Obama wants $13 billion for high-speed rail
source: http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/16/obama-wants-13-billion-high-speed-rail/
-
-
- ashcatash
- added this
President Obama said Thursday he wants to spend $13 billion for high-speed rail systems throughout the country to create jobs and reduce gridlock and pollution.
Mr. Obama has already allocated $8 billion for such systems in his $787 billion economic stimulus package, but said Thursday he plans to ask Congress for an additional $5 billion over the next five years "as a down payment to jump-start a potential world-class passenger rail system and set the direction of transportation policy for the future."
"Imagine boarding a train in the center of a city," Mr. Obama at the White House press conference. "No racing to an airport and across a terminal, no delays, no sitting on the tarmac, no lost luggage, no taking off your shoes. This is not some fanciful, pie-in-the-sky vision of the future. It's happening now. The problem is that it's happening elsewhere."
The president cited France, Spain, China and Japan as world leaders in high-speed rail transportation, including Japan's second-generation system with trains capable of reaching speeds of 300 mph.
The plan isn't without detractors. Randal O'Toole, a senior fellow with the Cato Institute, said high-speed rail is only marginally faster than existing rail systems and less environmentally friendly than stated.
"Americans who have ridden French or Japanese high-speed trains often wonder why such trains won't work here," Mr. O'Toole said. "The problem is, they don't work that well in France or Japan."
Mr. Obama has already allocated $8 billion for such systems in his $787 billion economic stimulus package, but said Thursday he plans to ask Congress for an additional $5 billion over the next five years "as a down payment to jump-start a potential world-class passenger rail system and set the direction of transportation policy for the future."
"Imagine boarding a train in the center of a city," Mr. Obama at the White House press conference. "No racing to an airport and across a terminal, no delays, no sitting on the tarmac, no lost luggage, no taking off your shoes. This is not some fanciful, pie-in-the-sky vision of the future. It's happening now. The problem is that it's happening elsewhere."
The president cited France, Spain, China and Japan as world leaders in high-speed rail transportation, including Japan's second-generation system with trains capable of reaching speeds of 300 mph.
The plan isn't without detractors. Randal O'Toole, a senior fellow with the Cato Institute, said high-speed rail is only marginally faster than existing rail systems and less environmentally friendly than stated.
"Americans who have ridden French or Japanese high-speed trains often wonder why such trains won't work here," Mr. O'Toole said. "The problem is, they don't work that well in France or Japan."
-
- groups:
- Community, News and Politics, High Speed Rail
-
- tags:
- News, News and Politics, Obama, Trains
