Missouri Lawmakers Want to Derail High-Speed Train

scottbb

After the supper-committee failure I doubt any funds will go for high speed rail any place.

As far as the tea party concerns tea is disconnected and tea is the same color as whiskey. What they really mean they are part of the Whiskey Rebellion. Ronald Reagan raised taxes because it was needed. Two things you can be sure of death & taxes, But how you tax is a little there and a little there on every thing will work and nobody gets hurt.

Raymount Sylvon Arman Blenker

Oh have a stop off at Columbia, MO With people from KC area And STL area I for see MORERevenue $$$. More Jobs. Lets do it.

Raymount Sylvon Arman Blenker

Jay Nixon's right about this and republicans will pay at the ballot box. The Grand Old Party turn out to be cheapo's and showing their true colors. Abe Lincoln would box your ears.

Gradientman

Please, Please , Please remember how your legislator voted on this. They are not willing to spend anything to improve our state's job picture. Le's make sure it is they who are looking for a job next.

Stackrat10

Yay, another tax dollar draining pet project down the drain!!. The amount of people that would use it compared to the cost. GLAD they stood their ground!

Ross Patton

Im glad they turned down a huge investment in jobs and technology for their region. More money for us on the West Coast, and the NE corridor.

Groovealee

I'm convinced Missouri's new slogan should be "Welcome to Missouri, now get the F out!" This state continues to turn down opportunities for jobs, funding, technology and growth in general. Then we wonder why no one wants to move here!

Anonymous

I foresee something akin to WI Gov. Walker, turn down the money because "the government's broke and it's fiscally responsible" then months later, turn around and beg for the money and tell the constituents "we're working for YOU!"

ocschwar

Every project that lowers our nation's oil dependency, the Republicans oppose. The mind boggles.

Galt, Johnathan

Right... lower our dependency on oil and increase our dependency on coal? Or did you think that the train would have a wind-turbine on top of it?

valkraider

Trains are more efficient than autos or airplanes.

valkraider

Looking at what is happening *now* is very shortsighted.

1. Trains might get more use if they were faster and nicer. People in cars avoid roads which are slow and poorly maintained - why would we expect different with trains? Comparing a fully built out road network that we spend trillions on annually to a train system which only has a couple lines and barely gets chicken scraps of funding is really just not fair.

2. If we had more trains running at more times it would be much more attractive to use. Frequency makes trains much more functional. If a train runs only once a day it makes it harder to use and as such doesn't get used then they cut the service. It is a chicken-egg problem. You have to have good service to attract people to use the service.

3. What happens if the price of fuel doubles? Do more people start to use trains? Having a strong and *diverse* transportation infrastructure is the best thing we can do for the security of the country. We need as many good solid alternates as possible to be able to keep functioning when issues arise. What happens if planes can't fly? What happens if fuel gets very expensive? What happens if a natural disaster takes out an important link? Having reliable roads, bus systems, bridges, train networks, airports, and systems - is vitally important. Putting all our eggs in the automobile basket is dangerously vulnerable to failure if anything goes wrong.

I successfully used two chicken or egg analogies.

Bryce

I've ridden the Missouri River Runner across Missouri many times. It is never empty. In fact, it is pretty darned full. Maybe you should try it and see for yourself. Plus, $26 each way is a good price.

ocschwar

"We already have trains running from KC to St. Louis... and then to Chicago. And they are almost always empty."

A train doesn't have to be full at all to be more efficient than planes or autos. And, a train doesn't shake itself to pieces like planes or autos do. Trains last.

Galt, Johnathan

We already have trains running from KC to St. Louis... and then to Chicago. And they are almost always empty. An empty train running from KC to St. Louis is the opposite of efficient...

ocschwar

Trains can run on anything that's on the grid. Coal. Oil. Gas. Nuclear. Hydro. Wind. Gerbils on treadmills. ANYTHING. Connect it to the overhead wire and the trains will use it.

ocschwar

"So again, it is either oil or coal..."

Right now it is. Tomorrow it might be something else. That's the beauty of not locking yourself to one energy source. And the best part is you can mix it up, little of this, little of that, and change the mix with a flick of a switch.

Galt, Johnathan

I know how they work... I have been on one in Japan. What I was referring to is the fact that we burn coal. We do have a nuclear plant in Missouri, and while they happen to have a smaller environmental impact than coal... I don't see us building any more of them after watching what is happening in Japan.

So again, it is either oil or coal...