Have you heard? Our federal government has generously approved the funding of a high speed rail system running between St. Louis and Chicago. How awesome is that???? At speeds of 110 mph, I'll now be able to get to Chicago in roughly 12 minutes. Ok, maybe it'll take a bit longer than that, but not much!
Here's the article:
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/politics/story/70C0E5503069528E862576B9001176B5?OpenDocument
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7 comments:
Oh KD, don't get too excited. Trust me when I say that the Brain Trust of Springfield is going to eff this up. This has been an ongoing battle even before they announced the grant money and Springfield has fought it tooth and nail the whole way through. Believe me when I say I could go on and on and on (Mr. Jen works for BNSF) but I'll digress with the fact that Springfield is full of a bunch of morons who will fight progress until the town is nothing but abandoned warehouses and a Wal-Mart.
BUT, how great would it be to snag last minute Cubs tickets and zip up there lickety split? That's my dream.
So, what you're saying is that I won't be getting to Chicago in 12 minutes anytime soon? Doesn't Mr. Jen have some pull? Someone call Abraham Lincoln! He's from IL, isn't he? Dammit, I'm a native Illinois-ian, do I have any pull? Yea...prolly not.
It's so frustrating because if they'd do it right (and if Springfield would shut the hell up about it "ugging up their downtown" it could be sooooo awesome.
Here's the skinny, straight from Mr. Jen: The average speed on the Amtrak (which I do love so, mostly 'cause of the beverage cart) is 52 mph from Chicago to STL. After all the bucks - which will upgrade crossing, signals, and crap the railroads should pay for themselves IMO - it'll bump the average up to a whopping 62 mph. NOW, if they'd take the time and money to build a dedicated high speed rail (like they have all over Europe and Japan - and I'm told that's what they're gonna do in Cali?), you and I could meet up, hop on a 200+ mph train and stalk Rami once a day. (That last part was from me and not Mr. Jen. I will leave him in order to commit more time to stalking Rami.)
If they're gonna do this thing, they need to do it right! Because it could be awesome! Rumor has it they want the HSR to go from STL to Dallas too, which would rock...but I don't want to live in Big D that long...
Exactly sis! Um and, yea, I really hope you're not in the Big D that long either....gross. :(
DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS!
This sounds cool, I hope it gets going so more Cubs fans can attend games in StL....lol.
I have heard about a hsr in Cali, but not sure how that is gonig to work out. This state is in such a budget disaster, that I don't think it'll ever get done. Plus I'm not sure about being on a hsr during a quake, especially if it's built near the San Andreas....yikes!
While we are dreaming, let's go ahead and extend that rail up to Milwaukee (or even as far as Green Bay) with stops in Chicago, Aurora, and St. Louis. Although I would think more people would be fleeing St. Louis(er, coming to Chicago), than the other way around. Why is it that every civilized country except the U.S. has high-speed rail?
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