High Speed Rail in the USA

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The Future of the HSR in the Americas The Americas, which include Alaska/USA, Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America nearly goes from Pole to Pole and there are well over a billion people living and working, and playing, and vacationing along the way. We can and should build a HSR system for people, parcels, and food from the tip of Alaska to the tip of Argentina, and then spur it to every city we can. This will open up trillions of dollars in trade and provide jobs for tens of millions as track is laid, stations built, rolling stock constructed, power plants constructed, and new cities and businesses spring up along the routes. We in the USA can be, should be, MUST BE, the leader in this joint venture and we can profit greatly by supplying much of the engineering, materials, rolling stock, and labor for this. We once had The Budd Company which made fine passenger cars for the railroads, we need to recreate The Budd Company and be the number one supplier in the Western Hemisphere. We can also export to Australia, India, and Africa, which are developing nations that will need our expertise and products. Remember that the low cost and freely available dirty coal and oil is NOT readily available in many nations, and they will need transportation that can run on Renewables, which HSR can easily do. And these countries have an abundance of sunlight for powering their rail systems and thus, we open up their country with HSR, we open it to self-supporting businesses and such. China is already there, and it is bidding for the rights, we need get our heads out of the sand and do the same.. only better and cheaper… TRAIN © The Rail Access Interstate Network (TRAIN) would be used to tie interstate tourism and commerce together throughout the USA. And the best part is that we already have much of it done in the form of US-35. US-35 from Mexico to Canada and the Great Lakes, is the backbone of the proposed transport system, with US -10, US-20, US-30, US-40, US-70, US-80, US-90, and US-94 being the ribs. The roads are already in place, therefore the land and right of way are already paid for, thus it would be relatively inexpensive to add pipelines, solar panels, wind turbines, and high-speed rail transport along the length of each, paid for by TRIPS (Transportation and Regional Infrastructure Project Bonds), and other non-taxpayer funding. There is one such line in motion, it will be going from Tucson to Phoenix, Arizona and the 110 MPH semi-high-speed train will cut hours off of driving and flying times. What a TRIP ! Driving vs. Rail: Where are you traveling from and to? Is it one way or round trip? What days of the week? Do you need to count meals and motels, gasoline differences from place to place, insurance, driver fatigue, etc.? Amtrak.com has all sorts of methods of getting from one place to another, and it has comfortable seating and beds, as well as fine food service.. It also gives discounts to Seniors, AAA members, Veterans, etc., and if you play with their scheduling, day by day and week by week you can or will find many deals, or higher or lower prices for the same trips.. (supply and demand for seats). And if you are taking the kids, they will get to sit in the Observation Cars, see the USA (not in your Chevrolet). Amtrak also works with many touring agencies for package deals and car rentals, not always the lowest cost, but sometimes the best deal.. I also find that it sometimes pays to fly one-way, and take the train the other on the longer trips, it provides the best value for the buck.. Alaska to the South Pole © If you draw a line on the world map from Alaska to the South Pole you will see that it cuts through some of the wealthiest and the poorest economic areas in the world; you will also see that it cuts through some of the most abundant and lease abundant areas of natural resources, water, minerals, etc. Additionally, you will see that it cuts through many countries that have diverse cultures, ideals, and political aspirations. What you do not see, but should, is the potential of this line. There are along this line a means of bringing vast wealth to hundreds of millions of people and companies; but there is one thing missing from the equation that can create this wealth, which by the way would come from opening areas of trade, tourism, proper use of natural resources, and a tremendous exchange of labor, both manual and mental. What is missing, a common means of transport that can carry material and people to and from the areas along the line that needs each. We have the Panama Canal, the Chinese are building a new Atlantic to Pacific Canal, both of which everyone claims is needed for passage and transport, but we do not have a land based Alaska to the tip of South America transportation passage means. Consider building a High-Speed Rail system with corresponding roads, pipelines, and energy producing means that moves people and goods from Alaska to the tip of south America. This would help end our illegal immigration problems as there would be work for millions of people north and south of our borders as they build this, and as towns, factories, and tourism developed along its length. This project would provide means for millions to get out of impoverished areas, and can be the 'Backbone' of a network of 'Ribs' of similar transportation projects, which can keep developing for not just decades, but centuries. And the great part about this is that it can be self-supporting, self-sustaining, and done at little to no cost to the taxpayers, while generating tax revenue for other infrastructure projects, educational opportunities, and research for future projects. Some will say that we have airlines for this purpose, but one has to look at the facts; airlines cannot carry the loads that railcars can, airlines need fossil fuels that surface transport does not, airline cost per pound per mile is going up, whereas surface transportation cost per pound per mile using clean wind and solar energy is going down. Some will say that we have ocean going shipping for this purpose, and that is true, but you cannot build factories, towns, etc, along a route that a ship or aircraft transverses, you can build along roads and rails. Let's do this, let's get our governments to put their collective heads together to create this basic transportation system that will finally unite the AMERICAS..