Biden: Midwest “in the game” for high speed rail
Potential high speed rail corridors
Vice President Joe Biden said today that a plan for high speed rail pitched by governors from the Midwest is the most comprehensive one he’s seen so far. “They’re in the game,” he said.
Biden made the comment during a conference call with reporters following a meeting with U.S. Transportation Sec. Ray LaHood, and several governors, including Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon and Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn. The federal stimulus bill has $8 billion in it for high speed rail projects, and President Obama has requested an additional $5 billion for high wpeed rail over five years. Midwestern governors are pushing for enough of it to finance a corridor linking Chicago with other cities, including a let to St. Louis and Kansas City.
“For $3.4 billion you could get a chunk of this plan,” Biden said. Other corridors in the running are in California, the Pacific Northwest, Florida, the Northeast and along the Gulf Coast. A decision on which corridors will get money is expected later this year.
Anyone want to bet me $1000 right now that we don’t get any of this money? Not only do I think Biden is a moron who doesn’t know what he is talking about most of the time, but economically it makes NO sense to put high speed rail in the Midwest when there are much more densely populated areas on the east and west coast. Give us a break Joe…
I think there’s a pretty good chance, Tim - especially with a President who owes political favors to people in the Midwest. There WILL be high speed rail out of Chicago; the question is whether it will connect to St. Louis. The other issue is that the point of high speed rail is to help foster connections where there aren’t any. If you have to keep stopping, it ain’t high-speed. That’s why high-speed rail from Seattle to Portland makes sense; reducing the four-hour travel time between the cities. Same applies to St. Louis to KC, or a route from Chicago to St. Louis.
Except there are all kinds of obstacles to overcome. For starters, right-of-way. There is no way the railroad is going to give up a line from St. Louis to Chicago or Kansas City. Which means the government either has to lay new track next to existing one or find a brand new route. Either way will cost incredible sums of money to buy the land from either the railroad or private individuals. Then you have to pay to construct that line, including every bridge structure. That doesn’t even count the electric system you would have to put in place to power the train (the vast majority of high speed are electric, or magneto-electric). The distance of cities in the Midwest, or your example of Portland to Seattle, makes it an incredibly expensive proposal.
And like I said, that is just Right-of-way. You still have to get through each and every Congressional District between without some Congressman wanting a stop, as well as the state Reps.
High speed rail between places like Philly and New York make much more sense, unfortunately for us. This isn’t going to happen here. Will you put a grand on it? I will send Elisa Crouch my money today to hold for us if you want to bet on it…
In the UK, all it took to get travelers to switch from air to rail between Manchester and London was 125 mph. That’s a peak speed, not an average. And yes, the trains do stop en route.
If your aim is 125 mph, you don’t need a whole new right of way.
You lose, Tim. Pay up.
Why would the east coast be a better bet for high speed rail? The MidWest has the most wide open spaces and long distances where it makes the most sense to have high speed rail. There’s a fair amount of rail traffic coming out of Chicago, which is the midwestern amtrak hub, and the line to StL does plenty of business. It sure seems like a natural location for high speed rail to me.
Tim you are right about a few things. This is a huge investment of money and effort. This is the kind of infrastructure that we need on the coasts and through the midwest. I certainly hope you are wrong that they will pass over this corridor as it would be a big mistake to only put high speed rail where there already is rail. Besides, last time I checked the President and the Secretary of Transporation were both from Illinois. Politics is how these decisions are made — lets hope for a change that politics helps us.