3/26/2021 0 Comments High Speed Rail System Usa
Meanwhile local district heating plants are using excess heat to produce over 75 of the warmth that Swedish households need.This superfast, fuel-efficient form of mass transit is wildly popular throughout Asia and the European Union.In China, the new Fuxing Hao bullet train now hurries more than 100 million passengers a year between Beijing and Shanghai at a top speed of 218 miles an hour, allowing its riders to make the trip of 775 miles roughly the distance from New York City to Chicago in about four and a half hours.Spain, Germany and France together have more than 4,500 miles of track dedicated to high-speed rail, over which more than 150 million passengers travel annually.
The most recent setback was in California, where just last month the states new governor, Gavin Newsom, announced that he would be dramatically downsizing an ambitious, exciting system linking the northern and southern portions of the state via a 220-mph bullet train. Cost overruns had more or less doubled the original price tag from roughly 40 billion to 77 billion, with some estimates placing the final bill at nearly 100 billion. Meanwhile, in Texas, plans for a bullet train linking the states two biggest cities, Dallas and Houston, are going forward but not without plenty of resistance. Unlike the California project, the Texas Central Railroads project, pegged at 12 billion to 20 billion, is being financed entirely with private funds, so no one is complaining about the money. Instead, the complaints come from landowners and other stakeholders upset about the seizure and purchase of privately owned tracts through eminent domain. In late January, a court ruled that Texas Central Railroad, in point of fact, isnt even a railroad in the legally recognized sense of the word, since it doesnt currently own anything by way of tracks or rolling stock. As a result, the companys reliance on eminent domain to obtain land for its future trains right-of-way is misplaced and illegal according to the judge overseeing the case. Texas Central Railroad must now face individual landowners in court.). To some, whatever benefits rail travel may confer to individual riders, cities or the environment cant ever be enough to offset the massive (and, typically, ballooning) costs to taxpayers during the construction period, which can stretch on for decades. To others, high-speed rail projects no matter how theyre funded are little more than land grabs that punish rural communities in pursuit of what many perceive as an urbanist folly. I cant help but wonder if behind both sentiments is a latent fear: that this form of mass transit, precisely because its so popular in other cultures, somehow poses a threat to our own culture of rugged individualism. High Speed Rail System Usa Free From InterferenceThe history of American transportation conjures romantic images of the lone rider in the past on horseback, now on a motorcycle or in a car charting his or her own course out on the open road, free from interference or intervention. This notion often gets compressed into a shrugged assertion: Mass transit is a nice idea, but lets face it: America is a car culture. Millennials, especially, are rejecting the romanticization of automobiles. According to a 2018 report published by Arity, a Chicago-based company that studies transportation data, more than half of millennials say that car ownership isnt worth the money or the hassle, and that they dont much care for driving anyway. Its worth noting that these are the same people who are currently leading the leading the public fight against climate change, refusing to accept the untenable status quo foisted upon them through the inaction of their elders. This generation is also, not coincidentally, key to the future economic success of cities, states and regions. If you want to attract young, educated professionals to your city or town, youd be wise to meet their demands for better and more plentiful public transportation. ![]() In anticipation of the day when theyre calling the shots economically and politically a day thats already dawning we should be busy installing high-speed rail systems in all regions of the country where traffic congestion, pollution and the expenses associated with driving hinder travel between major cities and reduce the quality of life for their citizens. But should we allow these factors to derail us Absolutely not.
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