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ACELA IS IT A BIG MISTAKE
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I have seen entire interstates go from little 2 lane affairs to gigantic 4 lanes each way complete with wide grassy medians and very strong bridges, long exits and entrance ramps etc, whole mountains moved and the highway shifted here a few miles over there to make it easier for us to travel in really bad areas. <br /> <br />Look at that I-95 thru NYC. They punched that one straight thru a thousands of homes and pernamently removed a large section of NYC Life and Society in the name of National Defence. <br /> <br />The technology and the manpower needed to reconstruct the NEC to High speed standards equal to any in the world is not the issue. IT can be done. <br /> <br />The question is this: Is Congress going to continue to fight the budget battles while Amtrack struggles to survive on a thorougly rusted and obselete section of trackage made for 80 mph? ( am painting a picture here not necessarily bashing the railroad) <br /> <br />Heck if we can rebuild a bombed out and desolate europe and japan after wars that are so destructive, we can bring highspeed properly into the Northeast and in doing so use it as a learning tool for everywhere else in the United States. <br /> <br />It is going to take years, costa great deal of money, demand technology and innovation that may not exist yet. <br /> <br />We all thought the Big Dig in Boston was a money pit. Look at them now, other than a few water leaks that needs to be fixed right and soon they are in very good shape. <br /> <br />If you want to be able to have 200+ mph service between Washington DC and Boston Mass with service to Baltimore, Wilmington and New York fast enough to compete with airlines then you have GOT to provide the "good track" for the Acelas and thier next generations of designs to really stretch out and get up and run. <br /> <br />To do that you need to scrap the thing and rebuild it. Probably high off the ground so that school kids dont get killed by the very silent locomotives that come up like a bolt of lightning. <br /> <br />That trackage needs to be rebuilt anyways for any serious high speed. Designing 150 mph service on 80 mph track with constant slow orders is not the way to do it. You need to remove that track and rebuild it high and safe so that trains can fly while keeping the neighbors happy. <br /> <br />If we dont do this, it will still be a yearly problem and STILL be a 125 mph service 20 years from now while potentially other regions of the nation might see 200-300 mph service. <br /> <br />The idea of Little Rock AR to St Louis Mo in a hour and half for less than a plane ticket is very attractive. <br /> <br />We have the land, we have the technology and just need the money, engineers and a will to get the job done. <br /> <br />Let us try.
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