Kudos to California on passing its high speed rail proposition on Tuesday @ 53/47%. Although its opponents say that it will be a “big-dig” style waste of government money, I’m glad that the left coast is following the lead of the Acela Express on the East Coast.
Sadly, Texas could have been the trail blazer when it comes to high speed rail in the United States. In 1991 our state legislatures allowed Southwest Airlines’ lobbyists to quash a “Texas Triangle” (Houston-Dallas-Austin) train system. What’s more depressing is that, unlike in California and New England, the Texas project was going to be paid for with PRIVATE funding! Too bad, trains are good for the environment, comfortable to ride, and cheaper than renting cars & keeping them fueled up.
Hope may not be lost for Texas, according to Wikipedia,
In 2002, the Texas High Speed Rail & Transportation Corporation (THSRTC), a grass roots organization dedicated to bringing high speed rail to Texas was established. In 2006, American Airlines and Continental Airlines formally joined THSRTC, in an effort to bring high speed rail to Texas as a passenger collector system for the airlines.
Here’s to hoping!
In the meantime, here’s some excellent propaganda from the California project:
Trains are neat.
