Comments on: European Rail

By: Real Estate Investment Software

Real Estate Investment Software — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:32:31 +0000

Its a great system, however I doubt at this point Governments are ready to foot the bill to set such a system up.

By: MJ

MJ — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:38:18 +0000

Fascinating not fastenating…damn…

By: MJ

MJ — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:32:06 +0000

Oh and you have to click play for it to start.

By: MJ

MJ — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:31:37 +0000

Did you guys see this PBS special about Portland, it was fastenating. It makes me wonder why we couldn’t do it anywhere?

Excerpt:
http://www.pbs.org/e2/episodes/311_portland_a_sense_of_place_excerpt.html

By: Mike

Mike — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 14:43:43 +0000

Yes, they just opened the light rail system here in Phoenix in December and it's doing much better than expected. But, personally I've never ridden it. We have serious air pollution and traffic issues here in the Valley and I think the creation of the light rail had more to do with that than anything else. We pay for it through a 0.4 percent sales tax voted on in Phoenix back in 2000. I guess it serves a purpose for those who live in the East Valley and work in Phoenix. But IMO, I think money would have been better spent creating a high speed rail line with service between Phoenix and Tucson. Now THAT would have been more valuable, and done a LOT to reduce pollution, save lives, and eliminate traffic congestion.

By: Dave C.

Dave C. — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 12:39:28 +0000

I used the trains and subway (Underground) extensively during my trips to England. Having never been exposed to train travel in the US, I was in awe when I experienced the roar and rush of air as one of the London commuter trains blew past my station.

I think that we should make more use of trains in the US, but I wonder how much of the American idea of a car for every man, woman, and child – gets in the way of public sentiment and action towards revitalizing our railroad usage.

By: Tom

Tom — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:43:19 +0000

The parent firm, for which I work, is a French High Speed Train/Rail designer and we are currently working on the California HSR. Cali’s success or failure will likely be the test case for the rest of the US for when it comes to design standards and application.

Overall I see HSR as a great thing to have but it comes with a huge price tag. In Europe, portions of the Infrastructure (rails) are usually subsidized by the gov’t (via taxes) but the rest is made up by revenues generated from users.

Of course, the difference in Europe vs the USA is the high gas prices. Higher gas prices do push people into mass transit more and I suspect we’ll have to hit $3.50/gal again before the cry for HSR gets louder.