SO PROUD of my state! California = 21st Century Transportation! Woo Hoo nt

did High Speed Rail survive today?

HOPE SO!

they vote today!

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/07/senators-to-vote-shortly-on-california-high-speed-rail.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20120706/us-high-speed-rail/

And note this line:

"California was able to secure more federal aid than expected after Florida, Ohio and Wisconsin turned down money."

Plus: Nearly two billion for more local rail projects too! Yay!

I did not know they were voting, but had heard that the plan for high speed rail might get scrapped.

Oh, and thank you Wisconsin, Florida, and Ohio.

in another thread. Happy Dance. I've wanted this for so song! It's a win-win in my book.

that an Amtrak train ride between L.A. and San Francisco is currently 9 hours???

If that's the case, this is going to be fabulous - an alternative to flying and all the hassle that goes along with that.



Edited for clarification

Amtrak is slow as can be. This is a huge turning point in the state!

Once they finish this it will sit empty.
There's no one who needs to travel this stretch on a super fast train of the future.

I hope there is a reason for starting here.

As I understand it, that stretch of 130 miles is one of the few stretches that has a straight run of track that neither climbs in elevation or curves/bends, effectively making it the perfect run to test the new trains maximum speed.

Additionally, with its location as being in the center of the entire system, its function is essentially the heart of the project. Think of like the human body, whereas this is literally the heart and the connections to San Francisco, Sacramento, San Diego and Anaheim are the veins running down the limbs of the body.

There is also a financial incentive to start here. Lets be clear, this is an expensive and very important project to the state. With the construction starting in the center of the state, we are in fact giving the economy a jolt from the inside out. In order to finish this project the economy must be running on all four legs, as we will need the revenue to pay for the project.

How do you run freight and high speed transport on the same line? or am I misunderstanding and the freight will travel on the feeder routes/ another parallel track?

To those thinking of this as a way to avoid the legally sanctioned rape by the TSA you better start working now to keep them out. better yet just get rid of them all together.