California's Well Mocked and Pathetic High Speed Rail

An older article on the project. This boondoggle is a perfect example why progressivism will never yield a reasonable and effective form of governance.


How California’s Bullet Train Went Off the Rails (Published 2022)

 

We actually do have high speed rail in Florida that we borrowed federal money for. It's only killed about 100 people so far.

 

Its a worse record than anywhere else. So maybe Florida has more idiots than other places, which would explain our politics.

 

Every other western country has an excellent rail service. It’s regressive, not progressive, politicians who’ve ruined it for America for the most part, I.e., the GOP.

 

Rick Scott said no to the federal money. Then turned around and invested in the company that became Brightline. Brightline has used state money and somehow we want to praise Rick Scott? Why would you want to praise the biggest thief in Washington?

 

Indeed. I suppose you can say it was more 'genius' for a crook to turn down free federal money that you don't profit from, than borrow federal money for a private company you were invested in.

 

Personal or state funds?

 

Rick Scott invested his own money into All Aboard Florida after killing the project that was to be funded when Obama was in office. since then Bright line benefited from state investment.

 

So much love for Cali, and disdain for Florida in da snowglobe.

Feel free to move y'all's asses to Cali whenever you please, and don't let the door smack you in the ass on the way out...

 

Can scarcely imagine what a boondoggle mess that shit would a made along the I-4 corridor.

Add to that, the "10 year" Disney exists project on da 'dor, and you'd have a bloody cluster muck parking lot for the remainder of the 21st century...

No thanky...

 

I know many here are disappointed that the US trails the world in any public services like HSR. But you could fit almost the entirety of the EU inside the US. The other thing is time. Most EU countries started building theirs 40 years ago. It would take half a century to build a decent HSR network in the US to where you could hop on a train for a day trip from Orlando to Portland, OR. The cost would be tens of trillions of dollars.

 

Aaaand….exhibit A as to why we look like a third world country to much of the world that comes here and sees our infrastructure.

 

No one realistically thinks there will be high speed rail across the country anytime soon. It is indefensible that we don't have it between Orlando and Tampa, however.

 

I disagree. There is apparently no practical way to connect HSR to the Tampa airport, which is one of the major drawbacks to the system. The HSR train would stop well short of Tampa, and everyone would get off the train and hop on a bus or taxi and get stuck in traffic. HSR lines are far more effective if they connect to or through an airport. The HSR line in Taiwan does the same thing in Kaohsiung, and is a big reason that it is normal to see the trains 15-25% full when there are no major events to attend.

 

Thankfully the Florida legislature and Brightline both disagree with you.

"Sen. Jay Collins and Rep. Karen Gonzalez Pittman, both Tampa Republicans, recently filed $50 million funding requests for the route and just last year, Brightline received nearly $16 million in federal funds to help build the Tampa to Orlando line."
Is high-speed rail coming to Tampa? New bill hopes to fast-track Brightline expansion


"It’s a big part of our future, right? We love Tampa. Tampa’s the next big market for us. You connect Tampa to the rest of this system and suddenly 75% of the state is within close proximity to a Brightline train. We like that a lot," Brightline CEO Mike Reininger said."
Brightline could potentially add stops in Tampa and Polk County

 

Our public transport in this country is third world peasant shit. Amazing we don’t have a legit high speed train system coast to coast. Anything that is for the benefit of the greater good and not ME ME ME is instantly shat upon by tax payers in this country. Decades later here we are with infrastructure that makes China the standard bearer for the world. Absolutely $&@&@$ pathetic.

 

Why jump on a train to get from Tampa to Jax in an hour when you can get caught in a rat race of lifted trucks, suv's, cars, minivans, campers, and dumptrucks on an interstate? ( taking much longer btw)

 

There are lots of reasons why HSR hasn't caught on here but you can trace it's roots to the 1950's. Europe never went through the boom of the suburb and car culture that started in the 50's. With that as a starting point, other than the NE, the US developed their cities without mass transit in mind. We are now dealing with those decisions and those circumstances are what makes implementing HSR now tricky and expensive.