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  • US High-Speed Rail Coalition

  • General discussion of passenger rail systems not otherwise covered in the specific forums in this category, including high speed rail.
General discussion of passenger rail systems not otherwise covered in the specific forums in this category, including high speed rail.

Moderators: mtuandrew, gprimr1

 #1576236  by bostontrainguy
 
U.S. HIGH SPEED RAIL COALITION

Multi-faceted Coalition to Campaign for Federal High-Speed Rail Investment

Groups driven by high-speed rail's sweeping economic and climate benefits

Washington, D.C., (July 15, 2021) -A broad coalition of public interest, labor, environmental and business groups announced today that it has launched a major campaign to ask Congress to include $205 billion in funding for high-speed rail in the pending infrastructure bills, as well as robust labor standards, a High-Speed Rail Development Authority, and a Rail Trust Fund.

http://ushsrcoalition.org/

http://www.ushsr.com/hsrmap/
 #1576252  by electricron
 
$205 Billion for new HSR lines, $117 Billion for rebuilding the NEC adds up to $325 Billion.
Will there be any money left over for metro rail, commuter rail, light rail, streetcars, and bus transit lines?
 #1612768  by Gilbert B Norman
 
From overseas, "look who's on board":

https://www.wsj.com/articles/high-speed ... 1672242408

Fair Use:
He has met the emperor and welcomed President Biden to his home, but Rahm Emanuel said an equally thrilling moment as ambassador to Japan came when he was offered a ride in the conductor’s cabin of a bullet train.

His eyes opened wide. The train races toward Tokyo at more than 150 miles an hour. “Yeah, I want to! If you’ll let me,” Mr. Emanuel, 63, recalled saying.

The company let him. He got to talk shop with the conductor, who explained that in Japan, arriving a minute early was frowned upon just as much as arriving a minute late. “If you’re scheduled at 4:01 and you arrive at 4:00, it’s in the file,” Mr. Emanuel said.

American history is littered with high-speed rail plans to nowhere, and politicians who tout their love of trains—including Mr. Emanuel’s onetime boss, former President Barack Obama—usually wind up talking about something else.

The U.S. lags behind Europe and Asia in high-speed rail. Conservatives have criticized it as expensive and of limited appeal, while supporters say providing more high-speed lines would allow competition with highways and airlines for travel between cities up to several hundred miles apart. The speedy-rail proposals have also been dogged by issues around property rights and local land-use controls.

There are like-minded fans. They’re just some 7,000 miles from Washington, D.C., where two U.S. ambassadors are laying on their adoration for Big Rail and enjoying adoration from the locals in return. Long past his Sisyphean struggles to rustle up money for repairing Chicago’s decrepit tracks, as mayor of that city, Mr. Emanuel basks in his reputation as a tetsu-ota, Japanese slang for “train geek.” The ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, has also jumped on the train wagon..
Not exactly what's called "hard news"; just have to fill up those column inches with something during this slow "inter-holiday" week.

Well guess who also had a like experience; this Air Force Sergeant during May '68.

Such was in the rear cab of a Midori set between Kyoto and Osaka. The door was wide open - and I took a peek. Now here comes a Conductor - and I'm thinking "oh-oh". He just beckoned me up into the (again rear) cab, and we sat together (he not a word of English or I Japanese). He left for a station stop but motioned just stay...and so I did before returning to my seat to get off at Osaka.