Obama's Train From Nowhere

6 billion seems a little steep for a train ride that starts in the middle of a podunk town I've never heard of. Will Californians really drive several hours to then grab a train into Vegas? Seems like with the price tag you'd better hope the answer isn't "yes", but "hell yes and they'll all do it multiple times for many, many years".

Bullet Train From Las Vegas To Nowhere

 

Hopefully, yes. It's a risk, but I prefer taking potential risks such as this to establish something more worthwhile. Supposedly, the objective is to connect with Palmdale and the California rail system in the future, but to do so now would be cost prohibitive.

It's always a question mark if Americans will embrace European style transportation. I know there's been an Atlanta-Nashville train proposed, which would be a success, in my opinion, although it may negatively affect the Nashville airport.

 

Wait, what?

 

Well, there's another train system in the works that will connect Sacramento to San Diego. So, the idea is that the one to Las Vegas will connect with this one in the future.

 

If that's the plan for the future I wouldn't just half ass things now.
Wait until you can do it right rather than down six billion and then who knows how much in upkeep for a system no one will ride.

 

Maybe. Victorville appears to be one of the larger town in San Bernardino County and about 40 miles from the suburbs of LA. Maybe people will drive there, maybe not. They, apparently, believe people will. LA is such a massively spread out city that I don't even know how accessible the train would be to people within the city.

I think there is a demand for such a train, but I do think it's a big risk.

 

Shout out to the University of Denver.

 

victorville is a shithole. no one will use the san diego to san francisco train as long as southwest flys there in 1/3rd the time for the exact same price. and there really isn't a traffic issue on 80% of that route. A high speed train makes a lot of sense from LA to Vegas because that is a major trucking route and the traffic is horrible at least half of every day. making it out of victorville is a great way to ensure no one uses it though.

 

[video=youtube;051VhDUyras]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=051VhDUyras[/video]

 

[uck fay] it, just throw money at it

 

Is this one of those "shovel ready" jobs????

 

I like the idea of high speed rail, but I'm not convinced California was the place to start it (other than the obvious political reasons). You connect Atlanta to DC, and you've got something.

 

california isn't centralized enough.

 

Agreed. And everyone driving 40 minutes to an hour and a half to get ON a train just sounds silly.

 

i do think a downtown LA to vegas line would work, but the LA to SF one is pure idiocy.

 

It is sort of a manifest destiny "if you build it, they will use it" sort of hail mary plan at best.

 

When its $6bn of some other person's money it easy to believe.

 

Will never happen without the endorsement of James Earl Jones.

 

If there was a train from Knoxville to Atlanta I can think of 1 occasion I'd use it, and that's if I'm going down there to fly out of the airport, which i plan on doing in a year or so. Otherwise I'd rather drive.