An article in USA Today on 3/17 said that President Obama's stimulus package included $8 billion for high speed rail development in the U.S. - EXCELLENT. It's great to know that we finally have a president that uses his head, and understands that rail travel is the answer to transportation problems. Europe has been doing it successfully for decades. Here's the article:
USA TODAY - Now, President Obama and leaders in more than 30 states say it's time to embrace trains again — but newer, faster ones that can transport passengers past gridlocked airports and highways on electrified railroads at up to 200 mph.
They're betting billions of federal and state dollars that high-speed railroads can someday move travelers between major U.S. cities within two or three hours just as they do in Western Europe and Japan. And along the way, they argue, such systems can ease travel congestion, reduce the nation's dependence on oil, cut pollution and create jobs.
"For so long, Americans have viewed the automobile and the airplane as our transportation vehicles," says Anne Canby, a former transportation secretary for Delaware and train advocate. "Until now, rail hasn't been a major player in the discussion."
Driving the new-found interest in trains is $8 billion that was tucked into the president's economic stimulus legislation signed last month. FULL ARTICLEhttp://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2009-03-16-high-speed-rail-travel_N.htm?csp=DailyBriefing
No comments:
Post a Comment