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Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Why the U.S. needs more high-speed rail

One of better roundups I've read in a long time on how business travelers use high-speed trains in Europe can be found on The Times of London's TimesOnline Web site. Anyone who travels for business or leisure within Europe should find the article helpful in knowing the cities that are now connected, downtown-to-downtown, in less than three or four hours by rail. Just as Amtrak's fairly high-speed trains from Boston to Washington through Philadelphia are competitive with airlines, Europe's system draws travelers away from the skies. And that's despite a plethora of discount airlines and often higher fares on many European rail routes.  

As you may know from visting here before, a new administration in Washington has given a boost in its economic stimulus program to development of more high-speed rail lines in this country, as I pointed out in my Feb. 23 Winging It column. Years, probably decades, will pass before we could have a rail network like the one described in the TimesOnline report. We have a tremendous amount of catching up to do, but we can hope, can't we?
Posted by Tom BELDEN @ 1:29 PM  Permalink | 9 comments
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 2:12 PM, 03/25/2009
    I won't be here when and if there is a high speed rail line..YHS
    — STEVE5444
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  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:18 PM, 03/25/2009
    Ok, xi and ark. Keep sucking at the teat of big oil you morons.
    — Dr. Martin von Nostrand
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:20 PM, 03/25/2009
    I travel between Philly and NY and Philly and DC weekly. I wouldn't do it if I had to drive. I have a very nice car and love to drive but not in traffic. I rather send emails via my blackberry and use my laptop than share the road with road ragers trying to get into the city. It's probably no coicidence that forward thinking cities NY, Boston, San Fran and Seattle all have great transit systems filled mostly with well paid professionals.
    — phillyylliph
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  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:45 PM, 03/25/2009
    'Big Oil' isn't the problem, it's the power hungry fascists who want to pick our pockets for these make-work projects.
    — JerryCurlan
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 6:07 AM, 03/26/2009
    I agree, high-speed rail would be "nice to have" but at what cost per mile? Most passenger train lines loose money. Matter of fact, almost every public transit system fixed operating costs cause them to loose money. Without huge...massive, more government stimulus I seriously doubt a high-speed rail system would come close to covering their costs. It would be another drag on taxpayers forced to pay for "good intentions" and failed policies of elected officials.
    — ScottYaw
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:59 AM, 03/26/2009
    Requiring public transit to pay for itself is a ridiculous double standard. Without goverment subsidy, any form of transportation would fail. The airlines wouldn't be successful without taxes paying for Air traffic control and airport costs. Public road systems operate with a far greater government subsidy than transit. The vast majority of public roads don't make a dime to pay for themselves, relying entirely on government subsidies. Maybe we should hold Highways to the same ridiculous standard of profitability that so many people want to apply to trains and buses, and see what the toll per mile is. The public would be perfectly fine paying $2/mile to drive to work, because the only thing in this world that matters is profit, right?
    — Pelti


9 comments
About Tom Belden
Tom Belden has been reporting about Philadelphia International Airport and other air travel subjects for more than 20 years, writing columns for The Inquirer's Travel and Business sections. His reporting (with colleague Craig McCoy) on baggage handling problems in Philadelphia have been credited with helping to improve the system. His previous blog was called Road Warrior. He can reached at tbelden@phillynews.com.
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