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high-speed rail essay
high-speed rail essay
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The eight billion initial investments in the high-speed rail are expected to produce about 320,000 jobs and roughly thirteen billion dollars in economic benefit. These include construction and operation jobs, as well as manufacturing and supply chain options. By increasing mobility while decreasing crowding and spreading, high-speed rail makes our country more competitive while simultaneously creating economic development. The High Speed Rail could boost the economy and could provide alternate transportation, therefore it should be built. Generally, some might argue, that although it is a boost in the economy it takes thousands of acres from farmers. This is true, but economic impacts seen across the country show local projects can have big benefits on the surrounding area, while regional efforts are likely to generate a ripple effect. When a seventeen million renovation happened in the Milwaukee Intermodal Station it was projected to increase land values around the station by $227 million dollars and create 3,000 new jobs in the Milwaukee area, according to multi-state economic impact study (Mahoney). And congress’ “Buy America” program ensures that high-speed rail lines and trains will be built and operated using items made by American Industries. Immediately after the high-speed rail funding announcement, more than thirty rail manufactures and supplies committed to establish or expand their United States operations if they are chosen to build America’s next generation high-speed trains. So if we build the High-Speed Rail shouldn’t we expect the same results in California? Furthermore, the high-speed rail network could mean twenty-nine million fewer car trips and 500,000 fewer plane flights annually, according to a 2006 study ... ... middle of paper ... ...ronmentally. Works Cited Almendrala, Anna. “California High Speed Rail Still Faces A Lot Of Obstacles.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 09 July 2012. Web. 16 Nov 2012 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/09/california-high-speed-rail-problems_n_1660416.html Mahoney, Christopher. ‘High Speed Rails Environmental Impact.” Tracking News and Events in the Railroad Industry RSS. CNN, 20 Nov. 2012. Web. 16 Nov. 2012. http://www.railroad.net/high-speed-rails-environmental-impact-394.html Lagos, Marisa. “Legislature Approves High-speed Rail Spending.” SFGate. Thehuffingtonpost.com, 9 July 2012. http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Legislature-approves-high-speed-rail-spending-3689191.php Tutton, Mark. “How Green Is High-Speed Rail?-CNN.com” CNN. Cable News Network, 19 Nov. 2011. Web. 16 Nov. 2012 http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/18/world/how- green-is-hsr/
In Henry George’s article, What the Railroad Will Bring Us, it discusses the main social, political, and economic transformations that the trans-continental railroad would bring to the state of California. More importantly, he discusses not only the benefits, but also discusses the major drawbacks with the arrival of the railroad. Henry George stated the railroad would be the “greatest work of the age” (297). With a railroad stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, multiple benefits would be brought to the state of California. First, the railroad will not only create a new means of transportation across the United States, it additionally would also become “one of the greatest material prosperity” of its time (298). This means more people, more houses,
Railroads were America’s first big business and contributed a great deal towards advancing industrialization. Beginning in the early 1870's, railroad construction in the United States expanded substantially. Before the year 1871, approximately fourty-five thousand miles of track had been laid. Up until the 1900's another one-hundred and seventy thousand miles were added to the nation's growing railroad system. This growth came about due to the erection of transcontinental railroads. Railroads supplied cities and towns with food, fuel, materials, and access to markets. The railroad system made way for an economic prosperity. The railroad system helped to build the physical growth of cities and towns. It even became another means of communication. Most importantly, it helped to produce a second
Shen, Evan. "The Economic Impacts of the Transcontinental Railroad on the US." City of Sacramento, n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2013.
The strategy behind the high-speed railway system would be to relieve highway congestion, air traffic congestion, and help reduce the necessity of expansion of highways and air systems (which is limited due to the inability to build new air space). Also, with this type of system (this system works on magnetic levitation), you would have a significant reduction in air pollution that would result as high-speed captures a large portion of the intercity travel market from automobiles and airlines.
The railroad played a major role in forging the history of many countries including the United States of America. The railroad began to bring people to places that before then where only accessed by weeks of dangerous travel over harsh and deadly terrain. The industrial revolution had ushered in a completely new era. The new era was one of mass production, supply and demand, and new requirements of industry. The growth of industry had created new demands for transit, trade, and more robust supply lines. The railroad boom across the U.S. had spread and proceeded to grow the economy quickly therefore, many people began using the rail roads just as quickly. The rail market continued to grow and by the 1860’s all major cities within the United States were connected by rail.
During the reconstruction of America after the Civil War, the government allocated land grants and premiums to encourage work on the railroads, which proved effective. However, such incentives led to a questionable quality of work. Land donations and loans offered to both companies would eventually become profitable with the addition of railroad tracks running through, and the la...
The Transcontinental railroad could be defined as the most monumental change in America in the 19th century. The railroad played a significant role in westward expansion and on the growth and development of the American economy (Gillon p.653). However, the construction of the transcontinental railroad may not have occurred if not for the generous support of the federal government. The federal government provided land grants and financial subsidies to railroad companies to ensure the construction. The transcontinental railroad contributed to the formation of industry and the market economy in America and forever altered the American lifestyle.
However, the plans are not cohesive and may not give the Puget Sound the return on their huge investment. Both Houston and Washington D.C. have a few ideas that Seattle could benefit from. In Seattle, most of the Sounder trains are on a separate infrastructure than roads. With the looming expansion though, the Eastside will be getting light rail in addition the south end on some roads. Houston implemented their relatively small, but efficient light rail system in 2002 after 30 years of debates and votes. The system provides unique lights to allow light rail to meander through city centre without causing major disruptions to their routes and traffic congestion. With the NP component of light rail in play, commute times have dropped for almost every route. It is the most involved light rail system in the US. Light rail is the best stimulant for transit-oriented development. It integrates the suburbs and other surrounding communities with the urban core the best. It provides a much cleaner alternative which increases public health. Most effectively built rail systems can generate up to 400% more ridership. The initial might be steep, but the ‘Move Seattle’ campaign should focus on light rail as much as buses. The nation’s capital is now bargaining with developers to contribute toward the building of new transit centres. It will take more than just upfront costs, but monies to maintain the system. Metro has faced serious technical issues which prohibits efficiency and ultimately contributed to their first ever system wide refund not so long ago. It will always cost money, but the city should not allow developers to accommodate more cars because of their high density
High Speed Rail is modern passenger trains that have the capacity to move at an average speed of 250km/h or more, on purpose-built tracks. The Shinkansen in Japan, the French TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse) and the German ICE (Inter-City Express) are just some of the example of High Speed Rail. Currently there are new railways under construction or being planned in countries including China, Portugal, Russia, Vietnam, United States, and India. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the feasibility of this infrastructure in Australia, specifically focusing on a high speed railway line between Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. From the analysis, the paper will argue that High Speed Rail is not a suitable mode of transportation in Australia. The paper will first providing some background information on high speed rail related economic factors following by analysis that put forward arguments that highlight the negative impact that the construction of the speed rail infrastructure will have on the country.
There are many ways people in Arizona get from place to place, especially using public transportation. One specific use is the light rail that serves in Arizona that combines certain cities including Mesa, Tempe, and Phoenix. Looking at history that has taken place we look at how we have grown and how far we have come to help better advance the light rail. We look at how great it is to include the light rail into cities and how impactful it has been in other cities such as Boston, Massachusetts and Portland, Oregon (Figure 1). I found that businesses did improve their profit and really benefitted from the light rail, along with the increasing positive environmental impacts. Although we only look at the positive impacts, negative
For now the more use are the airlines, buses, or trains. Many people use the airlines to travel to one place to another, and by building the railway it will decrease the number of people who ride the planes and it will decrease the amount of people traveling in car, too. The railway is not only going to decrease the amount of people traveling in planes, cars, or bus but it will also decrease the amount of time people take to travel in this kind of transportations. A reporter says, “Texas central is planning to build a bullet train route that cut between Dallas and Houston, Trimming about 2 hours off the average driving time, and saving over an hour compared to air travel” (“Proposed”). The railways will cut time for passengers to get to their destination but it will have a bad result later on. Some people agree on building this train because it will be faster to get to one place to another, but they are wrong because it will take costumers away from other transportations, and it will have an impact in the increase of how much each ticket cost. It will destroy land from does that live there. Researchers have found that railways benefit economies by bringing competition to transportation because people will be able to choose from all the varieties. The Researchers are wrong because airline will not have the same amount of people as they do before the high-speed train is build. Not only the airlines but bus stations because people will not notice other transportation. The airlines, the cars, and trains companies will change things from their transportations because they will want to be better than the railways. For example, technology or even the ticket prices. All they would want is to be better than the railway, causing more and more competitions, which means people will expand more on buying the transportation
Congress passed the Pacific Railway Act in 1862, which marked the beginning of the first transcontinental railroad (Duran). The 1860s is a difficult decade in the American history. The Civil War between the North and the South causes many hardships within the country. The nation is at war with itself, quickly exhausting the government’s funds while thousands of men are dying. Consequently, the nation has fewer men to build cities and railroads, less money to pay off debts, and the citizens have less trust in their political leaders. Despite the current issues the country faces, the Transcontinental Railroad is still being worked on tirelessly. The use of Chinese laborers is necessary to replace the diminishing availability of American workers. Chinese railroad workers also demand smaller wages, which in turn save the companies money (the book). The railroads are a dangerous place for any worker to be. Countless workers die as a result of the weather, lack of enough food and water, and the use of dynamite to make paths through the mountains. Due to the Civil War, the government’s financial resources are slowly diminishing. Therefore, the Congress pays the railroad companies with federal land to settle their debts. Although the country seems divided because of the war, it is soon reunited with the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869.
On the one hand, it is understandable if some people think that governments should expand more railroads rather than roads and streets. Firstly, it is obvious that when a country has extensive rail networks, it will positively affect the logistic cost. The selling price of many products would be cheaper since a single locomotive could carry tonnes of crops, goods or liquid products. Secondly, by building integrated subway stations in city
First, the building of railroads out west played a huge part in the successful expansion of our country and the fulfillment of American dreams. Priot to the development of a more efficient railroad system, the movement of people and freight were relatively slow, difficult, and costly. Because of different rail gauges, sometimes freight had to be unloaded and then reloaded on boxcars. Second, most goods had to be produced and provided locally on a small scale. As a result, prices for products were very high. Nevertheless, with the help of federal grants, railroad promoters were able to build a more efficient railroad system that would connect the settled east with the unsettled west. After the completion of the new railroads system, farmers were in reasonable distance of railroad depots, which meant manufacturers could locate their plants anywhere and be able to bring in raw materials and send their products wherever they could find customers. Also, freight and passengers could travel by rai...
When time came to build the transcontinental railroads, the government had given about 150 millions of acres of land for the railroad development, which would greatly influence transporta...