Unlike all the other states in the Midwest, Wisconsin is now more painfully backward than any of us ever imagined.
GOP legislators halt Minnesota-Wisconsin high-speed rail study...Critics say exploring route from Twin Cities to Milwaukee is pointless.
In December Republicans Rep. Paul Torkelson and Sen. Scott Newman objected to the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) accepting federal grant money to complete the study — largely because Wisconsin opposes high-speed rail ... work on the study has stopped after just over $1 million in state and federal money had already been spent on it.
Since 2010, high-speed rail has been a hot-button political issue in Wisconsin. GOP Gov. Scott Walker declined $810 million in federal stimulus money for a Madison-to-Milwaukee line, saying it would be too expensive to build and maintain. Walker’s opposition to the service remains unchanged, according to Torkelson. “It would be rather inappropriate for us to spend federal funds when there’s no chance of it going forward,” he said. (Walker’s office did not return phone calls.)
Generally speaking, high-speed trains are capable of sustained speeds of 150 mph or more — which is the case in Europe and Asia. Some trains in China, which has bet big on the high-speed rail, whisk along at 220 mph.
The United States has no true high-speed rail service. A report by the Midwest High Speed Rail Association attributes this to a lack of funding, the difficulty of getting state, local and municipal governments to agree on a plan, and outdated safety regulations and infrastructure. The majority of Amtrak trains share track with freight. And there’s Americans’ storied love of their automobiles.
Stopping the Minnesota high-speed project is shortsighted because it prevents what he called “a basic assessment” to understand what’s needed.
Confidential report: California bullet train could cost billions more than expected
ReplyDeleteKaty Murphy
PUBLISHED: January 13, 2017 at 2:37 pm | UPDATED: January 14, 2017 at 3:10 am
Categories:California News, Latest Headlines, News, Transportation
Conceptual design of high-speed trains.
SACRAMENTO — The first stage of California’s costly high-speed rail project may be even more expensive — $3.6 billion more — than previously thought, according to a report prepared by the Federal Railroad Administration and reported by the Los Angeles Times.
The Times reported that the sobering risk analysis — conducted by a federal agency that has staunchly supported the project to whisk passengers between San Francisco and Los Angeles in less than three hours — outlined management problems. The report was presented to California High-Speed Rail Authority officials last month, according to the Times.
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The federal agency is monitoring the California project because it has invested $3.5 billion in the first phase, through the Central Valley. Eventually those tracks will be extended to San Jose, according to the latest plan.
The analysis warned that the Central Valley track, 119 miles from Merced to Shafter, could be 50 percent over budget — and seven years behind schedule, according to the Times. The original budget was $6.4 billion, but costs could reach $10 billion, the Times reported.
The rail authority’s chief executive, Jeff Morales, insisted to the Times that the project would cost less than the feds projected.
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“The point of doing this analysis is to identify the challenges and work through them,” he said. “They are not conclusions and not findings.”
California voters approved the project — originally said to cost $40 billion — in 2008. The latest official estimate for the bullet train is about $64 billion.
View more on The Mercury News
You're an insipid ignorant ass
I'm sure you would have opposed the interstate highway system for cost overruns too. You are an insipid freeloading naysaying ignorant ass. Nothing quite makes as much sense as a border wall, whether you support it or not. Let's all stay in one place, burn coal and gasoline, and forget progress because it costs too much, except when it comes to corporate welfare. Foxconn anyone? Now that's money well spent.
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