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[quote user="LNER4472"] You can count me in as a "knee-jerk" opponent to such proposals, and for a simple reason: Time and time again, we've been told by government that their studies and consultants show XX amount of cost and YY amount of return (in additional taxes, revenues, visitation, whatever) for a project.  Time and time and time again, the reality turns out to be XXX amount of cost and Y amount of return when it's done. The list is long: Convention centers, sports stadiums, industrial parks, housing projects, military/defense systems, parks, overseas wars, you name it. Amtrak itself was basically a "bag of goods" sold to Congress and the public:  It was supposed to last five years.  At least that's what legislators and the public heard.  It was a "bail-out," not a never-ending annual operational outlay and further infrastructure and capital costs. The California HSR project has already mushroomed from the originally proposed $39 billion to $97 billion (numbers not precise, but the idea is true nonetheless).  This is a pattern we've seen over and over again.  If I sold you on the idea of owning a car based on $1-a-gallon gasoline and $100 a year insurance, and all of a sudden you're paying $3.50-4 a gallon and $600-1200 a year insurance or more, you'd never do business with me again, or demand a refund.  But when government is involved, the typical answer to fixing such a problem is not to end or change a program, but to throw MORE money at it--"Hey, let's sell you on the idea of an electric car, and subsidize your purchase!" [/quote] Wow, another person who has it right.  I am on a roll.   Don't get me wrong.  I believe that passenger rail can be a viable solution in relatively short, high density corridors where the cost of expanding the highways and airways is prohibitive.  Clearly, long distance trains or most of Amtrak does not fit this definition.
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