Oh yeah, the "High Speed" train that ODOT is considering for the Willamette Valley will go no faster than 125 mph, and with stops, may even get one to Portland from Eugene in... ? I doubt it would be faster than my 1964 VW Bug could do it in 1970.
Wall Street Journal: REVIEW and OUTLOOK
California's Bullet Train Derailment
A judge says the rail authority is breaking the law. Who cares!
If you're in a hole, keep digging and someone will eventually come to the rescue. That seems to be the operating principle of California's high-speed rail authority, which hopes to bulldoze a growing list of legal and financial obstacles to break ground on its $70 billion bullet train early next year.
Public opinion has swung sharply against the bullet train since 2008. Polls show that voters by two-to-one would derail the choo-choo in a referendum.
The rail authority hopes that once enough businesses and homes are destroyed, politicians in Sacramento and Washington will feel obligated to ride to the train's financial rescue. Maybe that's the Obama Administration's plan too.
High-Speed or Just Higher?
Mr. Hume's scenario for a high-speed train zipping up and down the valley isn't even being talked about now. Instead, ODOT is only contemplating a system that will go 125mph. With station stops, it might not achieve a real benefit to travelers. If time is not huge factor, there are express buses than can do that route now in min. (See Oregon Passenger Rail Website for project information).
Read this summary of the Leadership Council Meeting from 12/04/2013:
Oregon Passenger Rail - Leadership Council
Mr. Hume's scenario for a high-speed train zipping up and down the valley isn't even being talked about now. Instead, ODOT is only contemplating a system that will go 125mph. With station stops, it might not achieve a real benefit to travelers. If time is not huge factor, there are express buses than can do that route now in min. (See Oregon Passenger Rail Website for project information).
Read this summary of the Leadership Council Meeting from 12/04/2013:
For the Oregon Passenger Rail EIS 20-year timeframe, it may make more sense
to talk about the EIS as seeking to remove barriers to improved speeds and
reliability. Focusing on the whole corridor makes one want to think
aspirationally, hence the push by many for high speed rail.
- Staff should also make it clear to citizens and to the Leadership Council that original charge of this project was to discuss “higher” speed rail of up to 125mph—not true high speed rail. The proposed conceptual high speed rail process meets the needs of those who are more interested in the long-term vision.
- Incremental improvements over the next twenty-years should benefit both passenger and freight rail, and staff should make it clear to the public that improvements do benefit both.
- It will be important to know what the long-term rail route alignment will be in order to make strategic short-term investments that contribute towards that alignment.
| Do you see any familiar names on the list below? Do you think the people on this list will have an objective, pragmatic outlook on the subject of rail transportation in Oregon? Name | Representing |
| Co-Chair Kitty Piercy, Mayor of Eugene | Eugene |
| Co-Chair John Russell | Portland |
| Charlie Hales, Mayor of Portland | Portland |
| Tom Hughes, Metro Council President | Metro |
| Sen. Rod Monroe | South Metro Region |
| Jeremy Ferguson, Mayor of Milwaukie | South Metro Region |
| Rep. Vicki Berger | State Representative |
| Anna Peterson, Mayor of Salem | Salem |
| Rep. Sara Gelser | State Representative |
| Sharon Konopa, Mayor of Albany | Albany |
| Rep. Nancy Nathanson | State Representative |
| Sen. Lee Beyer | Springfield |
| Hillary Wylie, Springfield City Council | Springfield |
| Neil McFarlane, Manager, TriMet | Transit |
| Gary Gillespie, Lane Transit District | Transit |
| Mark Frohnmayer, Arcimoto | Oegon Transportation Commission |
| E. Walter Van Valkenburg | OR Business Development Commission |
| Mike Quilty | Out of Corridor |
| Greg MacPhearson | Land Conservation and Development Commission |
| Matthew Garrett, Director | Oregon Department of Transportation * |
| Lynn Peterson | Washington Department of Transportation* |
One need only look at the cost estimates and the potential ridership to know that even studying higher speed rail is a waste of time and money. Billions for 5 or 6 trains a day??? If each train carried 1000 people the cost per rider is excessive. This makes no economic sense.
ReplyDeleteLooking at the committee makeup, it is all people either in government or with government ties and no one willing to ask why are we wasting money on this. And I see the famous consulting firms doing work too.
It's always the same - follow the money. The Feds are the biggest crack dealer of them all, and they move money only with strings attached. Gone are the days when the federal government gave out Block Grants. Now everything is targeted at accomplishing a federal goal - in this case, more trains. Then add the industries and other business interests that benefit from large infrastructure projects and municipal debt and misc. consulting, and add politicians and planners with careers and egos to massage.... The only ones left to complain are the saps who have to pay for it all and possibly have their communities ripped apart - the taxpayers. What's even more insidious is that most of the transportation funding comes with requirements to either reduce automobile travel and/or increase density. This is what citizens are up against - just to be able to determine what our small town wants to be like.
DeleteSay that to those of us on I5 who'd love a train like this!
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ReplyDeleteOK. It won't be a high-speed train, and it will likely go to Portland via 205 and not go anywhere near Lake Oswego (assuming you live in LO). Did you read any of the links or do any other research? The topic of this blog was High SPEED rail.
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