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Old Posted Dec 30, 2012, 5:45 AM
aquablue aquablue is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ardecila View Post
It doesn't matter that land costs will only increase. We need the national political will to build high speed rail, and that means Midwestern, Western, and Southern cities will need to be linked into the Amtrak network with rail service on legacy lines that is far better than the crap they currently receive.

I should point out that, even in boom times, European unemployment is dramatically higher than the US, so there's a lot more political will for big public works projects that directly create jobs. In the US, Americans are more easily able to find private-sector jobs, so the only leverage for transportation improvements is congestion, convenience, and speed.
Military spending is too high. Infrastructure spending too low.

Also, I am not sure how Asia fits in with your unemployment argument regarding HSR. Countries like Korea, Taiwan, Turkey etc. Also, S. America is about to get on the bandwagon with Brazil perhaps starting a system.

Also, I somehow doubt that improving people's legacy lines up to 110 mph will make a huge difference in their interest in funding true HSR lines. I'll believe it when I see it.

Last edited by aquablue; Dec 30, 2012 at 9:59 PM.
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