High Speed Rail Debacle.

Don't get blinded by your politics on this one. Right now our fastest trains are in the Northeast corridor and not a one of them can travel more than half the speed of trains in every major European and Asian country. When it comes to the rail system, we are a third world country. Remember one thing, trains run on electricity. Airplanes and trucks do not and only a small percentage of cars can. That might not seem like a big deal now with gas around $3 per gallon but what about when gas goes to $10, $15, $20 a gallon? Maybe you believe that gas prices will not keep rising but I do not have your optimism and if I am right, we better start upgrading every part of our rail system asap. (Apparently, Warren Buffet feels as I do. He recently concluded th biggest deal of his life and he bought a railroad.) Having a first rate rail system will bring business to the farmers and manufacturers of America. Small and medium size businesses will be able to compete (very successfully, I think) with large companies like Walmart that will see their prices for bulk cnatainer importing from third world countries rise and their profits dwindle. Certainly, having local businesses thrive will be a boon to the states maintaining the rails. As the system is updated and some new rails are laid, more passengers will choose the rails over expensive air transport. Right now, it's faster (and cheaper) to travel Philadelphia to Boston by train. If the system is upgraded to the level of the rest of the civilized world that could prove true for many other locations and could prove a very big plus to American business. I'm all for budget cuts but not at the expense of the future of this country. I think our future depends on our rail system every bit as much as our past did.

From my point of view Obama is doing the right thing in the rally of development giving good response to the call of today's science and technology...there should be a mandatory rule to bear the cost of repairing as the service is for almost all people and is the property of the denizens of a state...But this view is the best one and I request earnestly all well thinker to help Obama setting up the Rails..I wish its success

SOunds to me like it is going to be up the east coast mainly in new Englad and they already have the T that runs it maybee just in Mass as thats where I rode it but to it could have ran farther up or down the coast states and Cal wont get it for they cant ge tthe funding and looks like Nevada isnt even talking about one any more or not at this time.

AHH probably because Amtrak does so well? Or maybe because all of these states have all of this extra money lying around? What with their roads and bridges being in such sterling condition? Oh yeah, then there is the train clause in the Constitution. It comes before the "nobody will ever get sick again" and right after the "chicken in every pot and internet in every house" clause. So clearly this should be TOP priority. But I do wonder about the 20% of America that wont be included in this scheme. That is just favoritism for people in the city. We need to have light rail going past everybodies household. This way, we wont have to walk anywhere. *** please please please tell me you caught the sarcasm

I don't understand why our elected officials, who are supposedly well educated, and claim to know what we want can not look a few years ahead to what they are actually signing us up for. All they seem to see is the green in front of them, and in MHO they are trying to think ahead to see how they can skim off the top for other things than what the money is designated for. I was so shocked the other night when I watched the local news, we have schools closing around us left and right in Charlotte, NC. Teachers being laid off all over NC, and what does the city of Concord do? Where I live, they get a grant is it to help save teachers jobs? Does it feed the children who go to bed hungry or without a bed to sleep in at night? Does it even save some stray animals? No! No! No! AND NO! It is for a solar panel for a new parking deck the city has erected. Not only is the deck not in a good location to uptown, making it that much harder on commuters, why in the world would a parking deck need solar panels? People in this city can't pay their electric and water bills, but we need a solar panel system for a parking deck!!!! I will never understand how people who claim to be so intelligent and educated can be so stupid! Oh wait....I guess we get what we pay for in education.

I live in Portland Oregon which has a transit system that is ran by a Company not the state. It runs okay and for the most part is pretty easy to get around the only thing is that they are split by three different counties in the state Multinomah and Clackmas being the two biggest in the three. I personally think the Idea is a good one as it would be making trains that go faster like bullet trains so it would be really a fast train but I also think that building a completely new system over just upgrading the current train system in this country is a huge waste. As the current Train system works really well. I also think that having the states take care of the parts that are in them of this system isn't a good Idea as some states like Wyoming don't have the people to pay for a system like this and could states opt out? I mean I know that Washington Oregon and California would be for it but I am not sure if enough of the middle states which are mostly farming would really want or use a train system like this as they currently use the existing train system to move there goods to port cities.

These government funded trains haven't made a profit in DECADES. They are a complete waste of taxpayer dollars. Add to that the fact that these high speed rails are a joke. Most people who want them are too stupid to realize that the "high speed trains" will be sharing the tracks with LOW SPEED trains which will make it impossible for them to take advantage of their full potential.

I remember the railways from when I was a kid and I get kind of nostalgic thinking about them but they got rid of them for a reason. They have already spent time and money getting rid of the tracks and the railroad ties etc etc. Now to re-build everything??? Just doesn't seem cost effective with the cost of maintainence and fuel etc. It just doesn't sound like a good plan at all. Let's just hope that it doesn't go through.

I used to be very enthusiastic about bringing back trains--until I realized how much it would continue to cost the states for decades. Building them now would cost billions and bankrupt most states. And I don't think anyone would use them. I used to think I would but then I thought about how I would get around once I was in the city and I can't afford car rental prices nor taxi fare. There are just too many drawbacks. Does that man ever think anything through?!