Is it time for a high-speed "bullet train" in Florida?

[Wonk]

Poll question: Is it time for a high-speed "bullet train" in Florida?

Governor vs. Train: `I Think I Can, I Think I Can`
Published Monday, January 5, 2004

LAKELAND -- Florida's bullet train is the albatross around Gov. Jeb Bush's neck. He hasn't been able to convince the Legislature to end it. And its political weight may get heavier in 2004.

As the Legislature opens committee hearings today leading up to the March 2 opening of the 2004 Legislature, Bush faces an uphill fight in the House and Senate to get a high-speed rail repeal amendment on the ballot in November. Legislative leaders say he doesn't have the needed votes in either house.

In 2000, state voters approved an amendment to the Florida Constitution requiring that the state begin a high-speed rail system by November 2003 that eventually will connect at least five urban areas of the state.

Bush, who ended an earlier "bullet train" contract just weeks after taking office in 1999, has consistently worked to stop the project approved in 2000.

more...

even more...
http://www.floridabullettrain.com/

[SlavesandBulldozers]

1. i gave up my car a while ago

and walk everywhere now. traffic is just too much for me. i sure could use a way to get around though. we need a train bad.

[Liberal Veteran]

2. It's time we had them nationwide.....

It's silly that we don't have fast passenger trains between all major cities (and Amtrak doesn't really count).

[Snow]

3. Agree completely.....

the fast trains that Amtrak is bragging about in the northwest corridor are in fact the speed of the trains that Korea - yes, poverty-stricken, backward Korea - just finished retiring. They've upgraded to the new "3 mile a minute flyers". Kinda leaves Amtrak in the dust, eh?

However, what I've heard is a problem, is that the super-speedies are electric, usually trollies (no, no, not toonerville - that means they pull their power from an overhead line). And the problem in the States is our vast distances - running overhead lines (and tracks that could handle the speed) all those distances isn't - something - practical, affordable, whatever. I admit that on the face of it that makes some sense. Does Australia run bullet electrics across the huge expanse from Adelaide to Perth? Dunno.

[Kolesar]

4. Do you mean Amtrack Acela in the Northeast corridor?

I think you are right about the overhead wiring (catenaries). I could see such trains as only practical in densely populated areas like the Northeast or maybe a system centered on Chicago.

Today, I would not mind a high-speed train to Florida. It's 16 degrees and snowing in Ohio

[Liberal Veteran]

6. I was reading recently about some kind of magnetic train that China...

...recently made.

That might be an interesting idea as well.

[Kellanved]

7. bought

not made. And it isn't really practical at the moment, as the tracks are very expensive and can't be used for anything else. Almost all plans to build a Transrapid (German brand of Maglev) in Europe were buried in favor of more conventional tracks or even nothing at all.

:hi:

http://www.transrapid.de/en/index.html



On Edit: The USA invested several millions for the pre-planing phase of a Transrapid track in the USA in 2000.

[no_arbusto]

14. Pittsburgh was pursuing one.

The region was selected as a finalist in a federal project. The project began to fizzle when Bush was elected, became a long shot after 9/11, and is now pretty much dead.
http://www.maglevpa.com/

[Snow]

17. Sorry, yes, I meant northEAST, not west

[karlschneider]

12. I used to take the "bullet" (Shinkansen) train in Japan way back in the

70s.. if you add in the time to get to airports, the hassle to check in and so on, the trains are faster than planes. Hell, even then they ran almost 150 MPH. We could use a huge portion of the interstate highway system medians to put tracks or a mag-lev monorail on. The right-of-way already exists for that application.

[Democrats unite]

5. It should be noted here that the Florida voters...

passed a Constitutional ammendment to get the Bullet Ttrain in 2000! Just goes to show you that Constitution's mean nothing to the Bush Family!

[camero]

8. The deadline for completion is this year.

You're right. He doesn't care for the voters. Look at his "devious plan" on the class size amendment.

[Yavin4]

9. This Town Needs A Monorail

Phill Hartman and "The Simpsons" at their best.

[Anaxamander]

10. Hey, it put Ogdenville and North Haverbrook on the map. (nt)

[Liberal Veteran]

11. We should get Leonard Nimoy to be the Grand Marshall!

:)

[TexasMexican]

19. my thoughts exactly.

and florida already has a monorail. lol.

[YNGW]

13. Bullet Train

They've been talking about this since I was growing up in Tampa (60's & 70's). I doubt it'll ever be done. The cost was tremendous when they first proposed it and I'm sure it's only gotten worse.

[Wonk]

15. Builder: Train Will Deliver A Profit

The Associated Press
ORLANDO -- The contractor for a proposed bullet train system said Thursday that the state will turn a profit on high-speed rail, challenging Gov. Jeb Bush's concerns about the cost of the venture.

Representatives from Fluor-Bombardier told members of the Florida High Speed Rail Authority that the state not only would recoup its investment, pegged at $75 million annually for 30 years, but also could reap more than $400 million in net revenue over that time.

"It will be one of the best investments of public transportation that the state will ever see," authority member and Lakeland businessman C.C. "Doc" Dockery said.

(snip)

"This is the kind of information that the governor either doesn't understand or didn't include in his letter," said authority chairman Fred Dudley, who was appointed to the bullet train panel by Bush.

more...

This article is listed on the site I already mentioned in my initial post above.
http://www.floridabullettrain.com/

[Orangepeel]

16. Florida is constitutionally required to have high speed rail

The Florida constitution is a mess, with all kinds of specific amendments. In other circumstances, I would also be adverse to cluttering up a constitution (which should be philosophical rather than detailed, IMO). But in Florida, with our crazy right-wing gerrymandered legislature, it is the only way that voters can get anything they want done.

[Snow]

18. Seattlites will know about the whole monorail affair,

which looks a lot like the Florida thing. I don't remember the details, but the voters passed an - initiative? - mandating a monorail system, and the government has been doing everything possible to ignore or deride it. Apparently monorail is a much cheaper and more flexible alternative to 'light' rail for local transport.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

20. Building high-speed rail to replace short airplane flights

is one of the most environmentally responsible things we can do.

For trips of 600 miles or less, rail is the way to go.