"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"
QUOTE: Originally posted by vsmith Hey Dan How much you wanna bet Kalifoonia will get a HSR long before Florida even reconsiders thiers.
Have fun with your trains
QUOTE: Originally posted by Modelcar ....Pretty good, regarding high water inundating Florida up to 10 miles just south of the Georgia border, but isn't the highest elevation down in central Florida near Clermont....So maybe we'd have an island down in that area.
Quentin
QUOTE: Originally posted by daveklepper Isn't the real answer the sort of partnership that Virginia is doing with CSX on the old RF&P line between Richmond and the Potomic bridge south of Washington? To improve what already exists and make it more useful? This was also sold as a highway congestion relief program, involving more trucks and fewer private autos, but it would seem the right model and the way to go. If I am not mistaken, Illinois is doing something similar with the UP Chicago - St. Louis. The track from Miami to Orland and then to Jacksonville exists, and from Aurbendale (south of Orlando) south to Tampa. These existing lines can be upgraded, then the line from Orlando to Jacksonville, and then the direct FEC Miami - Jackonville line. This would provide improved freight service and well and competitive passenger service. Initially, taking 20% of the traffic off the roads should be the goal, and speeds comparable to the Northeast Corridor would be sufficient to do that. Not very fast by European standards, but enough to do the job.
"We have met the enemy and he is us." Pogo Possum "We have met the anemone... and he is Russ." Bucky Katt "Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future." Niels Bohr, Nobel laureate in physics
QUOTE: Originally posted by Old Timer Guys - I live in Florida and voted against the HST in 2002 and again Nov. 2. The reason I did so was because its backers did not level with the citizens about the cost of the HST; indeed, it was more than implied a couple of times that the HST might even become profitable. Now, I love passenger trains. I've ridden a couple. And Florida's traffic is bad and getting worse (I live with it every day.) But if HST is going to be the answer, let some reputable promoter (not some fast-talking millionaire trying to get me and a few million other taxpayers to pay for his dream) come in and give us an honest appraisal of the problem and let us know, honestly, what it's going to cost. And don't let him try to bamboozle me by telling me that it'll someday pay for itself. It won't. Nobody in the world makes money hauling people without one or both of two factors being present: he provides a premium service for which he can extract the last nickle from the rider that he'll pay (a taxicab company is a good example - he picks you up at your door and takes you to your destination door); or the government entities pay for his losses and provides him with a reasonable profit. I worked for a commuter agency in a large city about 25 years ago, and our riders didn't want to know that the price of their ticket paid for about 45% of the cost of their ride. But we had a local agency that paid the other 55% and provided capital money for maintenance and improvements. Taxpayer money, that is. I don't know what Florida's answer is, but I agree that something drastic must be done. But tell me honestly how it'll work and I'll be a lot more agreeable to it. Old Timer
QUOTE: Originally posted by macguy It's their decision, they are the ones living there, and it's their tax money that will be paying for it. They like sitting in traffic, let them sit.
QUOTE: Originally posted by jeaton Ah, Florida. If sunshine was a government program paid by Florida taxpayers, they would probably amend their constitution to abolish it. It may not be such a bad move to stop the high speed rail program. With global warming and the rise of sea levels the southern most Florida coast is going to be about 10 miles south of the Georgia state line. High speed ocean liners might be a better investment.
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