High-speed rail line between Disneyland and Las Vegas a bit of a myth. Here is what the bill says.

The bill provides $2 billion for high speed rail grants and tax breaks. Current designated high-speed rail corridors should have priority. The Secretary of Transportation makes the call on grant proposals. Notice that Disneyland to Las Vegas is not shown as a current high-speed rail corridor. The money will be spread all over the country, granted it will probably flow toward powerful Congressional districts. Boston to Maine HSR will probably get a grant if it is practical.

Remember folks that the Secretary of Transportation is a Republican...

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http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=74396

The Stimulus Plan includes two provisions modeled after the Act that finance high-speed rail development. First, the Stimulus Plan provides a $2 billion grant for high-speed rail projects that will remain available until September 30, 2011. The grant will be distributed among applicant states, interstate compacts, public agencies having responsibility for providing high-speed rail service and Amtrak for capital projects associated with inter-city passenger rail services reasonably expected to reach speeds of at least 110 miles per hour. The Secretary of Transportation will have discretion to award grants based on an extensive set of criteria, including the legal, financial and technical capacity of the applicant to carry out the project; compatibility with relevant national plans; and anticipated economic, environmental and transportation effects.

I'd love to see the one in Oregon and Washington happen, but won't hold my breath!

might be fun taking this from vegas to disneyland,.and would help with the vegas traffic,.

I'm afraid $2 billion doesn't buy much in the way of high speed rail these days.

Well that makes me feel better.

Not.

Sorry, but I don't have much faith in how this money will be spent and I definitely don't trust Reid. This provision has no substance. It simply gives some seed-money to states or commissions to study the idea and feasibility of high-speed rail service in their particular region. Ugh, another study, another scoping process, another EIS, public meetings, and endless bureaucratic wrangling. When it's all said and done, there's still an insufficient, impractical, and unsupported "plan" and no money to construct the project anyway.

Don't get me wrong, I favor passenger rail service. I travel between Portland and Seattle almost weekly on the Amtrak Cascades. It's comfortable, takes about the same time as flying (if you take into account all the waiting you do at the airport,) and is less expensive. Trouble is, Amtrak has to lease time on the railroads freight lines. So, about every trip, we have to pull off to the side a couple of times to let a freight train go by. Also, the tracks and railbed get beat to heck by the freight traffic so the ride isn't as good as it could or should be. Still, in the past five years, I've seen a real surge in the numbers of passengers taking the train.

So, if Congress was really serious about improving passenger train service in America (and I think it should be) they'd be doing more than throwing some money at it in a half-assed manner.

But then I could be totally wrong. . .

Use it up, we'll print more!!

Washington has consistently voted down rapid transit since 1967. We have stadiums and other pork projects/make work projects in the area. I don't see how DC can fund projects that people dont want or are willing to pay for. High speed? Add a fucking lane to I 5 between Olympia and Portland if they want to increase through put.

One of my bucket list things to do was ride a bullet train.

A few years back I did. Completely underwhelming. Far smoother, and with less speed sensation, than a 35mph steam train. Except when you enter and exit a tunnel, or pass another train, there is very little sensation of movement.

I think $2B wouldn't handle a ten mile track. They are silly expensive. Only thing more expensive are the maglev trains.

footster Wrote: