On November 4th, Californians will vote on a $10 billion bond issue which, if passed, will finance an initial high-speed rail line linking Los Angeles and San Francisco. There are many reasons to support this proposition as well as high-speed rail generally. Since the estimated travel time between those two cities would be 2 ½…
Instead of continuing on up to New York on the Crescent, I’ve scheduled a four-hour layover in Washington for two reasons. I want time for a lunch with two old friends and, since I’ve never had the chance to ride it before today, I want to complete the first half of my journey on Amtrak’s…
There is a petition being circulated in Honolulu by people who are against the city building a mass transit system for which there is an almost desperate need. In an astonishing lack of leadership, our governor, Linda Lingle, a Republican, just signed the damn thing! Furthermore, people of the same ilk continue to oppose all…
Anti-rail people attack the notion that the U.S. should follow Europe’s example and make a serious financial investment in inter-city rail service. Their reason? They say it’s apples and oranges because the distances between major urban areas are so much greater in this country. Oh really? Well, let’s consider four high-speed rail routes in Europe…