JK on high-speed rail

[MBS]

from today's Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/02/25/will_stimulus_funds_put_rail_on_the_fast_track/
(there's also a link there to cool 6-minute video simulation of CA high-speed rail)

Strangely downbeat article, which emphasized interviews with a variety of naysayers . At least they quote Kerry and a few others who are working hard to make something happen . .

JK-relevant excerpts :

Stimulus Funds Put Rail on the Fast Track?


The US economic stimulus package is fueling the country's beleaguered efforts to create a railroad system that would rival Japan's bullet train and France's TGV high-speed rail.

But some transportation researchers say a network of trains that can travel faster than 200 miles an hour is not feasible in the United States. They say the high price tag for building and operating a super-fast system will be the biggest deterrent. . . .
Still, the federal stimulus package containing Senator John Kerry's $8 billion earmark for rail projects - with priority given to high-speed service - is the most significant surge toward building more high-speed rails. . . . .

The stimulus funding likely won't move high-speed rail planners far enough along to begin construction, but Kerry called the provision "a down payment" on a rail system that eventually could extend throughout the country. The Massachusetts Democrat said parts of the system could be completed within the decade if Congress continues to fund it.

"Spread out over the country, $8 billion will be an important amount of money to advance the engineering and design," said Peter Gertler, national public transit services director with HNTB, an engineering and architectural firm that has been involved in the Midwest high-speed rail project. But going forward, he said, high-speed rail authorities "will need more local funding at the private and state levels."

. . .
He said rail funding requests get bogged down in the US congressional process, which requires that money be allocated to highway, transit, and aviation programs first.

"I think you'll find among policy makers in Washington, if you poll them all, they'll say, 'Yes, we need to have high-speed trains,' " Gillespie said. "The problem is whenever they have to find the money, there's nothing left."

. . . . .

It's too early to tell what effect the stimulus provision will have on the Northeast corridor since the rail funding will be doled out through a competitive process by which Amtrak and other high-speed rail authorities must submit proposals. It's likely the nation's other 10 federally designated high-speed corridors will vie for funds as well, including the California High-Speed Rail Authority. In November, California voters approved $9 billion in bond funding to help construct an 800-mile network for trains running up to 220 miles per hour connecting Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego.

But Kerry hopes some of the money will go toward improving the existing Acela route with new rights of way to straighten curves, avoid populated areas, and get the train traveling 150 miles per hour.

. .

[karynnj]

1. It would seem that Boston to DC and CA will have big advantages

in getting the money - and not just because Kerry and many other NE Senators are important. The NE piece might be far less expensive to actually build - as the trains they have are already capable and it is likely the route with the highest potential number of riders. The right of way may be more expensive per mile - but much of the total right of way is already there. The CA piece already has the advantage of already having state funding to compliment the federal funding. There is also the LA to Las Vegas route that Reid clearly wants.

The good thing about all three of these is that they have a good chance of really being successful which will help getting in getting funding elsewhere.

I notice they called it Kerry's earmark. The fact is that it is not an earmark because it is not for a specific project and "earmark" has become a negative word - even though getting every real MA "earmark" is covered positively. The other significant thing is they are saying it is Kerry's work.