Opposition from freight railroads is threatening the Obama administration's multibillion-dollar push to make high-speed passenger trains an integral part of the U.S. transportation network.
The standoff demonstrates the difficulties of introducing new passenger service to a rail network that is at least 90% owned by freight railroads and outfitted for slower trains.
To save time and money, government officials want new high-speed rail routes to operate on the vast system of train corridors that already crisscross the U.S., unlike European and Asian countries that have built dedicated tracks for high-speed rail. But Norfolk Southern Corp., Union Pacific Corp. and other railroad companies are balking at sharing their tracks or rights-of-way with trains that would run between 90 and 200-plus miles an hour. They argue that mixing high-speed passenger trains with slower freight trains would create safety risks, prevent future expansion and cause congestion.
Why is the Liberal mantra so tied up in this 1960s technology? This rail system will never happen.
Here we have rich Silicon Valley executives suing to stop the plan:
The Menlo Park City Council on Tuesday night decided to join Palo Alto and Atherton in filing a lawsuit to stop bullet trains from rumbling up and down the Peninsula.Mercury News.
The council voted 4-0 to sue the California High-Speed Rail Authority in a bid to halt its proposed $43 billion San Francisco-to-Los Angeles project. Council Member Andrew Cohen abstained because he lives near the proposed tracks.
"It's the impact, the size of the tracks, the whole design," Mayor Richard Cline said after the decision was made during a closed session before the council's regular meeting.
Then we have this LuLu from the California legislature:
The State Legislature approved a bill this week that requires companies seeking contracts to build California’s High Speed Rail to publicly disclose their involvement in World War II concentration camp deportations.
Obama fell for a load of horse manure when he backed this plan. Alice in Wonderland material.
