High Speed Rail Job Creator

The Republicans are again living up to their nick name, party of no, by trying to stifle the creation of high speed rails in the United States.

Before discussing why the GOP wants to deny America this job creating project that will also give Americans an alternative mode of transportation, let’s look at China.

Did you know that China has been quite busy with job creation?

Did you know that as of May 2010 China has 3,529 high speed railways in operation, with 6,696 under construction?

China has also used technology from France, Germany and Japan to help produce their high-speed trains.

I am also willing to bet that China employs Chinese workers, using mostly Chinese made products to construct these high speed Chinese rail systems. Talk about job creation and stimulating the economy! 

Why hasn’t China used anything from the United States of America for their high speed rails?

Maybe the reason lies in the fact that America hasn’t kept up with technological advancement, in addition to the fact that we have either sold our businesses to countries abroad or outsourced such manufacturing jobs.

The UIC (International Union of Railways) and EC Directive 96/58 define high-speed rail as train systems operating at or above 250 km/h on new tracks, or 200 km/h on existing tracks.

 But the USA decided to define a high-speed rail as a train system that operates at speeds above 110mph or 177 km/hr. Maybe this is another reason that explains why China didn’t ask us for help?

President Obama wants to advance our infrastructure, and one of his proposals is to creates high speed rail systems. Not only will this adventure create jobs, it will also offers Americans a choice, in addition to the airlines, regarding long distance travel. 

A high speed rail service that would be easily accessible throughout America could perhaps eliminate millions or even billions of miles of annual automobile driving, and it could be a cost effective alternative to using the airlines.

If properly implemented across the USA, Americans could see a savings of millions, if not billions of gallons of gasoline annually, and this in turn, would decrease our dependence on foreign oil. In addition to reducing traffic congestion in our larger cities, we would also lessen road maintenance and minimize air pollution in our major metropolitan areas.

So what’s the down side? Politicians, especially those with a more conservative view, do not want federal involvement or federal funds to pay for construction of high speed rail services. Instead they want the private sector to initiate and build such infrastructure. That’s all well and good, but there’s a big problem with this idea.

A very small fraction of the American population has access to the massive funds that would be required to take on such a project. And more than likely, this handful of people are more interested in putting their money into stocks and hedge funds, and who would blame them? What would you prefer to do if you were extremely wealthy?

A) Sign the forms to invest your money and then sip a favorite beverage, possibly poolside while watching your money grow.

B) Manage the stress and headache of a start up high speed rail system business to be implemented across the United States of America.

If I had that kind of choice, good grief, I would pick option A, as most people would chose!

Who wouldn’t want to sit back, relax and watch their money grow? Most people do not care to be married to the extreme stress of a major start up business that will take over their life for the next twenty years or so.

What are your thoughts?