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I get so tired of hearing that HSR doesn't make sense federally. The entire country east of the Mississippi has comparable population and density to western Eu

I get so tired of hearing that HSR doesn't make sense federally. The entire country east of the Mississippi has comparable population and density to western Europe. Plus the sheer size and lack of people sure doesn't stop the federal government from maintaining thousands of miles of interstate through vast swaths of nowhere.

bombcar 2y ago
Those interstates move millions of pounds of goods - probably way more important than the people. And the US freight rail system is the envy of the world.
- queenkjuul 2y ago
  I assure you, it is not, but union pacific repeats that line enough that everyone seems to believe it
cuuupid 2y ago
If you look at it by map there's not much more interstate highway than railway. Interstate highway is also far cheaper to build and maintain than you would imagine. It took around $114 billion to build interstate across the entire country, while the high speed rail project in just California is already upwards of $128 billion. On Europe that is kind of exactly my point, high speed rail in Europe is built and maintained by federal governments with high levels of participation, interest and oversight from their population. This can never happen in the US because our federal government has to oversee a very wide amount of area and states are not so autonomous and self-governed that their populations primarily interest themselves with their state governments.
- andbberger 2y ago
  the inflation adjusted cost of the interstate system is closer to a trillion
  - opo 2y ago
    There hasn't been that much inflation. >The construction of the Interstate Highway System cost approximately $114 billion (equivalent to $618 billion in 2023). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Highway_System#:~:text=The%20construction%20of%20the%20Interstate,to%20%24618%20billion%20in%202023). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Highway_System#:~:t...
    - andbberger 2y ago
      618B is indeed closer to a trillion

bombcar 2y ago

Those interstates move millions of pounds of goods - probably way more important than the people. And the US freight rail system is the envy of the world.

queenkjuul 2y ago
I assure you, it is not, but union pacific repeats that line enough that everyone seems to believe it

cuuupid 2y ago

If you look at it by map there's not much more interstate highway than railway. Interstate highway is also far cheaper to build and maintain than you would imagine. It took around $114 billion to build interstate across the entire country, while the high speed rail project in just California is already upwards of $128 billion. On Europe that is kind of exactly my point, high speed rail in Europe is built and maintained by federal governments with high levels of participation, interest and oversight from their population. This can never happen in the US because our federal government has to oversee a very wide amount of area and states are not so autonomous and self-governed that their populations primarily interest themselves with their state governments.

andbberger 2y ago
the inflation adjusted cost of the interstate system is closer to a trillion
- opo 2y ago
  There hasn't been that much inflation. >The construction of the Interstate Highway System cost approximately $114 billion (equivalent to $618 billion in 2023). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Highway_System#:~:text=The%20construction%20of%20the%20Interstate,to%20%24618%20billion%20in%202023). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Highway_System#:~:t...
  - andbberger 2y ago
    618B is indeed closer to a trillion