Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/873881
I n August, a company called Texas Central announced plans to move forward on a bullet train that would link the two biggest cities in Texas. You can read our report on the an- nouncement here: http://bit.ly/2fZ8JnE This is welcome news and it will be intriguing to see how well the Texas bullet train project moves along as compared to the California bul- let train already underway. The two projects are similar in scope, but radically different in funding and execution. Which one will deliver the bigger bang for the buck? Here's a comparison: Distances The Texas bullet train will link Houston and Dal- las-Fort Worth, a span of about 240 miles. Phase I of the California train proposes to link Los An- geles and San Francisco, a distance of about 380 driving miles but 520 miles via railroad. Taxpayer subsidies California: $2.25 billion in federal funding and 25 percent of the state's cap and trade green- house gas tax. Texas: no taxpayer money will be used. Texas Central estimates it will pay $2.5 bil- lion in generated tax revenue back to the state, counties and cities along the route. A net plus for the taxpayers in Texas. Number of stations California: 24 (upon completion of Phase II). Texas: 3. Cost California: $64 billion. Texas: $15 billion. So, California is going to pay $123 million per mile for its bullet train, and Texas will build its for $62.5 million per mile. That's understandable given California's challenging terrain (36 miles of tunnels anticipated), and the route it traverses is more developed than the land in Texas. But the big difference is that California will use your money, and Texas will not. I'm generally in favor of public funding for infrastructure. Bul- let trains are different. They are not like paved roads and highways on which all of us must travel every day to live and work. Trains are an option. Commuting to work every day is not. Another reason why the public funding mat- ters is that once the public gets involved you can expect the costs and complications to soar. Democracy is hardly perfect, as the ancient Greeks forewarned. When it comes to Califor- nia, I suspect every flake from Haight Ashbury to Huntington Beach is going to have to have their say, not to mention the real estate sharpers, rent-seeking grifters, NIMBY nut jobs and line- my-pockets-please politicians for which the left coast is so famous. This alone, I fear, will double the price. The good news is that the race is on. Both states are swinging for the fences. The reason our transportation infrastructure is so lousy to- day is because for the past 40 years neither the states nor the federal government took its future seriously. Air travel is a nightmare in this country and getting worse. Our roads are clogged and fall- ing apart. Trains will not only take some of the pressure off of these overloaded transportation systems, but they will allow our big cities to spread out, creating new opportunities, lowering housing costs and improving the quality of life for everybody. The states and cities that do these kinds of big projects are going to win the future. Rail brought the country's first line of development. The inter- state system brought the second. Rail will return to bring prosperity in the future, creating new mega-regions out of cities that are too far apart for commuters but too close to make air travel worth the hassle. September 2017 | EquipmentWorld.com 78 final word | by Tom Jackson A tale of two trains TJackson@randallreilly.com