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Paul Theroux: Invisible Man on a Ghost TrainJim Benning asks the author of “Ghost Train to the Eastern Star” about his new book, aging and the challenge of disappearing in the age of the BlackBerry HOW TO
Eat Ceviche in LimaGrab a Cusqueña and get comfortable. As Nicholas Gill explains, a trip to a Peruvian cevichería can be an all-day immersion in good conversation and raw seafood. BOOKS
Unsentimental Journeys: Wrestling With Paul TherouxBronwen Dickey considers “Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: 28,000 Miles in Search of the Great Railway Bazaar” AUDIO SLIDESHOW My Travels, My FeetAfter taking one too many headless torso shots of herself, solo traveler Sophia Dembling started snapping photos of her feet around the world, from the Grand Canyon to Red Square SPEAKER'S CORNER
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TRAVEL BLOG7.12.07
‘Hey America, Make With the !@~$ High-Speed Rail Already’
China Daily reports this week that Beijing Municipality and Hebei Province are teaming up on $10.9 billion expansion of a rail network, which will include trains that can reach up to 217 miles per hour. It’s scheduled for completion by 2010. How frustrated are you with the situation in the U.S.? It’s a national shame that the U.S. doesn’t have a high-speed rail system. Of course, the bureaucratic impediments are daunting, but how long must we go on agreeing that the country needs a system without agreeing on how to go about building one? David Wolman’s story in Wired, the provocatively titled Hey America, Make With the !@~$ High-Speed Rail Already, outlines the situation. He concludes: “If the country has a prayer of solving its traffic woes and creating a more efficient, environmentally sound infrastructure, we’ll need some first-rate, wicked-fast trains.” Wolman points to California as the big test for high-speed rail in the U.S. The big obstacle, as we posted last month: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Elsewhere, the AP reports that Amtrak has entered into a partnership with GrandLuxe Rail Journeys. It’s the first time the national U.S. railroad is providing regularly scheduled private rail services. GrandLuxe will attach cars to regularly scheduled trains, so while you won’t be able to get from, say, Washington D.C. to Chicago at high speeds, you will soon be able to get there while eating five-course meals and having a personal butler. At least the very rich will be able to do that. Amtrak spokesman Cliff Black says the venture is expected to be a moneymaker. Is it too much to hope those profits will go toward a high-speed rail solution?
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Photo by Eduardo Cruz, via Flickr (Creative Commons). Categories: Weblog • Train Travel • United States 
Permalink • Comments (3)
COMMENTSI think it’s very profitable stuff, really, just give some time and this creature will take its money back… By on 7.13.07 at 02:28 AM
Let’ s be clear about something. The USA is not a leader in transportation. Europe is. So is Japan (except in long haul aircrafts). For quite a long time now, the best aircrafts, vehicles and trains have come from Europe and Japan. Already, Taiwan and Korea, former 3rd world countries, have been running high speed trains. According to the article, China is next. A new 3rd world country like the USA, with huge bills to pay, is unlikely to purchase a high speed train system from overseas and its current suppliers such as General Electric and Bombardier are unable or unwilling to engineer and supply a high speed system, stuck as they are in 19th century diesel engine technology. By on 12.31.07 at 07:20 AM
Ever thought of why China can build high-speed rails quickly and with less cost? Because they can bulldoze any land they want and their citizens can’t do squat about it. The US knows its problems, but they will not implement it because of our problems with democracy: 1. Too much bureaucratic red-tape, environmental laws, NIMBYs, etc. etc. which just add to overall cost and rapid implementation time. It’s always endless talk after talk, study after study, bickering after bickering, NIMBYs and lobbyists going at each other, without nothing getting done. 2. No elected politician is going to put his potential votes at risk without subjugating him or herself to lobbyists and his constituents. What the US needs is to revive an ancient Roman method of solving problems fast: the Roman rei gerundae causa (for the matter to be done) dictator. Why a government appointed dictator, you say? 1. Complete immunity from his or her actions. Basically he or she can say “we’re going to build a rail through here, here’s your $$$ for your house, you guys move out and there’s nothing you can do about it” 2. Complete suspension of laws, bureaucracy and public opinion. Basically “this environmental law/bureaucratic red-tape, NIMBY opposition is getting in the way of laying down tracks. We’ll suspend it.” By on 6.2.08 at 04:29 PM
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I want my country to develop a high-speed rail system. Members of the U.S. House of Representatives transportation committee want it. According to the AP, Amtrak president Alex Kummant 
