Thoughts on new Federal Rail intercity plans?

25 comments

1. Ambivalence. Gov’t spends money all the time on things that don’t benefit me directly. This is another one of them.

2. I’ll believe it when I see it.

3. I support it but am deeply skeptical as to whether it’ll actually happen.

4. Fully support developing new rail and upgrading existing lines; money well spent

5. Would be great if implemented, but it will probably all die if Trump gets elected next year.

6. I’m sure it’ll be great when they finish it in 2080.

7. I am 100 miles away from the closest Amtrack station, this moves me within..78 miles

8. I doubt it’ll happen but. It would affect me in absolutely no way. Still a state away lol

9. It needs to happen, as this infrastructure is badly needed in a lot of places.

   But I’ll believe it when trains actually start running.

10. Stuff that needs to be done, but I’ll believe it when I see it. Especially the price tag.

11. It’s wonderful. Rail built this country and we should have more of it, specifically for passengers.

12. Most of the country is skirted entirely. Only nine states will see projects.

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    Who, besides the nerdiest of train nerds, actually wants service between Chicago and Seattle that stops several times in Nowhere, North Dakota?

13. Kinda pissed the San Antonio-Austin-Waco-Dallas corridor is getting fuck all, would love to have a higher frequency NEC type service here

14. I’ll use it if it’s faster then flying, if it’s slower I’m gonna fly

15. I’m skeptical they’ll ever clear the legal barriers for the right-of-way in some areas. Ironically, the areas that would most benefit.

    Look at how long it took to get the DC metro to extend to Dulles, for example.

16. 3 Outcomes Most Likely:

    * Used as an example of incompentence and/or overspending by the opposition, cancelled as soon as the opposition is in power.

    * Goes way over budget and underdelivers via embezzlement or incompetence, dropped out of the news and quietly shuttered or sold to private company when they think they can get away with it.

    * What’s delivered is overbudget, decades late, and is such a bad experience no one uses it.

17. Yeah, that’ll happen …

18. I’m all for it. I hope it happens at some point.

19. It’s great, we should have maglevs down the entire east and west coast and at least one straight across the coasts

20. more useless government spending. we’ll see fuck all from this. Trains wont get better unless they run all new lines end freight stops being the priority.

21. I have high hopes. A couple years back, NC and Virginia announced a rail line between Raleigh and Richmond. This project will fund a line between Charlotte and Atlanta. NC is one of the few states outside of the Northeast that has been putting in the work for more rail so I think it will work out for us.

22. LET’S GOOOOO

    I’m super pumped, extending the northeast corridor down through the southeast (Richmond, Raleigh, Charlotte, Atlanta, then through Florida) as a high-speed route would be fuckin’ sweet, and that appears to be a priority

23. I really want it to go well, but I’m skeptical due to how high speed rail went/is going in California. If they can actually do it then I’ll be overjoyed, but until then I’ll be very skeptical but hopeful. Hope for the best, expect the worst.

24. Where I live remains a passenger rail desert according to this plan, and projects like these are never built according to the plan, so it doesn’t affect me personally.

    That said, I’m glad to see Atlanta to Charlotte on the map as high speed. They’re two large cities that are the right distance for high speed rail to be the fastest travel option. If we want to make the Southeast less car or air only for intercity travel, I’d start there.

25. Just another way for contractors can take our tax money and not deliver on anything. In 10 years, nothing will have been built or upgraded and the $50 billion will have been lost in all the companies brought in and stole from us.