The Charlotte Observer covered a meeting Monday on east coast high speed rail. There is a longer and more detailed report online.
But money — for trains and for roads — is tight. An estimated $65 billion is needed in North Carolina for new roads and for maintenance on the existing highways. A growing number of state legislative leaders say a special session or blue-ribbon commission is needed to overhaul the way North Carolina distributes money for roads and maintenance.
$7.5 million a mile
Rail supporters emphasized Monday that trains can be a less expensive and more energy efficient solution than highways and airports.”Rail is not here to compete, but rather to be included,” said Pat Simmons, rail division director for the N.C. Department of Transportation.
In 1992, the federal Transportation Department designated the so-called Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor as one of five high-speed corridors.
It’s an expensive project. Reconstructing, upgrading and building rail lines between Washington and Charlotte alone will cost $3.5 billion, about $7.5 million per mile.
But that’s still about 30 percent cheaper per mile than interstate highways of similar size, said rail supporters at the conference, hosted by the state chapter of the Women’s Transportation Seminar.
And, they say, people will ride a train. Last year, more than 567,000 people in North Carolina took the train on trips that averaged about 200 miles in spite of Amtrak’s limited service and some reliability problems.
If those people had been on the road, Simmons said, they would have made a noticeable impact on traffic congestion.
Worth the cost?
That’s ridiculous, said David Hartgen, professor emeritus at UNCC and a critic of rail revival.
There were about 101 billion vehicle miles traveled in North Carolina in 2005, compared to the roughly 113 million miles people took on trains in 2006.
Rail travel is from a time of the past, Hartgen said. Government shouldn’t spend tax money on it.
“If you think this is really cheaper and really so cost efficient, why don’t you get a group of people together and build a railroad rather than ask the government to build it,” Hartgen said.
Gee, Gramps, why don’t we get a group of people together and build a railroad rather than ask government to build it?Probably for the same reason J. B. Hunt doesn’t build the highways. I hate to be uncharitable especially to an older gentleman, but one would expect more from an academic.
The state transportation guy is still playing it safe. Thank goodness rail is not competing! That would be a crying shame. Why is European style HSR not discussed on this booming population corridor?
Nonetheless, upgrading existing rail facilities is cost effective and faster than a start-from-scratch bullet train.
Filed under: United States High Speed Rail
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