinks there's a better way to go.

He is recommending to the California High-Speed Rail Authority an alternative to the south that would rely on extensive tunneling to cross the rugged Angeles National Forest.

"Such an approach," Antonovich recently told bullet train officials, "could provide a boon to the authority by eliminating conflict with Acton, Agua Dulce and Sand Canyon communities in my district while also helping the project reduce its costs and travel times."
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-b...824-story.html
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  #1946  
Old Posted Oct 15, 2014, 10:43 PM
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Originally Posted by LAT



State Supreme Court lets bullet train project go forward

The state's $68-billion bullet train project will proceed after the California Supreme Court decided Wednesday not to review a lower court ruling that said project officials have complied with a high-speed rail ballot measure that voters approved in 2008.

Wednesday’s decision “reaffirms that the Authority can continue building a modern high-speed rail system that connects the state, creates jobs and complies with the law," Dan Richard, chairman of the authority’s board, said in a statement. “We will continue to move forward aggressively to deliver the nation’s first high-speed rail system.”
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...urt-story.html
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  #1947  
Old Posted Jan 6, 2015, 2:48 AM
dragonsky dragonsky is offline
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Originally Posted by LAT

Construction on California's bullet train is set to start

California's bullet-train agency will officially start construction in Fresno this week on the first 29-mile segment of the system, a symbol of the significant progress the $68-billion project has made against persistent political and legal opposition.

Over the last two years, the California High-Speed Rail Authority has prevailed in a series of court challenges to the project, won a federal exemption from state environmental rules, secured several key legislative victories that improved its future funding and made a politically savvy bet to move up by several years the inauguration of service in Southern California.
http://www.latimes.com/local/califor...105-story.html
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  #1948  
Old Posted Jan 7, 2015, 12:30 AM
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Originally Posted by LAT



Ground broken on California bullet train project

California leaders including Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday launched the state’s high-speed rail project at a ceremony in downtown Fresno, declaring the city the nation’s high-speed rail capital and the “central cog” of a new transportation system.

At a historic and carefully choreographed groundbreaking staged in a decaying industrial section of the Central Valley city, near vacant lots where homeless gather at night, Brown sought to reset the public debate on the controversial $68-billion project, stressing the benefits the completed project could bring the state.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...106-story.html
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  #1949  
Old Posted Jan 7, 2015, 3:00 AM
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Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin, a Republican, said she backs the rail system. In addition to putting construction workers on the job in the short term, Swearengin said the rail project will connect the Central Valley agricultural region with other sectors of the state's economy. "We're stuck right in the middle and it's difficult to get in and out," she said. "It fills a deficit for Central California."
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2015...-bullet-train/
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  #1950  
Old Posted Jan 7, 2015, 10:06 PM
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  #1951  
Old Posted Jan 23, 2015, 11:56 PM
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Originally Posted by RJ

The possible development of a whole new high-speed rail industry here in California,

Earlier this month, our neighbor to the west broke ground on the nation’s first true high-speed rail system. When finished, the system will link Los Angeles, San Francisco, the Central Valley and the Inland Empire with 200 mph trains, creating an entirely new high-speed rail industry.

“The manufacturing of train sets and the establishing of maintenance facilities will mean more jobs, increased economic benefits, and allow for the possible development of a whole new high-speed rail industry here in California,” said California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO Jeff Morales in an October press release seeking to recruit train manufacturers to California.

Pay attention to that last part: The trains that will be running in California will be built in California. That could’ve been us. Why?

Because of federal “Buy America” provisions, new high-speed rail projects are required to manufacture trains and train parts right here in America. Put another way, a foreign manufacturer would need to open a U.S. production line somewhere in the United States to build trains for any domestic high-speed rail project. Since California is the first in the country to build true high-speed rail, California is making sure that the trains to service its system are built in California. What’s more, California-built high-speed trains could service new high-speed rail routes planned for Texas (between Dallas and Houston) and Florida (between Miami and Orlando). It’s the start of a new manufacturing industry in America, and it could’ve started right here in Nevada.

High-speed rail is not just another mode of transportation. It’s an economic development catalyst. If a Nevada high-speed rail project, say the XpressWest project, had started first, companies such as Alstom, AnsaldoBreda, Bombardier, Kawasaki or Siemens would have employed hundreds of Nevadans to build trains in Nevada; in short, Nevada could’ve been the capital of the high-speed rail manufacturing industry in America.

Instead, because of “Buy California” provisions, we now face the bizarre situation of major global corporations fighting with one another for the privilege to manufacture trains in a neighboring state with higher taxes and a less friendly business environment than Nevada’s.

All of this is great for California. That nascent industry is projected to employ highly paid engineers and skilled technicians who will call California home. And domestic growth in high-speed rail will accrue to California, the seat of domestic high-speed rail manufacturing.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/opinion...in-opportunity
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  #1952  
Old Posted Jun 22, 2015, 5:54 AM
dragonsky dragonsky is offline
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Heavy equipment finally moving on California high-speed rail construction

Heavy construction work on California’s high-speed rail project formally commenced Tuesday in a dusty field next to a freight railroad line.

Work crews are building the first of 16 concrete footings that will become the foundation of a 1,600-foot viaduct, or elevated bridge, over the Fresno River, Highway 145 and Raymond Road. The construction “is the first visual that people can start seeing us building up,” said Diana Gomez, Central Valley regional director for the California High-Speed Rail Authority.

“To some people, this seems like it’s been a long time coming,” said Jeff Morales, the authority’s CEO. But now, he added, work will accelerate, expanding to other sites in Fresno and Madera counties. “Over the next few months, people will see things happening at about a half-dozen different sites,” Morales said. “By the end of the summer, you won’t be able to go anywhere in the Valley without seeing people in orange vests and green shirts hard at work.”
http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/...e24647566.html
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  #1953  
Old Posted Sep 1, 2015, 7:38 PM
twoNeurons twoNeurons is offline
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Has there been any action on construction of CAHSR? Been quiet recently.
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  #1954  
Old Posted Sep 2, 2015, 2:22 AM
dragonsky dragonsky is offline
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Originally Posted by twoNeurons View Post
Has there been any action on construction of CAHSR? Been quiet recently.
High-speed rail continues to gobble up Fresno buildings
http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/...e32225841.html
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  #1955  
Old Posted Sep 14, 2015, 2:43 AM
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Sandoval appoints 5 to high-speed rail board
By Richard N. Velotta
Las Vegas Review-Journal

Five Southern Nevada residents, including a financial expert, the general manager of the Regional Transportation Commission and an engineering professor, have been named to the new Nevada High-Speed Rail Authority.

Gov. Brian Sandoval announced his appointments Thursday to the board planning connection of Southern Nevada and Southern California with a high-speed rail system.

The board was formed in May when Sandoval signed Senate Bill 457 into law.

"Nevada is internationally known as the standard bearer when it comes to travel and tourism and our state is also now recognized as an emerging destination for advanced manufacturing," Sandoval said in a written statement.

"To maintain our competitive edge, we must demonstrate that we are willing to pursue options which will expand and strengthen our engagement with neighboring states," he said. "The men and women appointed today represent some of the brightest minds in transportation and business development."

The authority must select a franchisee on or before Oct. 1. That franchisee is expected to be Las Vegas-based XpressWest, which has been working since 2010 on a system to link Las Vegas with Victorville, Calif. Once XpressWest received a record of decision in November 2011, it began working on environmental approvals on the route and opened discussions with California rail officials to tie its system to that state's high-speed rail system at Palmdale, 50 miles west of Victorville.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/tr...eed-rail-board
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  #1956  
Old Posted Sep 18, 2015, 2:31 AM
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A high-speed rail from L.A. to Las Vegas? China says it's partnering with U.S. to build

A long-discussed high-speed rail project linking Southern California and Las Vegas will be built by a U.S.-China joint venture, Chinese officials said Thursday, though many details about the agreement remained hazy..

Announcement of cooperation on the XpressWest project adjacent to the 15 Freeway comes days ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the United States. Financial terms of the agreement, and the cost of the project, were not immediately clear.

XpressWest, a private venture formerly called DesertXpress, has been under discussion since at least 2007. Chinese officials described the project as a 230-mile train linking Las Vegas and Los Angeles, though XpressWest's website says the route is planned as 185 miles from Vegas to Victorville, 85 miles northeast of downtown L.A.

XpressWest agreed this month to form a joint venture with China Railway International USA Co. to build and operate the railway, Shu Guozeng, deputy head of the government's Office of the Central Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs, said at a news conference Thursday, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency. Shu claimed the project could begin construction as early as September 2016.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...917-story.html
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  #1957  
Old Posted Sep 20, 2015, 3:13 PM
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California High-Speed Rail Authority Enters into Station Planning Agreement with City of Bakersfield
9:42 AM, Sep 15, 2015

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - The California High-Speed Rail Authority (Authority) and the City of Bakersfield announced today that they have entered into a station area planning agreement allowing the City and the Authority to begin plans for a high-speed rail station in Bakersfield. The agreement allows both parties to study ways to promote economic development, encourage station area development and enhance multimodal connections between the station and the City.

The agreement represents the next significant milestone in the partnership between the Authority and the City of Bakersfield to bring high-speed rail to the region. This station planning agreement is part of the larger effort to study a locally-generated alignment for high-speed rail through Bakersfield with a potential station located at F Street and Golden State Avenue. Once a final station location is identified and environmentally cleared, station design and construction will follow.
http://www.turnto23.com/news/local-n...of-bakersfield
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  #1958  
Old Posted Sep 22, 2015, 2:25 PM
dragonsky dragonsky is offline
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High-Speed Rail Authority Takes Steps to Advance Work in Northern California

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The California High-Speed Rail Authority released a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for Environmental and Engineering Services for the San Francisco to San Jose Project

Section and the San Jose to Merced Project Section of the high-speed rail program. The Authority is seeking a qualified firm to provide the professional services required for the completion of the environmental documentation and preliminary engineering for these sections. The RFQ comes as the Authority continues to advance the nation’s first high-speed rail system.

The Authority has already begun moving the high-speed rail program forward in the Northern California region through a partnership with Caltrain which will electrify Caltrain’s 51-mile rail commuter corridor that stretches from downtown San Francisco to San Jose’s Diridon Station. The Authority is providing $705 million to support the electrification project and installation of Positive Train Control that will allow for the future integration of high-speed rail.

“This work, along with rail modernization already underway in the Bay Area, will support the advancement of bringing high-speed rail to the region,” said Northern California Regional Director Ben Tripousis. “Awarding this contract will allow us to continue implementation of our 30-percent Small Business participation goals, which provide California businesses the opportunity to help deliver this transformative infrastructure project.”
http://www.hsr.ca.gov/docs/newsroom/...orthern_Ca.pdf
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  #1959  
Old Posted Sep 22, 2015, 3:18 PM
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Before Xi starts his first state visit to the United States since taking office in 2013, the Las Vegas-based XpressWest company agreed earlier this month to form a joint venture with China Railway International USA Co. to build and operate the rail, said Shu Guozeng, deputy head of the Office of the Central Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs of China.

It is agreed that implementation of necessary regulatory and commercial activities will begin within the next 100 days. With 100 million U.S. dollars in initial capital, the new high-speed rail line is expected to create abundant jobs throughout the interstate corridor.

"The project will be a landmark in overseas investment for the Chinese railway sector and serve as a model of international cooperation," said Yang Zhongmin, chairman of China Railway International Co., Ltd.

With the U.S. project, the network of Chinese railway projects covers nearly all inhabited continents, as China's railway equipment manufacturers have sped up efforts to "go overseas."

In 2014, China's first overseas high-speed railway project was completed in Turkey, where a 533-km railway links capital Ankara with Istanbul.

In Africa, China-built rails have been or will be the backbone of the local public transport system and a key component of growth in a number of countries, including Nigeria and Ethiopia.

After a 1,344-km railroad project in Angola was put into operation in 2014, China signed a deal last May to build a rail link worth 3.8 billion dollars between the two Kenyan cities of Mombasa and Nairobi, the first phase of a line that will eventually connect countries such as Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan.

In the Asian and Pacific region, the world's fastest meter-gauge multiple unit trains made by a Chinese company were put into operation in Malaysia earlier this month. Laos, Thailand and Russia are also planning to build railway lines with Chinese investment.

In South America, trains made by China began running on the Mitre commuter route in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires last November. In the European country of Macedonia, Chinese trains will operate soon as the country inked a deal with China in June to purchase six fleets of high-speed trains.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20..._134649059.htm
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  #1960  
Old Posted Nov 19, 2015, 4:24 AM
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Video Link

Central Valley Construction Update November 2015
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