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It's no secret that the U.S. lags behind countries throughout Europe and Asia in the high-speed rail department. In 2009, the Obama administration announced a plan to catch the country up with an $8 billion high-speed rail project. But apparently, that wasn't enough money.
Let's look at the high-speed rail systems of other countries:
Earlier today, Vice President Joe Biden unveiled a strategy to spend a whopping $53 billion on high-speed rail over the next six years. It's a plan that will, according to Biden, bring the U.S. closer to giving 80% of Americans access to high-speed rail in the next 25 years--a goal highlighted in Obama's recent State of the Union address.
In the next year alone, the government will spend $8 billion on developing three corridors:
- Core Express with trains traveling at speeds of 125-250 mph or higher.
- Regional lines with train speeds of 90-125 mph
- Emerging rail corridors with trains traveling up to 90 mph (to provide people access to the Core Express and regional lines).
More details will be revealed next week along with Obama's upcoming budget, but Republicans are already attacking the plan. "Rail projects that are not economically sound will not ‘win the future.’ It just prolongs the inevitable by subsidizing a failed Amtrak monopoly that has never made a profit or even broken even. Government won’t develop American high-speed rail. Private investment and a competitive market will," said Railroads Subcommittee Chairman Bill Shuster in a statement.
If previous experiences in planning high-speed rail corridors in the U.S. are any indication, the government will fight naysayers for the entire building process (see Trains magazine's piece about the battle between freight trains and passenger trains). We'll find out how well Obama's plan works soon enough; a high-speed route in Florida spanning from Tampa to Orlando will start construction this year and finish in 2014.
COMMENTARY: It's time we stopped making excuses. There are several reasons why it's worth building a national high-speed rail system:
- Many foreign countries are spending huge sums in high-speed rail, and it is time for the U.S. go catchup.
- The population densities of major metropolitican areas now make high-speed rail a practical reality.
- High-speed rail is a great alternative to driving or flying, particularly between short and mid size distances of 500 miles or less.
- Our transportation infrastructure is in need of a major overhaul, particularly our railroad transportation system.
- A national high-speed rail system creates jobs--lots of them. In France alone, high-speed rail has created 150,000 permanent jobs.
- High-speed rail is more economical per passenger than any other mode of transportation.
- High-speed rail good for the environment, greatly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The world's first high-speed train system was built in Japan in 1964. I actually saw their first bullet train at a train station back in 1966 when I was in the military, and I was very impressed.
So where does the U.S. stackup against other countries in high-speed rail? This table will give you a very good idea:
|
Country |
Built
|
Const
|
Planned
|
Total
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium | 137 | 72 | 209 | |
| France | 1872 | 299 | 2616 | 4787 |
| Germany | 1285 | 378 | 670 | 2333 |
| Italy | 562 | 314 | 395 | 1271 |
| Netherlands | 120 | 120 | ||
| Poland | 712 | 712 | ||
| Portugal | 1006 | 1006 | ||
| Russia | 650 | 650 | ||
| Spain | 1594 | 2219 | 1702 | 5515 |
| Sweden | 750 | 750 | ||
| Switzerland | 35 | 72 | 107 | |
| UK | 113 | 113 | ||
| EUROPE TOTAL | 5598 | 3474 | 8501 | 17573 |
| China | 832 | 3404 | 4075 | 8311 |
| Taiwan | 345 | 345 | ||
| India | 495 | 495 | ||
| Iran | 475 | 475 | ||
| Japan | 2452 | 590 | 583 | 3625 |
| Saudi Arabia | 550 | 550 | ||
| South Korea | 330 | 82 | 412 | |
| Turkey | 745 | 1679 | 2424 | |
| ASIA TOTAL | 3959 | 4821 | 7857 | 16637 |
| Morocco | 680 | 680 | ||
| Argentina | 315 | 315 | ||
| Brazil | 500 | 500 | ||
| USA | 362 | 900 | 1262 | |
| WORLD | 9919 | 8295 | 18753 |
36967
|
I find it ironic and very disappointing that the United States of America, which joined both coasts by railroad back in the mid-1800's, cannot take a leadership role in high-speed rail transportation. I think that with our leadership in so many technologies, that we can do it better and faster.
In 2008, the U.S. had 362 km of high-speed rail with plans to double that by 2025. Western Europe, with a land mass and population similar to the U.S., presently had over 15 times more high-speed rail and 50 times more train sets than us, with plans to expand their high-speed rail system to 17,500 kiometers by 2025. China which only had 832 km of high-speed rail, will become the world leader with 8,311 kilometers by 2025. The following chart compares all countries with high-speed rail as of 2008 with projections by 2025:
I keep hearing just how expensive increasing America's high-speed rail system is going to be, but the high cost of fuel will make transportation by automobile and air very expensive, and high-speed rail is not only good for the environment, but the most cost-effective of all methods of transportation.
As you can clearly see, high speed rail transportation is four times more cost-efficient than an automobile and nearly eight times for passenger jet.
Inspired by successful high-speed train systems worldwide, the State of California has a very ambitious goal to build a high-speed rail system to connect major population centers in the northern and southern part of the State. The total coast for this project is estimated to California taxpayers $43 billion, but will benefit Californian's both economically, environmentally and community-wise:
California's electrically-powered high-speed trains will help the State meet ever-growing demands on its transportation infrastructure. Initially running from San Francisco to Los Angeles/Anaheim via the Central Valley, and later to Sacramento and San Diego, high-speed trains will travel between LA and San Francisco in under 2 hours and 40 minutes, at speeds of up to 220 mph, and will interconnect with other transportation alternatives, providing an environmentally friendly option to traveling by plane or car.
At a cost of $53 billion, President Obama's national high-speed rail system will benefit all American's, in a similar manner like California, and it would be a terrible mistake not to develop such a system when there is so much to be gained. We spent $10 billion per month for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, so $53 billion, spread over several years is a drop in the buck.
Courtesy of an article dated February 8, 2011 appearing in Fast Company
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