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LA to Vegas high speed train route to be built....by a Chinese company.

THE_DEVIL

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Aug 16, 2005
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High Speed Rail Is Coming To America In 2016

For years, there has been talk of a high-speed railway between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. President Obama planned on making high-speed rail a signature part of his presidency, yet despite efforts, projects have been stalled and delayed and really nothing has gotten done. Much of that has to do with GOP obstruction throughout his tenure with Congress killing or filibustering progress at most opportunities. There has been some funding, but most of that has been diverted to keep the Amtrack lines running instead of making any serious progress on the newer technologies.

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that finally some real progress is being made and the high-speed system is finally going to be built — not in the distant future, but construction will begin in 2016.

So what changed? Did funding finally get put in place by the Congress? Is some benevolent corporation ponying up the dough?

Hardly.

Enter the Chinese. The Chinese have built the world’s biggest and best high speed rail system, and now with their economy slowing, they are looking to expand — to America.

As the[URL='http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-vegas-la-chinese-high-speed-rail-20150917-story.html'] Los Angeles Times reports
;

Officials for XpressWest, which has been unable to secure adequate private investors in the United States or a $5.5-billion federal loan, announced that it had formed a partnership with China Railway International USA, a consortium led by China Railway, the national railroad of the People’s Republic of China.

Details about the joint venture, the proposed project and its financing were unavailable Thursday, except China Railway International stated that it would provide initial capital of $100 million. Project officials say they are confident construction could begin as early as September 2016.

XpressWest, a private company formerly called DesertXpress, has been talking about its high-speed rail project since at least 2007. Plans have called for a 185-mile route that would run adjacent to heavily-traveled Interstate 15 from Las Vegas to Victorville, 85 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles.

Chinese officials now describe the project as a 230-mile route with an additional stop in Palmdale and eventual service throughout the Los Angeles area using some of the same track that would be used by the publicly backed California high-speed rail project.

Federal railroad records indicate that XpressWest has already secured approvals and permits from a number of federal agencies for the 185-mile route. Additional permits, approvals and environmental analysis would be needed for the 230-mile proposal.

“As China’s first high-speed railway project in the United States, the project will be a landmark in overseas investment for the Chinese railway sector and serve as a model of international cooperation,” Yang Zhongmin, chairman of China Railway International, told the state-run Xinhua News Agency.

While America bickers over everything, the Chinese are stepping in and getting it done — in OUR house. Will this be a wake-up call to Congress to finally get off their butts and provide real funding to these and other infrastructure projects?
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We should do what China did to Japan in the rail business. In simple terms - they had a partnership with Kawasaki to build high speed rail in china - and china stole all sorts of Kawasaki's technology and built in themselves. Most likely that design being proposed is mostly based on stolen technology. It's how China does business in the high tech market.

http://fortune.com/2013/04/15/did-china-steal-japans-high-speed-train/

What could drive the normally unlitigious Japanese into such a frenzy? Not only did China copy their technology, say the Japanese, after patenting remarkably similar high-speed-rail (HSR) tech, CSR now wants to sell it to the rest of the world — as Chinese made. Both Japanese and European rail firms now find themselves frozen out and competing with their former Chinese collaborators for new contracts, inside and outside China.
 
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Monorail… Monorail… MONORAIL! If the Chinese are building it the thing will blow up, or be filled with lead paint.
 
Let's see the airlines stop this one. If (when) this route becomes profitable that will hopefully spur a lot more development with this.
 
Let's see the airlines stop this one. If (when) this route becomes profitable that will hopefully spur a lot more development with this.

History would tell you it's almost impossible for a railroad to be profitable in its first iteration. At least with the LA to San Fran railroad, you could argue it provides a valuable public service. LA to LV? eh.
 
History would tell you it's almost impossible for a railroad to be profitable in its first iteration. At least with the LA to San Fran railroad, you could argue it provides a valuable public service. LA to LV? eh.

Evidently the Chinese feel differently.
 
I get a little tired of hearing about GOP obstruction. In the past, politicians knew how to compromise to get things done. If railways were so important to the administration, why not toss the GOP a bone, like the Keystone pipeline? Now, it seems, both sides are unwilling to compromise for the good of their country.
 
Monorail… Monorail… MONORAIL! If the Chinese are building it the thing will blow up, or be filled with lead paint.

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I get a little tired of hearing about GOP obstruction. In the past, politicians knew how to compromise to get things done. If railways were so important to the administration, why not toss the GOP a bone, like the Keystone pipeline? Now, it seems, both sides are unwilling to compromise for the good of their country.
It could get kinda interesting here pretty soon. The railroads have mentioned they will cease all operations effective Dec 31st if congress does not act on their request for an extention to implement the govt mandated PTC ( Positive Train Control)systems.
 
I get a little tired of hearing about GOP obstruction. In the past, politicians knew how to compromise to get things done. If railways were so important to the administration, why not toss the GOP a bone, like the Keystone pipeline? Now, it seems, both sides are unwilling to compromise for the good of their country.

Take your common sense elsewhere. This is a political thread.
 
Vote Trump, he will stop it! Until he gets bought out like every other politician.
 
As a guy that lives in Southern California I am very excited.

Now they need to build that one from LA to SF
 
I get a little tired of hearing about GOP obstruction. In the past, politicians knew how to compromise to get things done. If railways were so important to the administration, why not toss the GOP a bone, like the Keystone pipeline? Now, it seems, both sides are unwilling to compromise for the good of their country.
This is why getting rid of pork was a bad thing. That's how deals like this got done in the past.
 
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Harry Reid and Obama set this up as one of their "shovel ready" stimulus projects. If you look at the plan this will be an unmitigated failure. The line, as I understand will go from Victorville CA to Vegas. The problem is that if you live in SoCal by the time you drive to Victorville you may as well just drive to Vegas. If you are going from Vegas to SoCal if you get dropped of from Vegas into Victorville you are still going to have to rent a car anyways. If that's the case you may as well either fly or drive yourself.
 
Harry Reid and Obama set this up as one of their "shovel ready" stimulus projects.

That was my thinking.

I didn't realize the GOP "obstructed" the stimulus package.

All of those trillions just vanished into government inefficiency.
 
History would tell you it's almost impossible for a railroad to be profitable in its first iteration. At least with the LA to San Fran railroad, you could argue it provides a valuable public service. LA to LV? eh.

I would argue the LA to LV would make more sense. From the Hollywood Hills south, Vegas is an hour and a half closer at least. From most LA airports, the fly/drive question is pretty close. By the time you factor in early airport arrival, standard delays, luggage, door to door time from LA to LV is pretty damn close flying and driving. You can't say the same thing about LA to SF. I used to fly LAX to LV all the time, and after averaging about 5-6 hours from leaving my place of stay, to the front of my casino, I figured out I could drive it faster. The only issue I see is Airlines will slash fly prices to combat the rail.

The other advantage I see is that the LA/LV rail could potentially be much less impacted by earthquakes, than the LA/SF route.
 
I would argue the LA to LV would make more sense. From the Hollywood Hills south, Vegas is an hour and a half closer at least. From most LA airports, the fly/drive question is pretty close. By the time you factor in early airport arrival, standard delays, luggage, door to door time from LA to LV is pretty damn close flying and driving. You can't say the same thing about LA to SF. I used to fly LAX to LV all the time, and after averaging about 5-6 hours from leaving my place of stay, to the front of my casino, I figured out I could drive it faster. The only issue I see is Airlines will slash fly prices to combat the rail.

The other advantage I see is that the LA/LV rail could potentially be much less impacted by earthquakes, than the LA/SF route.

Ever make that drive back from Vegas on Sunday?
 
Given the choice between buying American or Chinese, I wish America could compete in quality with what the Chinese are doing. But given the choice of buying Chinese or not having a high speed train, I pick having the train.
 
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