High-Speed Rail Critics Imperil Economic Growth, Bombardier President Says – Jeff McMahon – The Ingenuity of the Commons – Forbes

OK, the guy runs a corporation that sells high speed rail equipment, so there is a bias. Nonetheless, none of the countries that use HSR seem to be imploding because of it.

Opposition to high-speed rail imperils U.S. economic growth, the North America president of a leading train manufacturer said in Chicago Tuesday.

“Although some may be of the opinion that we can’t afford passenger rail investment at this time, I can assure you from Bombardier’s experience around the world that the opposite is true,” said Raymond Bachant of Bombardier Transportation, a Canadian firm that built 95 percent of Europe’s high-speed trains.

“Investment in passenger rail infrastructure is a decision that will create long-term jobs and strengthen the economy,” Bachant told several hundred corporate executives, trade officials, and rail enthusiasts gathered at the Mid-America Club on the 80th floor of Chicago’s Aon building.

High-speed rail was a favorite target of the Tea Party movement that seized the House of Representatives and several governor’s mansions last November. Newly elected governors in Florida, Wisconsin and Ohio have turned down funding for high-speed rail 

High-Speed Rail Critics Imperil Economic Growth, Bombardier President Says – Jeff McMahon – The Ingenuity of the Commons – Forbes.

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Filed under: International High Speed Rail, Passenger Rail Transportatio Policy, United States High Speed Rail