I like rail travel. Had our society not been so shortsighted as to believe that air and car travel would be the only way Americans would ever travel, there would still be many rail corridors that were four or more rails wide instead of just one or two. A major impediment to rail travel is the tendency to give priority to product over people on our fewer lines. A passenger train will often have to wait for a slower freight train before continuing on its way. Oil companies, car makers, and air lines spend millions to bribe lawmakers into passing laws that make rail travel less friendly to the American citizen, and the American citizen, except those in the Northeast, are in large numbers unaware of how efficient, convenient and comfortable rail travel can be when operated as it is in Western Europe. The DC metro is my favorite way to travel about the city when I visit, and my nephews and nieces in the NE US commute by rail to and from work and love being able to read, get ready for work, or surf their smart phones instead of being in a gridlock watching their gas gauges move towards E. If done with intelligence and professional workmanship, California’s rail plan will have short term pain with long term benefits.Respectfully,C.
I like rail travel. Had our society not been so shortsighted as to believe that air and car travel would be the only way Americans would ever travel, there would still be many rail corridors that were four or more rails wide instead of just one or two. A major impediment to rail travel is the tendency to give priority to product over people on our fewer lines. A passenger train will often have to wait for a slower freight train before continuing on its way. Oil companies, car makers, and air lines spend millions to bribe lawmakers into passing laws that make rail travel less friendly to the American citizen, and the American citizen, except those in the Northeast, are in large numbers unaware of how efficient, convenient and comfortable rail travel can be when operated as it is in Western Europe. The DC metro is my favorite way to travel about the city when I visit, and my nephews and nieces in the NE US commute by rail to and from work and love being able to read, get ready for work, or surf their smart phones instead of being in a gridlock watching their gas gauges move towards E. If done with intelligence and professional workmanship, California’s rail plan will have short term pain with long term benefits.Respectfully,C.