tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post633188056674026384..comments2024-03-28T12:59:05.739-07:00Comments on Iron Tongue of Midnight: A Fine IdeaLisa Hirschhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14014924958428072675noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-87477172898495504502008-11-01T20:33:00.000-07:002008-11-01T20:33:00.000-07:00We don't need high speed rail from LA to SF. What...We don't need high speed rail from LA to SF. What we need here in SoCal is 5 tracks and 300 trains per day to take us where the 101 and 405 freeways go.<BR/><BR/>I ride the Metrolink every day from Ventura to Northridge and I never want to drive again. We need that, times 100. <BR/><BR/>Build a good mass transit system and we won't even need to own a car. That means you don't have to go $20K into debt, pay for insurance, repairs and gasoline for the privledge of going nowhere on a freeway.<BR/><BR/>Side benefit: What happens in the middle east will no longer be in the national interest.<BR/><BR/>So forget the high-speed inter-city trains. Give me ten thousand street cars.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-43192764907619364372008-11-01T19:16:00.000-07:002008-11-01T19:16:00.000-07:00As a longtime (now retired) railroad worker (brake...As a longtime (now retired) railroad worker (brakeman and locomotive engineer) I'm for it in principle, but I have reservations about how it might actually be executed. The real issue is intermediate stops, which make an enormous difference to the total SF-LA running time; if legislators from Modesto and Fresno and Bakersfield lobby successfully to get this train to stop at their cities--and they'll try, I think--the end result will be too slow to get people out of planes and too inconvenient to get them out of cars. (This is an odd discussion for a music blog, I realize.) To accomplish its goals, high-speed SF-LA rail needs a dedicated right-of-way and nonstop service; there's no reason another train over the same route couldn't originate at San Jose, but stops in the Valley would defeat the purpose.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-59340411914239171822008-11-01T14:35:00.000-07:002008-11-01T14:35:00.000-07:00There's always next year. If Federal funds for...There's always next year. If Federal funds for infrastructure come available, fine. But I am not sure there is enough SF -> traffic to justify this. The northeast corridor, with Boston, NY, and DC, yeah, for sure.Lisa Hirschhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14014924958428072675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-63629339924271740082008-11-01T14:13:00.000-07:002008-11-01T14:13:00.000-07:00The total cost of that plan is estimated to be $30...The total cost of that plan is estimated to be $30 billion, which before you know it will turn into $50 billion. All this with the economy in a bad state and CA having difficulty borrowing money. <BR/><BR/>I voted against it. I'd like to fund local infrastructure and mass transit first. We could get a lot of busses running for that kind of money.<BR/><BR/>If there is any national funding for infrastructure, we'll see what happens with that.Lisa Hirschhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14014924958428072675noreply@blogger.com