Evansville Rail: It Makes Financial Sense To Build High Speed Rail Not I-69

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

It Makes Financial Sense To Build High Speed Rail Not I-69

(photo credit: careerguide.com)

Unlike roads, which most are untolled and take in zero revenue to offset their high costs, high speed rail has proven over and over that it will either offset its costs or turn a steady profit. Here are some examples...

Amtraks ACELA covers it's own costs...
http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/business-brains/amtrak-8217s-acela-turns-10-all-eyes-on-new-high-speed-rail-initiatives/12483

Spain's AVE covers it's cost...
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/16/science/earth/16train.html

Russia's profits...
http://www.cahsrblog.com/2010/11/russian-hsr-high-ridership-big-profits/

Taiwan's profits...
http://www.cahsrblog.com/2010/06/taiwan-hsr-generates-operating-profit/

On the flip side, I-69 has been exposed for its inability to be financially viable. Back in 1999, before INDOT admitted that the cost of the interstate from Evansville to Indianapolis would be $3.31 billion not $750 million, an independent firm pegged each job created by I-69 to cost $1.56 million...

http://www.commonsensei69.org/documents/I69UICRpt01-00-99.pdf

Wouldn't it be nice if we actually got something for the several billion dollars we are getting ready to spend on our infrastructure to Indianapolis? Wouldn't it be nice if we had to buy less land because our rails our almost 1/3rd the size of our interstates? And wouldn't it be nice if we could tap into the Bloomington and Indianapolis markets for goods and services that could easily be here in less than an hour on a 220 mph train than a 70 mph car or truck?

High speed rail does all of that. And for these reasons, and so many more, we need to build RAILS NOT ROADS!

(photo credit: Dailyplunge.com)

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Did You Know?

-An intercity high-speed passenger train is three times as energy efficient as commercial air, and six times as efficient as a car traveling with one occupant.

-Switching 5% of US highway travel to high-speed passenger rail would save more that one-sixth the amount of oil imported annually from the Middle East.

-High-Speed Rail service requires less land acquisition that other modes of travel. According to the Worldwatch Institute, two railroad tracks can carry as many people per hour as sixteen lanes of highway. Farmlands and environmentally-sensitive geography are preserved.

-One railway track mile uses 0.42 football field(s) worth of land compared to one highway mile that equals 1.10.

-One Virginia Railway Express commuter train can equal as many as 800 cars taken off the highway.

-One intermodal freight train can equal up to 300 tractor-trailers.

-For every $1 invested in public transportation such as intercity passenger rail, $4 is returned in economic development.

-One regional passenger train equals 4 regional planes

-For the cost of building a third airport in the Chicago area, a network of high-speed trains could be built in nine states and serve far more travelers.

-In addition, the cost of building quality interstate highways in urban areas cost between $15 and $20 Million per mile, while infrastructure for high-speed passenger trains traveling at 125 mph costs between $3 and $6 Million per mile.

-In over 35 years of operation, the high-speed passenger rail system, carrying over 6 million passengers a day, worldwide, has only had a few minor incidents and one fatal accident.

-In the United States, Amtrak's Metroliner, a passenger train traveling at 125 Mph between New York and Washington, has had no passenger fatalities since it was established in 1986. Compare that to 500,000 motor vehicle fatalities in the United States since 1986.

-High-speed trains speed travelers from city center to city center. For most passengers, the rest of the trip is a simple walk or short taxi ride from the train station to their final destination.