High Speed Rail USA

Higher Speed Rail is Not the Answer

2011-07-16T14:26:00.000-07:00

Higher speed rail means 1950s trains running with 1950s technology

Col. Bill Lind makes a good case for “higher speed rail” faster trains running on existing tracks. The only problem is that “higher speed rail” as envisioned by Col. Lind would not meet America’s transportation needs.

The first and most obvious problem with “higher speed rail” is that it would run on the same tracks as freight trains. Unfortunately most of those tracks are overcrowded right now. There are so many freight trains that there simply would not be room for the “higher speed trains.”

The last time I took a passenger train it had to sit on a siding waiting for other trains to pass. Col. Lind’s higher speed trains would spend most of their time on the siding waiting to move. There simply is not enough room on our existing rail system for higher speed trains. Most passengers would abandon such a system and stick to their cars.

The only way to make room for higher speed passenger rail would be to move large amounts of freight traffic off of the rails and onto trucks. That would waste energy and make highway congestion worse.

In large areas of the US including California and urbanized areas of the South, Northeast, Midwest and Texas the only way to implement effective passenger service would be to build new tracks. The reason for this is not speed but to provide the frequency of rail service needed to attract a large ridership. Part of the reason so many people ride high speed trains in China, France and the Northeast Corridor is that they are frequent. The only way to get that frequency is with dedicated passenger or high speed rail lines.

There is another even more pressing reason why we need European or Japanese style high speed rail corridors: safety. In the last month there have been two fatal accidents involving higher speed passenger trains at surface level crossings in the US (places where cars drive across the tracks). In of these in Nevada around 20 people died.

Here is what Higher Speed Rail will look
like.

If we create Col. Lind’s higher speed rail system we’ll see dozens of such accidents every year. There will be hundreds of fatalities and the resulting public anger at the deaths will undermine or destroy popular support for rail. To make matters worse, the higher speed trains will have to blow their whistles every time they approach a crossing. That will generate anger and opposition from residents near the tracks.

European style corridors where trains run under or over the roads would eliminate this danger. They would also eliminate the need for trains to blow their horns or disturb neighbors. With grade-separated corridors and electric trains, most neighbors wouldn’t realize they had a high speed train in the neighborhood until they went to the station.

A final problem for higher speed trains is that many of our railroad lines do not go where people want to go. There are now large and growing communities such as Mesquite, Nevada, Evergreen, Colorado, and St. George, Utah, that are 30 or forty miles or longer from rail lines. Nor do most rail lines go to airports, the passengers on Col. Lind’s higher speed trains would have to rent a car or take a bus to the airport. That would take away the train's ability to compete with other forms of transportation. To be effective a higher speed or high speed rail system would have to serve airports and many new communities.

Col. Lind is wrong - there is no way to establish large scale passenger rail service in the US without embarking on a massive effort to build new rail lines. If we do that we should invest our money on state of the art modern rail technology not efforts to recreate what we had in the 1950s. As for the costs, well, Lind is wrong there too, any nation that can find the money for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan should be able to find the money for high speed rail.

One final thought here there are many places in the US including less populated areas of the West where higher speed trains as Lind envisions them might work. They would be feeder lines to high speed rail lines not the backbone of the system. Col Lind is to be commended for his rail advocacy but criticized for the short sightedness of his vision.

TSA is Threat to Rail Travel Too

2011-07-15T09:26:00.000-07:00

All rail advocates need to join the growing demands for the abolition of the Transportation Security Administration. The TSA is a threat to rail travel as well as air travel.

During the 1950s and 1960s passenger rail travel in the United States was nearly destroyed by an invasive and obtrusive federal bureaucracy called the Interstate Commerce Commission. Now, passenger rail travel is threatened by the white shirted simpletons of the TSA.

Media reports indicate that special TSA teams called VIPR (unfortunately I’m not making that up they really use that acronym which was what fascist bad guy Cobra Commander called his storm troopers in the 1980s GI Joe Comic Books ) can stop trains and buses and take passengers off. Apparently a group of passengers was taken off a train in Savannah, Georgia , and penned in a coral by such goons recently.Trains Magazine reports that even Amtrak's police chief was outraged by this stupidity.

TSA’s insanity and overreaction has already made air travel in the US a living hell and caused hundreds of thousands if not millions to stop flying. Similar Gestapo/NKVD tactics would do much the same to rail travel. Average people trying to get home from work or vacation would be harassed, robbed and molested by TSA bureaucrats. The rich meanwhile would ride by in their private cars enjoying their martinis, much as they now fly off in their private jets while the rest of us sit in the airport while some high school dropout tells us to take our shoes off.

There will never be any sort of effective high speed rail in the United States as long as federal bureaucrats think that they have the right to harass rail passengers at will. The only way we can have an effective transportation network is to limit the powers of self proclaimed Security Officers.

Therefore rail advocates and all patriotic freedom loving Americans need to demand the abolition of TSA. It is the only to way have an effective national transportation network. There will be no use having high speed trains if all the passengers are stuck in the station being harassed by bureaucrats.

Republicans Have No Transportation Policy

2011-07-12T09:20:00.000-07:00

The latest cynical anti-rail move by a Republican congressman proves that the GOP has no transportation policy.

Media reports indicate that Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-New Jersey) wants to take $1.5 billion in high speed rail funds and shift them to Midwest Flood Relief. The reason Frelinghuysen, chairman of the Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee is making this move is that high speed rail is popular. Neither he nor the House Republican leadership wants to be seen opposing high speed rail.

This whole shoddy and cynical affair shows that the Republicans have no transportation policy beyond “rail bad.” The mindless opposition to high speed rail would make sense if the GOP had plans to rebuild the nation’s highways, improve transit in the cities or build new airports. The truth is the GOP does not have any such plans it simply wants to bash high speed rail because a tiny constituency hates it.

The anti-high speed rail lobby consists of a few well funded think tanks with a knee jerk libertarian agenda. These extremists have switched their sights to high-speed rail because their previous target: light rail has proved very popular with the American people. Indeed, many Republicans who used to attack light rail now routinely vote for big money for it.

This affair bodes well for high speed rail advocates because it proves the Republican rail haters have no real case. Instead of attacking rail on its merits they are using a shoddy legislative trick. Instead of holding a hearing and calling upon such buffoons as Wendell Cox, the GOP is doing this. My guess is because the last thing the Speaker of the House wants is the GOP associated with anti rail propaganda as an election year looms.

The GOP’s lack of a transportation policy is good news for high speed rail backers because a political party that lacks a policy usually ends up adopting its opponents’ policy. That’s what happened to the Democrats on foreign and military policy, they adopted unpopular and irrational positions to please a few extremists in the peace movement. When the peace agenda became untenable, the Democrats simply adopted the Republican agenda. Thus the Obama Administration is following the Bush Doctrine of aggressive military action, increased defense spending and promotion of democracy.

The Republicans who are attacking high speed rail right now will in the near future be voting for huge subsides for new high speed rail lines. Indeed, Mr. Frelinghuysen will probably be one of the first Republicans to do so when his constituents learn he is taking money away from the Northeast Corridor that many of them ride.

Indeed, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker who made a big deal of turning down high speed rail funds is now reportedly asking for them back. High speed rail backers do not need to loose any sleep over Rep. Frelinghuysen and his antics, with rising gas prices, numerous media reports about Chinese high speed rail and growing gridlock the GOP will soon quietly adopt the Democrats’ high speed rail agenda. I also predict that in next year’s Presidential Election at least Republican candidate will be pushing a bigger, costlier and more elaborate high speed rail proposal than President Obama’s.

Could Fusion Powered Trains Be Possible?

2011-07-09T10:58:00.000-07:00

Italian inventor Andrea Rossi claims that fusion powered trains could be running on the tracks in just a few years. Rossi has publicly demonstrated a device he calls the energy catalyzer or E-cat and said that it is generating large amounts of heat via Cold Fusion.

Rossi has also stated he will unveil a working energy catalyzer that will generate electricity for industrial purposes this fall. If that was not enough he has also publicly stated that his cold fusion device could be used to power ships and trains.

Cold fusion is a nuclear process that could generate large amounts of heat without putting out radiation or greenhouse gases. The device Rossi has demonstrated is about the size of a washing machine so it could easily fit into a train. Rossi’s device generates steam which would be used to run a generator. The generator would create electricity.

Rossi’s device could be used to power a traditional steam locomotive or a steam turbine locomotive. It could also be used to generate electricity for a locomotive or train set. The locomotives used on most American rail lines use diesel engines to generate electricity that powers motors that move the train. Passenger trains including high speed trains work by powering wheels on all or some of the cars of the train.

It would therefore be fairly easy to adapt a lot of existing rail technology to run on the energy catalyzer if it proves practical. So far Rossi has licensed two companies Greece’s Defkalion and AmpEnergo in the United States to manufacture and sell the E-cat.

So far there is no indication any railroad or locomotive manufacture has shown interest in the energy catazlyer.

A Few Ideas for Funding High Speed Rail

2011-06-29T15:23:00.000-07:00

The big challenge for getting high speed rail built in the US is not technology, political will or popular support. Those import elements seem to be in place. No the big challenge will be finding the funds to pay for it.

With a sky high national debt and two political parties dedicated to not solving the problem this could be trickier that we think but not impossible. After all other nations with massive debt problems have managed to build massive infrastructure projects including high speed rail lines. Argentina is even trying to build one now despite debt and inflation that make ours look tame in comparison.

So here are a few proposals for high speed rail funding:

A 5% or 10% tax or tariff on imported oil with part going to highways, part to alternative energy, part to mass transit and part to high speed rail. Democrats would love this because it would encourage alternative energy. Republicans should like it because it would reward domestic production.

Since a lot of high-speed rail lines would pass through undeveloped areas with a lot of federally owned lands particularly in the West. Give high-speed rail developers the right or ability to sell undeveloped federal or state land along the right to sell it off. This is called land grants and it is how the transcontinental railroads were financed in the 19^th century. A related idea to this would be to give rail developers the right to sell unused or foreclosed land near rail stations in big cities.

Property taxes. Since transportation infrastructure projects often increase property taxes. Tax property values or property sales along the route to pay for the line. An example of this could be special tax districts around stations and lines.

Trackage rights. The owners of new high speed rail lines could sell other railroads such as freight railroads the right to operate trains on their routes. I know the self proclaimed rail experts that reporters like to interview claim that high speed rail will not be profitable. I tend to doubt them because high speed freight trains will be far cheaper to operate than planes. Therefore a large percentage of the freight now moved by air will shift back to the rails when high speed rail lines become available. Also a lot of freight that moves by trucks will shift to this method. Examples of companies that might run these trains include fruit and vegetable growers or packers, UPS, FedEx, and big retailers like Wal-Mart or Safeway. The big freight railroads may also want to run trains over high speed lines.

Finally, there are passenger fares. People will have to pay to ride the trains. Since high-speed trains can attract high rider ship passenger fares can cover a large percentage of their costs. One way to generate additional income would be to launch luxury passenger trains similar to Europe’s Eurostar. These could be competitive with the airlines. Especially if such features as private compartments and the ability to ship your car with you on the train were added.

These are just a few ideas, I’m no expert here but if my brainstorming could come up just a few proposals. Think what the professionals that work in the industry might think of.

Unnecessary Deaths on the Rails

2011-06-26T09:47:00.000-07:00

Our refusal to invest the money needed to create a modern railroad system is leading to unnecessary deaths.

The latest example occurred near Fallon, Nevada, on Friday June 23, 2011. Six people died when Amtrak’s California Zehphyr crashed into a gravel truck that had run through a crossing signal. This tragedy was a direct result of failure to invest in modern rail infrastructure.

There is a simple way to prevent tragedies like this one build railroad lines like freeways or interstate highways. Eliminate all the crossings where roads or highways run over the tracks. Vehicle traffic would run under or over the railroad tracks. It is called grade level separation and it works. It is the real secret to successful high-speed rail lines in Europe and elsewhere.

Yes, such investment would be expensive but it would save lives and make our rail system faster and far more efficient. We could run more trains at higher speed and increase the speed and frequency of both passenger and freight trains. Now this would not have to be done on every rail line but it could be done on the main lines.

If we can spend $10 billion a month on the war in Afghanistan and $14 billion on the auto industry bailout, we can certainly come up with the money for safer ground transportation. This would also improve everyday driving for millions of Americans.

After all eliminating surface level crossings would not just help trains it would help drivers. How many of us have had to wait for an eternity at a crossing waiting for a train to pass? It would also eliminate the need for trains to blow their horns going through towns which is a major complaint residents have about rail.

Why can’t we invest money to save lives and improve things for everyday Americans here in the USA? Investing in a national network of high speed trains and adding grade separation to all crossings on a major rail lines would be a good start.

Rail vs. Automobiles & Airlines: What Does the Market Say?

2011-06-26T08:07:00.000-07:00

Many of the people who oppose passenger rail in the US claim to be believers in the free market. Their argument is based on the notion that the market favors the automobile over rail. Now there is obviously no way to put these claims to the test using methodology that would meet a scientific standard. Yet there is a litmus test we can apply to such claims by using something the rail haters claim to believe in: the market.

Since there is no free market in transportation in the US, we’ll have to use a different sort of exchange as our test namely the stock market. So let’s see what the stock market says about railroads and automobile companies. Anybody who doesn’t believe me can check the internet, stock values are public knowledge.

At the beginning of trading on June 24, 2011, Union Pacific Corp (one of the largest US railroads) was listed at $100.04 a share. Persons who follow stock should note that UP has been steadily increasing in value in a bull market. UP’s earnings per share were listed at $5.82 which is a good return.

On the same day the Ford Motor Company, the "healthiest" us car maker, was trading at $13.24 a share. Ford is supposed to be the best managed of the US automakers but the market values it at around 15% of the value of Union Pacific. General Motors, did a little better, its new stock was moving at $29.92 a share. Better than Ford but nothing compared to the railroads.

It is not just UP the market likes on June 24, 2011, another major US railroad the Norfolk Southern Corporation was trading at $71.67 a share. Even the little known Kansas City Southern (one of the smallest rail operators) was fetching $55.59 a share. Also notable is Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, which owns the Burlington Northern, its class A stock traded at an astronomical $113,100 a share on June 24, 2011. Buffett is a value investor, he bases his trades on what he thinks has value and he’s usually right. He could have picked up either Chrysler or GM for a pittance in the last couple of years notice that he didn’t.

One auto stock that did well on US exchanges was Toyota Motor Corp which traded for $81.29 a share. Toyota is a Japanese company that operates under very different conditions than American firms so that isn’t a fair comparison. The other major US automaker, Chrysler is in such sorry shape that its management doesn’t even try offering stock.

What this shows is that the market thinks there is real value in railroads but not in America’s auto companies. Despite generations of favorable government policy and taxpayer support the market thinks little or nothing of the U.S. car makers.

It’s not just auto companies that fare badly when compared to rail. Southwest Airlines, considered the best of the airlines, traded at $11.36 a share on June 24, 2011. That’s about 11% the value of a share of UP stock. A much larger airline, UAL or United Continental, was trading for $22.99 a share on the same day. Another big airline, Delta was trading for $9.43 a share.

What these findings indicate is that in a truly competitive market, airlines and automobiles have a hard time competing with rail. Despite the massive amounts of tax funding and generations of government policy directed at those transportation modes, they still can’t be as profitable as rail.

One has to wonder what would happen if passenger rail were allowed to compete in a free market environment. The auto industry might survive in some form, but I seriously doubt passenger airlines would. One also has to wonder if the self-proclaimed champions of the free market in transportation are really scared of the free market. They don’t want a free market in transportation because it would quickly destroy their cherished illusions.

A final thought here I wonder how much automobile and airline stock, rail critics like Wendell Cox actually own(Probably none, like Noam Chomsky they only base decisions on their ideology when their money is not involved). I have a suspicion that the champions of “free market transportation” don’t own a single share in the companies that should profit from their socialist transportation infrastructure. Although I bet they own more than a few shares of Exxon, BP, Shell and other oil companies which profit from the current status quo without paying for it.

Uncle Sam vs. Wikileaks

2010-07-31T09:45:00.000-07:00

The US government is going all out in its efforts to crush WikiLeaks. The website that spreads "leaked" information on the web.

The soldier accused of leaking the stuff PFC Bradley Manning is being held in the guardhouse in solitary confinement and is only able to communicate with the outside through a military lawyer.

The FBI has been called into investigate and to hunt down Manning's coconspirators who presumably include the genius behind Wikileaks Ausi hacker Julian Assange. Mr. Assange is on the run and could face criminal prosecution in the US. No word yet on whether the Predator Drone will be called in to make an airstrike on Mr. Assange's location.

The media establishment in the US is parroting the government party line on Wikileaks as treason and threat to national security. Wikileaks is not a threat to National Security it is a threat to traditional government and media power.

As I've pointed out elsewhere government can use none of its power to shut down Wikileaks. Nor can the media censor it for its own purposes. This effectively destroys the power of journalism and greatly reduces the power of government.

Expect governments all over the world to cooperate on a major effort to kill Wikileaks and possibly Mr. Assange. Also expect a major war between Wikileaks and government and Wikileaks and the media establishment. Some sleazy tactics will be used to smear Mr. Assange and anybody who helps him.

This will continue until governments realize that they can use outlets like Wikileaks for their own purposes. When that happens they will accept them. Until then Mr. Assange had better learn to watch his back and sleep with a gun under his pillow.

High Speed Rail Will Improve Freight Railroads

2010-07-30T08:35:00.001-07:00

The latest and silliest argument being advanced by high speed rail opponents is that the building of high speed rail lines will somehow ruin America’s very successful freight railroad system. Nothing could be further from the truth: a properly built high speed rail system would make the freight rail system faster and more efficient.

The building of dedicated high speed lines for passenger trains would get hundreds of passenger and commuter trains off the rails used by freight trains. This would make more room for the freight trains and eliminate the delays that commuter and passenger trains cause for freight trains.

In our present system, freight trains often have to stop and wait for passenger and commuter trains. If the passenger and commuter trains were using separate high speed tracks these delays could be eliminated.

There is also no reason why freight trains couldn’t use new high speed rail lines. If the rails were the same width, most of the freight trains operating in the United States today could run on high speed rail lines. Even if high speed trains and freight trains couldn’t share the same track there’s no reason why freight track and high speed train tracks couldn’t be built on the same roadbed.

Using the high speed track would make the freight trains faster because of the nature of the high speed lines. High speed trains run special roadbed that’s like an interstate highway for trains. That is it is grade separated so cars don’t cross the tracks, which can cause accidents and delays. Such track is usually straighter so it allows for higher speeds.

Another way high speed rail would make freight rail better is that it would allow many freight trains to be pulled by electric locomotives. Most American trains are pulled by diesel locomotives because most American rail lines are not equipped for electric locomotives. Electric locomotives are cheaper than diesel locomotives to operate and they don’t run on imported oil like diesel locomotives do.

It also goes without saying that high speed rail lines could also be used by high speed freight trains. These could be used to move a lot of freight that is now moved by air or truck and reduce our oil imports even farther.

Most of the packages that UPS, Fedex, and similar services now ship by air could be moved by high speed freight trains. This would reduce both shipping costs and oil usage and make our economy more efficient. Other items that could be shipped via high speed freight trains include fruit, vegetables, food, electronics, electronic parts and luggage.

An interesting use of high speed trains would be to ship air passengers’ luggage. Airlines are constantly restricting luggage and charging more for luggage. A business that ships air passengers’ luggage or excess luggage on a high speed train could be profitable.

There of course will be thousands of other items that could be shipped by high speed rail. Once high speed rail is built it will not take for American entrepreneurs to think up hundreds of new ways of taking advantage of it. Many of these ways will involve the shipment of freight over high speed rail.

The critics are wrong, properly constructed high speed rail lines would improve America’s freight railroad system and make America more competitive economically.

High Speed Rail as a Real Estate Investment Opportunity

2010-07-14T08:44:00.001-07:00

America’s renewed interest in high speed real could be a tremendous opportunity for real estate investors.

High speed rail refers to supped passenger rail service in which trains run at speed of over 150 MPH. The Obama administration has already pledged $8 billion in federal funds to build high speed rail lines. Construction of the first high speed rail lines could begin in California and Florida as early as next year. In 2008 voters in California approved several billion dollars in bonds for high speed rail construction.

High speed rail will be a tremendous real estate investment opportunity for several reasons. Those who take advantage of those opportunities by buying up property along or near high speed rail lines could make a lot of money.

Why High Speed Rail is an Investment Opportunity

Land around major transportation infrastructure projects like freeways, Interstate Highways, airports and mass transit lines often goes up in value. The land goes up in value because the travelers using the new transportation system require services which provide an opportunity for service businesses.

Just look at all the gas stations, truck stops, restaurants, hotels, motels, car washes, restaurants, convenience stores, fast food joints and other businesses on interstate off ramps. Or all the hotels, parking companies, restaurants, car rental agencies and other businesses that pop up around airports.

Don’t you wish you could have bought land around a major airport or interstate off ramp years ago before it was built? Well you now have an opportunity to buy land along and even on high speed rail lines before they are built.

High speed rail lines in Europe, Asia and the Northeastern US attract hundreds of thousands of passengers everyday. The new high speed rail lines in the US are likely to attract similar numbers of passengers who will spend their cash at all kinds of service businesses. Those service businesses are going to need property to locate on they will pay for prime locations near high speed rail lines.

High Speed Rail Stations as Real Estate Investment Opportunities

Some of the best real estate investment opportunities will be around high speed rail stations. Land around airports often increases in value as does land around commuter rail and rail transit stations.

The land within easy walking distance of high speed rail stations will be the most valuable because businesses there will have direct access to rail passengers. Car rental agencies will definitely want this land because many of not most rail passengers will want to rent a car when they get off the train. Fast food joints, restaurants and convenience stores will also want to locate there to sell food and other items directly to passengers.

Perhaps the biggest opportunity around high speed rail stations will be parking lots. Most of the passengers will drive their cars to the high speed rail station and they’ll need somewhere to park. The biggest problem at many rail transit stations is parking, many of these facilities don’t have enough parking.

Just like at the airport, parking lot operators will move in to take advantage of the situation, and they’ll need a lot of land. The closer the parking lot is to the train station the more money its operator can charge for spaces.

Parking lots near high speed rail stations because they could be a real estate investment that pays for itself. An investor could buy land put in a parking lot and use the parking charges to cover his costs until a developer comes along and buys the land. Existing parking facilities near high speed rail stations will be a tremendous investment. Properties such as vacant lots, older housing, older building, abandoned houses and undeveloped land within walking distance or a short drive of high speed rail stations will be a good investment because they can be converted to parking lots.

Another good investment is rental property within walking distance of a high speed rail station site. This is another investment that could pay for itself in the form of rents while the owner waits for a developer to buy it. Even if a developer doesn’t buy the property, the owner will probably be able to increase the rents the high speed rail line opens for business.

The best way to locate land near high speed rail stations is to find the maps of proposed high speed rail lines located on the internet. Most of these maps will show where the stations will go. An investor can locate at these and then go to the site of the proposed station.

Many of these stations will be in depressed older areas where property is still fairly cheap. A good way to determine which properties will increase in value is to walk around and locate properties within walking distance of the proposed station. One tip start looking and buying before construction begins on the rail line or the station because that will raise prices.

High Speed Rail Housing Boom

The other investment opportunity in real estate created by high speed rail will be in new housing developments. High speed rail will lower travel times and the cost of travel in a lot of areas of the country and open large areas of land to housing development.

In California the proposed high speed rail system will make a trip between Los Angeles and Bakersfield in less than an hour possible. Since real estate costs and living in Bakersfield are much lower than in LA many people will move to Bakersfield and commute to Los Angeles on the high speed rail. Naturally, real estate developers will take advantage of this with new subdivisions for all those new commuters.

The California high speed rail will also go through of California’s fastest growing bedroom communities including Lake Ellsinore, Temecula, Palmdale and Lancaster. Those areas will probably see a growth in population and property values when the rail arrives.

In Florida the proposed high speed rail between Tampa and Orlando will go right through rural Polk County where there’s lots of empty land. Since Polk County is halfway between the two cities and the high speed rail trip will take about an hour that means Polk County will be a half hour’s commute from two of the nation’s most popular and fastest growing metropolitan areas. It won’t be long before developers take advantage of this new commute machine for Floridians with large numbers of new subdivisions.

Bedroom communities and other real estate developments along high speed rail lines could be the next great American real estate boom. Those who buy up property, especially empty land that’s already zoned for development; in those areas could reap a large fortune. Naturally, all those new homeowners will need someplace to shop so commercial land in those areas will be very desirable when the major retailers move in.

The way to locate investment opportunities in potential high speed rail bedroom communities is to look at the maps of the proposed high speed rail lines. Look for land near the proposed high speed rail stations, land that’s just a few minute’s drive from the rail stations will be the most desirable.

Look for farms, and land that’s already zoned for residential or commercial use. In particular look for properties on good roads or highways that lead straight to the train station site. Those will be the places the developers will buy up first.

Another type of investment will be lots, houses and undeveloped land in pleasant small towns with high speed rail stations. Many Americans will move to small towns or the country and use high speed rail to commute to jobs in the cities once it becomes available. Some of the most valuable properties will be houses and lots within walking distance of the train station.

The way to locate these investment opportunities now is to locate the maps of the proposed high speed rail lines and find where the stations will be. Then go to the proposed station locations and start looking for bargains.

High Speed Rail is the Future

Twenty or thirty years from now a lot of people will be sitting around grumbling that they didn’t buy up land on the high speed rail line back in the day. Instead of being of one those grumblers, you could be the smart cookie that cashed in on the high speed rail opportunity by buying land along the high speed rail line.

Those who take advantage of the opportunity of real estate investment along high speed rail lines now could get in at the beginning of the next great American real estate boom.

High Speed Rail Finally Has A Voice In Washington

2010-07-11T15:13:00.000-07:00

One of the major factors working against passenger rail in Washington has been the lack of a lobbying group capable of competing with the highway lobby. Now there appears to be such a group working for high speed rail that could help all passenger rail efforts.

The US High Speed Rail Association is a slick high tech industry lobbying group backed by big money from manufacturers of high speed rail equipment. It has already started lobbying Congress, and has held some fancy conferences to attract attention.

The organization also has a very impressive website that includes lots of pictures of cool looking trains. The best feature is a neat looking map of a national high speed rail system the US HSRA wants to build by 2030. Unlike the plans “unveiled” by President Obama last year this high speed rail system would connect every region in the Lower 48 states and most of our cities. It would be backed up by a system of 110 MPH trains which would provide regional service.

Perhaps this is just what high speed rail and passenger rail need in Washington, a professional lobbying firm with some real bucks. Maybe this will finally get Congress paying some attention to high speed rail and more importantly throwing some real money at it.

Let’s face it folks $8 billion for high speed rail is a joke especially when we can come up with $1 trillion for the bank bailout and the war in Afghanistan. Maybe this lobbying group can tip the balance.

Buffett's Big Gamble On America's Future

2009-11-08T11:41:00.000-08:00

The Sage of Omaha has made what maybe his smartest, best and boldest investment yet by buying the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad.

By buying the BNSF, Warren Buffett has positioned himself to profit from the future of American transportation. With our highways gridlocked and falling apart from lack of maintenance and freight traffic expected to double or triple in coming decades, railroads are going to be the principal means of moving freight over long distance.

Add the fact that the world’s oil supply will shrink as demand increases and the picture looks even better for Buffet’s railroad. After all the Santa Fe can move a ton of goods, 470 miles on a gallon of diesel fuel. No truck can match that fuel mileage and the profit that comes from it.

This means that the Santa Fe and other railroads are in a position to provide a basic service the country needs transportation at a time when the government transportation system, highways; is overburdened and failing. The railroads are going to be moving more freight in the years ahead and doing it more efficiently.

The BNSF acquisition is also a real estate deal of monumental proportions for Buffett. The railroad controls vast amounts of land around the country including a lot of prime real estate.

Here in Denver, the BNSF diesel shops are the biggest piece of undeveloped property in the trendy neighborhood of Lower Downtown. When real estate recovers this land and similar parcels in cities all over the country will be immensely valuable. Adding to the value will be the fact that a lot of this land will be transit accessible because its located on railroad rights of way where light rail and other transit lines are being built.

In California, the BNSF owns a lot of land along the routes of that state’s high speed rail system. Once the bullet trains start running land prices near stations where BNSF has property will skyrocket. If other bullet train systems are built around the country or nationwide Buffett could see profits from those as well.

Another potential profit that a lot of people don’t see is that the railroad rights of way are perfect places for pipelines and fiber optic communications cables. We’re going to need more of those as our society grows and Buffett can profit by selling the rights to run those along his railroad tracks.

Buffett is also betting on continued international trade, one of the BNSF’s biggest businesses these days is hauling consumer goods that land in cargo containers at West Coast ports to markets in the east and Midwest. If trade continues to grow and it probably will so will BNSF’s bottom line.

The best thing about this deal is that Buffett is betting against all the doomsayers who say civilization is about to collapse and America has no future. Buffett is pointing out that the United States and the world have a future and economic growth will continue whether we like it or not. Buffett is positioning himself and the charitable foundations that benefit from his fortune to profit in that future.

Another reason libertarians should like rail it can be privatized

2009-07-18T14:33:00.000-07:00

There's another reason why conservatives and libertarians should like rail. If government transportation systems get privatized in the future and many of them probably will thanks to the state of the economy it'll be a lot easier to find private buyers and operators for rail lines than highways. Private freight railroads in the US and some high speed rail lines in Japan make money. Private companies are anxious to partner with local governments building rail transit systems. The reason for this is simple, it's easy to charge people using rail for the privilege and hard to charge highway users. Yes there are toll roads but they're not common and generally only work where no other road is available. Few private entities are lining to up to operate highways, and I doubt it'll be possible to sell off most highways. Libertarians then should favor the transportation system that can be turned over to private enterprise not the transportation system created for socialists by socialists namely highways.

Organizations working for High Speed Rail

2009-07-14T09:05:00.000-07:00

• The Federal Railroad Administration
The federal agency that oversees railroads in the United States. This is the agency in charge of the federal high speed rail program. They’re the ones who’ll hand out the $8-15 billion in High Speed Rail funding that President Obama has asked for. The nine High Speed Rail Corridors you’ve heard so much about are designated by the FRA. Judging from the materials on its website the FRA has done a lot of work on High Speed Rail but no real planning. Sadly, FRA’s High Speed Rail plans look more like responses to political pressure than a strategy for high speed rail. For example, FRA recently designated the I-15 route between Las Vegas and LA a high speed rail corridor, largely because high speed rail between Lalaland and Vegas is a pet project of US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
• The California High Speed Rail Authority. www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov
The California state agency responsible for building high speed rail in the Golden
State. This group is the closest to actually building high speed rail, they have an excellent plan, $8 billion in bond funding from the state of California and popular support. This agency put the successful high speed rail initiative on the ballot in California in 2008. Since California is a Democratic bastion and the Democrats control Congress heaps of federal cash may soon be flowing to this authority. Barring bad luck the CHSRA should have a High Speed Rail line up and running in California by 2020 if not sooner. Preliminary survey and design work for the rail lines has already begun. Some press reports indicate that work on high speed rail lines in the San Joaquin Valley could begin as early as 2011.
• Texas High Speed Rail and Transportation Corporation, http://www.thsrtc.com/
A consortium of city, town and county governments and universities working to build the Texas T-Bone (love that name) a high speed rail line that would connect Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Waco, Dallas and Fort Worth. The support this group has is unclear and Texas has a history of pie in the sky High Speed Rail schemes. There seems to be some support in the State Legislature. It should be noted that the Texas T-Bone planned outlined on their website conflicts with the two High Speed Rail Corridors in Texas on the FRA’s map. Publishes a newsletter called Fast Forward.
• Rocky Mountain Rail Authority, www.rockymountainrail.org
Like the THSRTC this is a consortium of local governments and Transit Agencies studying the possibility of High Speed Rail in Colorado. RMRA is working to get the area along Interstate 25 along the Front Range which includes Pueblo, Colorado Springs, Denver, Boulder, Longmont, and Fort Collins and the area along I-70 between Denver and Glenwood Springs designated High Speed Rail Corridors. This group grew out of opponents of I-70 expansion plans to increase the highway’s capacity to carry skiers to the slopes. The website and the plans are impressive. The RMRA has posted some impressive rail plans on its website. These include improvements to existing rail lines to restore commuter rail between the cities on Colorado’s Front Range. RMRA has garnered some state funds and the governors of Texas, Colorado and New Mexico are campaigning to have I-25 from El Paso to Denver designated a high speed rail corridor in order to get more federal funds.
• Amtrak www.amtrak.com
The government owned corporation that provides intercity passenger rail service in the lower 48 states. Amtrak currently operates the Acela Express America’s only High Speed Train, some electric trains in the Northeast and some fast passenger trains. No plans for future High Speed Rail or High Speed Rail expansion are posted on Amtrak’s website. Outside the Northeast Corridor many of Amtrak’s diesel electric passenger trains operate at slower speeds than trains operated by private railroads that preceeded them. This is so because Amtrak has to use track owned by various private freight railroads where speed is restricted. Amtrak only owns the Northeast Corridor and hasn’t even gotten enough money from Congress to upgrade that route to conditions necessary for high speed rail. It must be noted that the Acela Express is as technologically advanced as any European or Asian High Speed train so Amtrak would probably be the operator of any future High Speed Rail systems built in the US.
• Midwest High Speed Rail Association http://www.midwesthsr.org
This is an organization of private citizens whose major focus seems to be upgrading and expanding passenger rail service in Illinois. They do have an impressive website and some very good and specific plans hopefully this could be a model for future grass roots rail lobbying efforts in the US.
• Midwest Interstate Passenger Commission http://www.miprc.org
This group represents nine state governments in the Midwest that are working with
Amtrak to expand and improve passenger rail service in the Midwest. The Commission’s main focus seems to be upgrading Amtrak diesel service but its website contains pictures of Acela and other electric High Speed Trains. No specific rail plans are presented on the site. Nine states are represented Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nebraska, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri and Ohio. A map on the group’s website shows proposed rail lines connecting Midwestern cities as part of a Midwestern Rail Initiative. No specifics about technology are provided. Other than holding a yearly meeting of state government officials it’s not clear what this group is doing. This group laid out the proposed Chicago Rail hub President Obama mentioned in his speech about High Speed Rail on April 17.
• DesertXpress www.desertxpress.com
DesertXpress is a private group working to build a dedicated high speed passenger rail line between Victorville, California and Las Vegas running along I-15 . This group has an impressive website and claims to have invested $25 million in their plans. Their route was recently designated a federal High Speed Rail Corridor. The website indicates that they want to use off the shelf technology for trains running on track along I-15 it mentions both diesel and EMU technology that would run at 150 MPH. The idea behind this scheme is to reduce congestion on highways but because the train would stop at Victorville about 100 miles east of LA on I-15 it would increase congestion because people would have to drive the already congested I-15 to Victorville. The sensible expedient of building a connection between DesertXpress and the proposed California High Speed Rail Line at San Bernardino is not mentioned. Whether drivers who are already half way to Vegas would be willing to stop and get on a train is a good question to ask. It must be noted that this group’s website does include a proposed future connection to the California High Speed Rail Authority’s rail line at Palmdale which would provide a rail connection to LA, Bakersfield, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, the Bay Area and Sacramento. The CHSRA has announced that it has no plans to spend federal High Speed Rail funds on a train to Vegas. This group is apparently not related the schemes to build a maglev line been LA and Vegas. Interestingly enough there appear to be no active websites for organizations working on a maglev train between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

Governors want federal cash for high speed rail study

2009-07-12T10:30:00.000-07:00

It looks like some sense is prevailing in Colorado state government for a change. Our state's governor Bill Owens has teamed up with New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and Texas Gov. Rick Perry two long time rail boosters to ask the Federal Railroad Administration to designate the I-25 Corridor between El Paso and Denver a high speed rail corridor.
This action doesn't mean that high speed rail is coming to Colorado it simply means that the three states would be eligable for $5 million to study the possibility of fast passenger trains operating along the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains.
The governors' proposal makes a lot of sense, a lot more sense than earlier high speed rail proposals for the corridor which wanted high speed rail running from Cheyenne to Albquerque. El Paso is a substansial metropolitan area and a gateway to Mexico. The I-25 Corridor north from El Paso to Denver is a straight shot that econmpasses the cities of El Paso, Alamagordo, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Raton, NM, Trinidad, CO, Pueblo, Colorado Springs and Denver. These cities are all fairly close together and there's a lot of existing railroad track on this route. More importantly the land along the route is fairly flat so the building would be fairly easy except on the Raton Pass the Monument Hill area south of Denver. To make matters easier there's already a commuter rail line the RoadRunner linking Albqueque and Santa Fe and the Rocky Mountain Rail Authority has already done a lot of the preliminary studies for commuter rail between Denver and Pueblo. The Regional Transportation District in Denver is planning to build a commuter rail line to Boulder and Longmont so those cities could easily be linked to the Denver to El Paso line. So this is a realistic rail plan that's quite doable if the money is there.
Such a commuter system would be a real boon to Colorado because it would make jobs in Denver and Colorado Springs more accesible to residents of economically depressed Pueblo and Trinidad and affordable housing in Pueblo accessible to poorer residents of the Denver area.
One suggestion here this system should be expanded north to Boulder, Longmont, Loveland, Fort Collins, Wellington and Cheyenne, Wyoming. That would create a true front range rail system that hundreds of people would ride. It would also bring a fourth state into the plan and make it more likely for the plan to get the federal funds it would need.

Conversation with Jennings Rails and Liberty

2009-06-28T11:42:00.000-07:00

Question: You're a libertarian yet you're a strong advocate of rail transit why?
Answer: I believe in reason rail is simply the fastest, most efficient mode of ground transportation available. It's also a form of ground transportation that can be financed, designed and built by private companies. When private companies have to design and build a ground transportation system they usually go with rail.
Question: Libertarians usually see rail especially mass transit as a socialist conspiracy and a the automobile as a symbol of liberty. You disagree with them why?
Answer: They're wrong. It's that simple, yes some socialists, liberals and progressives promote rail and mass transit. That doesn't mean rail and mass transit are bad, merely that some bad or misguided people believe in them. In the United States the automobile is supported by a massive socialist tax supported road and highway system. This is almost entirely government owned and operated and I might add a product of Central Planning similar to that in the old Soviet Union. How is that a symbol of liberty?
Question: But auto supporters say the automobile provides individual transportation and freedom?
Answer: Well yes it does but shouldn't it be the average person's choice to own and drive one or not. Most Americans own cars because they have no choice. A great many Americans couldn't reach the basic needs of life without a car. How is that liberty? People are forced to buy cars because of decisions made by central planners that is Socialism isn't it. Shouldn=t people have a choice whether to buy and drive a car or not. Most of us don't have the choice. If the car is as wonderful as the auto apologists say then people would choose it themselves.
Question: Do you support government subsidies for mass transportation and rail?
Answer: No. I'd like to see all government subsidies for transportation cars, planes, trains, light rail, buses etc. abolished. Government run transportation has been a disaster that has stripped average Americans of their basic freedoms, left us dependant on foreign oil, and left most of us stuck in gridlock. We're wasting our tax dollars on highways that are essentially 1930s technology and rail transit systems that are just a souped up version of what we had in 1910. Wouldn't it be wonderful if private entrepreneurs could provide us with transportation the same way we get Internet service. Imagine what computers would be like if Bill Gates had to go to Congress to get permission to introduce new software? There are lots of inventors out there with innovative new technologies that will never get off the ground because government is making the decisions. If the automobile is so wonderful, then those people who love it should pay for it. If they want highways to drive on let them have toll roads. If they want gasoline let them pay whatever the Arabs will charge for it.
Question: You've backed some government mass transit systems why?
Answer: Simple, I=m a tax payer. I know that in modern America ending transportation subsidies would be politically impossible. Since government is going to spend my money anyway it might as well be on something useful I agree with.
Question: Most Libertarians and conservatives oppose rail and back the car why?
Answer: Mainly because they're ignorant of history. They don't know where the highway system came from it was designed and built by the Progressives, the same American socialists who gave us the Income Tax, Prohibition, Racial Segregation, the FBI, Two World Wars and the Draft. Highway construction was part of their war on individual freedom and private business. They deliberately and systematically replaced private transportation systems with their government run system. The idea was to give America a centrally controlled transportation system owned and run by the government.

The highway builders seized vast amounts of private property to build their roads and bulldozed entire neighborhoods to do so. In New York City, highway builder Robert Moses engaged in a sort of ethnic cleansing bulldozing ethnic neighborhoods full of poor people for roads that white middle class people would drive on. The only thing they know about the rail car debate is conservative propaganda which says rail bad car good. Learn the history of your own country. Back in 1910 when real estate developers wanted to subdivide land outside the city they had to build a new transportation artery to it. Today they pass the cost onto the taxpayers because they know the city or the county will build a road to them. I couldn't think of a better means of controlling sprawl. Let those who want to live in the countryside pay for the privilege.
Question: What do you think of the Peak Oil Thesis? The idea that we've reached the maximum level of oil production and that oil supplies will decline. Some Peak Oil Believers such as your friend James Kunstler think this will take society back to the 19th Century.
Answer: Well Peak Oil is for real. Most petroleum geologists agree with it. However, it won't lead to the collapse of civilization. Nobody will have to start hoeing potatoes or driving a horse drawn buggy because of it. In fact Peak Oil maybe a good thing because it will force us to utilize other sources of energy.
Question: Why do you think Peak Oil could be a good thing?
Answer: We are dependant upon oil because there has been no economic incentive to develop alternate energy sources or invest in transportation technologies such as electric rail that don=t need oil. There has been no economic incentive for average people to turn to those alternatives. Peak oil will create that incentive.
Question: Does Peak Oil mean disaster for America and an end to the American dream?
Answer: It means a rude awakening a nasty jolt that will get us back on the right track. If you look around the world many of the richest societies, Switzerland, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, the Netherlands, Scandinavia are seriously lacking in resources yet they are prosperous and provide a good life for their citizens. Scarcity of resources provides an incentive for innovation and hard work. People are forced to pool their resources, get education and work hard. At the same time societies with abundance of resources such as Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Russia are among the most corrupt. A serious lack of resources will make America more technologically advanced and more progressive socially. It'll help us achieve the American dream.
Question: What do you think the future of transportation is?
Answer: Unless Scotty invents us a working teleportation machine, rail is the best, fastest, most efficient and most effective ground transportation system along. So it's the future of ground transportation. It'll be augmented by improved automobiles and air travel. I doubt we'll see flying cars but small aircraft that can be used for taxi and transport could be an effective alternative. Imagine if average people had the kind of air travel the rich have today. So my guess is that rail and air are the future of travel because those two modes are more free of government interference.

Buffalo Disaster and High Speed Rail

2009-05-17T09:47:00.000-07:00

I don’t like using tragedies to promote my political causes but I must point out that the 50 people who died when a commuter plane crashed near Buffalo on Feb.12 might be alive if High Speed Rail had been available.
The plane that went down, Colgan Air Flight 3407, was on a short haul flight between Newark and Buffalo. Short haul commuter travel between cities only a few hundred miles apart, like Buffalo and Newark using planes makes little economic sense. Indeed it has now come out that Colgan Air was cutting costs by ignoring regulations and only paying one of its pilots $16,000-23,000 a year. Obviously Colgan wouldn’t have to be so chintzy if it were making money on this short haul flight.
Such short haul trips little economic sense using planes but they make a great deal of sense using trains. Trains after all have much lower fuel and maintenance costs than planes and lower labor costs (only one engineer is needed to run a train). Trains can also make a lot more stops at more destinations which means they can carry many more paying passengers. (Yes the crews on the trains themselves can be larger but since the service personnel who work directly with the rail passengers can collect tips salaries can be lower) I might also add that because the railroad can charge lower fares it can discount and attract even more passengers.
This isn’t imagination in Europe airlines have eliminated shuttle service on many routes also served by High Speed Rail because they simply couldn’t compete with the trains. High Speed Trains could do much the same thing in much of the US if dedicated grade separated tracks could be built for them.
Replacing short haul air service with High Speed Rail could make travel safer because there would be fewer smaller planes and fewer small airlines using cut rate methods. Reducing short haul air traffic would reduce congestion at airports and the possibility of collisions and crashes. By utilizing High Speed Rail we could also divert some long haul flights from crowded big city airports like Newark to smaller outlying aerodromes like those in Utica or Albany served by the High Speed Trains. This would further reduce congestion and make travel safer and easier.
Finally High Speed Rail could take over the movement of large amounts of packages and other goods now moved by air freight. That would reduce congestion and make the skies safer. It would also reduce travel costs and the cost of doing business. It would also make business and industry more efficient and faster.
Yes I know it sounds cynical and ghoulish but I still have to wonder did those 50 people in Buffalo die needlessly. Could they be alive today if America had decent passenger rail service?