California might have some competition in the race for high-speed rail.Texas Central Railway wants to begin construction on a high-speed line from Dallas to Houston as early as 2017. The current plan is to go from downtown to downtown, with possibly one stop along the way in College Station. An … [Read more...]
Alon Levy has a blog! Or: How Florida’s HSR money is being wasted in New York
Longtime commenter Alon Levy...has a blog! So far there's only one post up – a critique of one $295 million "HSR" grant for New York, money that was originally intended for Florida – but it's a good one, and I recommend everyone add the blog to their feed readers. He gets into the nitty-gritty … [Read more...]
LaHood’s revealingly stupid reply to the WaPo’s HSR criticism
The WaPo earlier this week ran an editorial against California high-speed rail, and on Friday ran a response from Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. As the dedicated anti-California HSR blog High-Speed Train Talk says, the letter does a pretty good job of summing up everything that's wrong with … [Read more...]
Systemic Failure on HSR
One of many reasons why high-speed rail in America is doomed, from Systemic Failure: When DB or Renfe or even SNCF needs to buy a high-speed train, they simply call up Siemens (or Alstom or Talgo) and order some trains. Simple as that. Customization consists of painting a logo on the outside, and … [Read more...]
Environmentalism vs. density
Recently I was reading an article about the death-by-delay of an upzoning proposal near a train station in Boston because the property might have been "considered 'priority habitat' for rare species, including the eastern box turtle," and I thought about all the times I've heard of opponents of … [Read more...]
HSR crowding out local transportation projects
by Stephen SmithYet another way in which Obama's high-speed rail plans are derailing actual progress in getting Americans out of their cars:BUENA PARK, Calif. — Mayor Art Brown spent years pushing for a commuter train station combined with nearby housing in his community. But as townhouses … [Read more...]
Obama’s genius high-speed rail plan
by Stephen SmithJust in case you were under the impression that Obama's high-speed rail commitment was genuine, the Boston Globe would like to disabuse you of that notion:The railroad tracks from Boston to Washington - the busiest rail artery in the nation, and one that also carries … [Read more...]
HSR Urbanists: “We Are All O’Tooles Now”
I probably won't make any friends today, but now I’ve read one too many urbanist (many who’s ideas I usually respect) use unsound logic to support high speed rail. This argument often includes something like this: “…and furthermore, highways and airports don’t come close to paying for themselves, … [Read more...]