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Re: anti high speed rail campaign begins
Author: Synonymouse
Date: 07-26-2008 - 19:30
Are we saying then that we could up with a really botched system? Say for instance something as botched as BART? The only way that the hsr could end up as flawed as BART would be if Quentin Kopp insisted it be built to Russian broad gauge too.
What I am saying is that a less than ideal system is better than no system, very similar to the apology that could be made for BART. And it may be necessary to kiss some corrupt hiney along the way to get this thing started.
One of the serious shortcomings of the Chronicle article(and what makes it suspect)is that it failed to recognize that France enjoys a dense net work of legacy passenger rail lines, which effectively make the tgv's the icing on an already very rich cake. Continuing the culinary analogy when it come to passenger rail serivce California doesn't even have a cookie let alone a cake.
Routings are always going to come down to politics and sometimes the results are arbitrary and even downright stupid. Once again I cite BART as my real world example. But transit line shortcomings are insignificant when compared to the effects of urban freeways. The Embarcadero Freeway trashed San Francisco for decades - when it was torn down property values skyrocketed.
It is the weekend and so for your edification and enjoyment I'd like to quote Frank Zappa:
"Some scientists claim that hydrogen, because it is so plentiful, is the basic building block of the universe. I dispute that. I say there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the basic building block of the universe."
What I am saying is that a less than ideal system is better than no system, very similar to the apology that could be made for BART. And it may be necessary to kiss some corrupt hiney along the way to get this thing started.
One of the serious shortcomings of the Chronicle article(and what makes it suspect)is that it failed to recognize that France enjoys a dense net work of legacy passenger rail lines, which effectively make the tgv's the icing on an already very rich cake. Continuing the culinary analogy when it come to passenger rail serivce California doesn't even have a cookie let alone a cake.
Routings are always going to come down to politics and sometimes the results are arbitrary and even downright stupid. Once again I cite BART as my real world example. But transit line shortcomings are insignificant when compared to the effects of urban freeways. The Embarcadero Freeway trashed San Francisco for decades - when it was torn down property values skyrocketed.
It is the weekend and so for your edification and enjoyment I'd like to quote Frank Zappa:
"Some scientists claim that hydrogen, because it is so plentiful, is the basic building block of the universe. I dispute that. I say there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the basic building block of the universe."
