Tag: high speed rail
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The Case for Higher Speed Rail
by James A. Bacon Yes, it is possible to be a conservative and support high-speed rail in the United States. Indeed, in a paper prepared for the American Public Transportation Association, “High-Speed Rail: A Conservative Appraisal,” conservatives William S. Lind and Glen D. Bottoms have outlined a practical, disciplined approach to build a better passenger rail system. …
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How Federal Safety Regs Hurt Passenger Rail
by James A. Bacon There has been increasing interest in passenger rail around the United States in recent years but the high cost of building and operating rail systems has posed a major barrier. One reason rail service is so expensive, writes David Edmondson for the Competitive Enterprise Institute, is that Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)…
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The Staples Mill Station: An Opportunity Gone Begging
by James A. Bacon Here’s the good news about the Amtrak Station at Staples Mill in Henrico County: The number of passengers increased 8% last year to 345,000, making it the busiest rail station in the South. Here’s the bad news: The suburban station’s 288-space parking lot is totally swamped. On any given day, as…
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Holy, Moly! Private-Sector Passenger Rail in Va.?
While the McDonnell administration seeks funding to extend Amtrak passenger service in Virginia, Hampton Roads planners are pushing European-style high-speed rail from Norfolk to Richmond and Washington — financed largely by the private sector. by James A. Bacon There’s an inherent difficulty in getting High Speed Rail to Virginia. Amtrak leases its rail lines from…
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The Sterile Debate over High-Speed Rail
by James A. Bacon Thomas R. Frantz, CEO of the Williams Mullen law firm and board member of the Virginians for High Speed Rail, paints a picture to Times-Dispatch reporter Michael Martz of what it would be like if Virginia had good inter-city rail connections. He imagines riding The Tide light rail line from his…
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High Speed Rail’s End
by Norm Leahy The latest issue of Ken Orski’s “Innovation News Briefs,” delivers a blow to the hopes of those who thought that, one day, high speed trains would zip between Washington, DC and pokey old Richmond: By including only a token $100 million for high-speed rail as a “placeholder” in their FY 2012 budget…