Explanation of this affirmative
No Solvency: Must upgrade freight rails as well
Download 0.9 Mb.
|
- Navigate this page:
- No solvency: HSR maintenance costs high
- No Solvency: Northeast Corridor should be HSR focus
No Solvency: Must upgrade freight rails as wellOverall rail infrastructure must improve; federal government subsidies are necessaryZiolkowski 2012 (Michael F. , State University of New York, College at Brockport, The ties that bind: freight and passenger high-speed rail are interdependent Journal of Transport Geography 22 (2012) 292–294 www.elsevier.com/locate/jtrangeo) 
Passenger trains largely run over freight rail rights-of-way, and, so, investment in the current freight railroads is logical. The railroads have other ideas: Chief Executive Officer Michael Ward of CSX Corp. (CSX) said, ‘‘CSX can’t be part of President Barack Obama’s rail vision because passenger trains don’t make money, and high-speed trains don’t be- long on freight tracks’’ (Caruso, 2011). A parallel passenger infra- structure needs to be developed, often in the same right-of-way. It is essential, however, that freight tracks be upgraded and updated, both to improve freight rail and to expand HSR. If any investments in rail infrastructure are to take place they need to focus on improving the existing right-of-way of freight railroads so that if a viable passenger market develops the infrastructure will be there to host it. The acquisition of right-of- way designated for passenger service may be required as mixing passenger and freight trains may not be feasible or safe. After the infrastructure is built the trains will need to be operated profitably. At a minimum the fixed investments will need to be heavily subsidized. No solvency: HSR maintenance costs highHSR needs Billions of taxpayer dollars to maintainVartabedian, 2012 (Ralph, CALIFORNIA;Experts target bullet train; Taxpayers will have to provide billions of dollars annually once the system is running, group's report says., April 24, 2012, ) The state rail authority has grossly underestimated future operating costs of California's proposed bullet train, meaning taxpayers potentially will have to provide billions of dollars annually once the system is running, according to an analysis released Monday by a group of outside financial experts. The California High Speed Rail Authority's claim that its future system would generate hundreds of millions of dollars in surpluses is based on unrealistic assumptions about what it will cost to operate the network, according to the study group, which included former World Bank official William Grindley and Stanford University management professor Alain C. Enthoven. The rail authority claims it can operate the 510-mile system at a cost of about 10 cents per passenger mile, less than one-fourth of the 40 cents to 50 cents it costs high speed rail operators in other countries, the analysis found. If California's bullet train operating costs rise to the international average, losses will range from $2 billion to $9 billion annually, according to the report. No Solvency: Northeast Corridor should be HSR focusAll funding for HSR should be focused on Northeast CorridorWashington Post, 2010 (Washington Post Article, All aboard high-speed politics; Funding for fast trains should be focused in the Northeast Corridor, not sprinkled across the country, January 31, 2010) FRESH OFF HIS State of the Union address, President Obama flew to Tampa to announce $1.25 billion in economic recovery funds to go toward a high-speed rail corridor between that city and Orlando. It's part of an $8 billion investment from the economic recovery package announced in April. We're in favor of these kinds of projects. They would get people out of their cars and thus reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. But a better investment would have been to use all of that money to make the Northeast Corridor -- the nation's most traveled rail line -- a model for high-speed rail. Thirty high-speed rail projects received stimulus funding, spanning 31 states in every region of the country. Many of them have been on state transportation drawing boards for years. They include high-speed rail between San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco ($2.34 billion), Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City ($1.13 billion) and Minneapolis, Milwaukee and Chicago ($823 million). Meanwhile, the Northeast Corridor, from Boston to Washington, D.C., will be targeted for $112 million in recovery money to help fund improvements along the route.These federal dollars are meant to be seed money to spur local and private investment. They also have the benefit of putting people to work. But these projects are massive, take years to build and cost tens of billions of dollars. That's why sprinkling limited funds across the country strikes us as an inefficient exercise, one that is ripe for pork-barrel politics.Take, for instance, the pet project of Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), a rail connection between Las Vegas and Los Angeles. While it did not get any recovery funds, we won't be surprised if it snags some of the additional $5 billion over the next five years that Mr. Obama announced last year to help jump-start high-speed rail plans.Amtrak's Acela, which runs between Boston, New York and Washington, is the only high-speed train in the United States. While it can reach a top speed of 135 mph on the Washington-to-New York run, the average speed on that route is 83 mph -- not nearly fast enough.A serious plan to get high-speed rail service up and running would have used the Acela as a test case by making improvements to the existing infrastructure. Japan, France and Italy all boast trains that can reach speeds of more than 200 mph. The United States won't be joining the club anytime soon. Directory: files files -> Answer True False 2 points Question 2 files -> Integer programming and game theory files -> 4 Integer Programming files -> Bpa vehicle Window Repair Scenario #1 task: Procure vehicle window relacement. Objective files -> Pop Warner History files -> North Carolina Inclusion Initiative Mapping Where Children with ieps are Being Served Purpose files -> Fall 2013 Spring 2014 Program Data: Standard 1 Exhibit 4d files -> Hanban – asia society confucius classrooms network 2010 request for proposal files -> Northern England’s set-jetting locations Download 0.9 Mb. Share with your friends:
|