stash Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Either the railroad gets capacity increased or a
> lot of money will be spent on the highway. Who is
> paying for that highway? Where do you get more
> bang for the buck? Which is best for the
> environment? How do you help the state's sick
> economy and plan for the future? If you dump money
> into more highway (if that is even possible), how
> much do the trucking companies contribute toward
> construction and maintenance?
>
> Also, this has nothing to do with passenger
> trains. So don't bring that up.
>
> Kicking some money toward rail to keep freight
> moving doesn't sound too bad to me.

Let me repeat:

Note that SP paid for the Palmdale-Colton cutoff without taxpayer help and ATSF paid for the Crookton-Williams Jct. line relocation on their own. Other than the passage of a few years, what's the difference with this Tehachapi project? It's not as if the balance sheets of UP and BNSF are on a par with, say, the CRIP or the MILW. These are wealthy railroads.

Also, note that railroads are getting a better return on their investment(s) now than they were under stiffer regulation in the 1960s.

And maybe it SHOULD have something to do with passenger trains. As a taxpayer, I will be a partial owner of those track improvements on Tehachapi. Shouldn't I be entitled to some sort of "say" as to MY return on MY investment? Since I'll partially own that right-of-way, through my taxpayer dollar investment, shouldn't I be able to go down to trackside and take some pictures of "MY" property without being harassed by aggressive UP personnel? It will no longer be truly "private property."