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ACELA IS IT A BIG MISTAKE
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People seem to be putting a lot of focus on the politics and comparing the politics of the united states to the high speed countries in europe in this thread, well, lets see: <br /> <br />First off, we must remember that the NEC is somewhere around 50% of Amtrak's income, so it\ would be illogical to wipe it out and start over, that action in itself would kill whats left of the dwindling passenger network. <br /> <br />Secondly, you have to keep in mind that, unlike the united states, major cities in say, france, that many people go in between are fairly close together, and thus hopping onto the next train, going 250 MPH from paris to Lyons is more convinient and cheaper than buying a plane ticket, or driving. Here in the United States, You can pick up a plane at BWI and get to JFK in an hour or so, whereas taking the train is slower, even at 250 MPH, because of the distance between DC or BWI stations and New York. We talk about high speed going nationwide, connecting most cities like France and Germany do, but if you look at it, tghe united states is a large nation, and it is much much easier for a businessperson to hop a plane to chicago or San Francisco than even a direct high speed rail link could do. <br /> <br />Basically my point is: What works in Europe wouldn't necessarily work in the united states. what the Acela offers is a comfortable and relaxing "faster speed train" experiance for those who would rather take the train than the plane, between the closer of the nation's major cities. Offering a higher speed would do nothing for business except possably allow a few more trains on the schedule, and that would still not do much. It just dosn't make sence to put out billions of dollars to rebuild trackage if it isn't going to improve profits very much.
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