I do favor this in principle.

[ivanm]

Absolutely ridiculous.

Why do you say that?  History of war has shown that the host country comes out second best.  The invading country doesn't have its infrastructure and civilians put a risk like the host country does.

I don't believe in knee jerk wars but there comes a time when we must take a stand on terrorism.   In the case of Iran I hope we can avoid getting involved in that one.  If Israel and Iran want to duke it out then that is their problem and not ours.  It is all based on how Arabic people in the Israel vicinity are  being treated and it seems that the Israelis haven't gone out of their way to coexist with them.

[ivanm]

Actually, i think the best approach is to of course connect major hubs with major stops along the way.  The strangest thing to me is that i cannot get on a train in Chicago and travel directly to Atlanta.  These are two major American cities with at least 3 to 4 large areas between them (Southern Illinois; Paducah; Clarksville, Nashville and Chattanooga or Indianapolis, Louisville, Nashville and Chattanooga).  It is just bizarre.

Traditionally major railways ran from east to west in following the expansion.   There does seem to be eastern coastal lines that run from north to south. Even here in the breadbasket there is relatively little north south line per se.  There is a line from Chicago that loops thru KC and Wichita and heads on south, but that is about it.  

It appears that rail freight is as much as 9 times more fuel efficient than hiway freight and it stands to reason that rail passenger service could also be more efficient than air travel or hiway travel, provided the ridership is enough to sustain the rail service.  Rail service is not all that convenient, or at least it wasn't when I rode the rails quite some time ago.  I would say the comfort exceeds that of bus travel but the stops are few and the prices of food and beverages on the diner cars were out of sight. At least with a bus you can get off and maybe scrounge up an inexpensive sandwich and soft drink for a few bucks.  At least out here you can.  I understand that even burgers and cokes are very pricey in the eastern urban areas.  What a ripoff.

I think that air travel of 300 miles or less should be replaced by fast rail in order to improve energy efficency of travel.  Flying is quick and relatively comfy but it too doesn't serve many cities other than the major ones with reasonable fares.  A hop from here into KC on a commuter flight is ridiculous, for just 170 miles or so.

Perhaps the economics of travel is the only way to change our habits.  Once air fare becomes ridiculous and gasoline prices go thru the roof then folks might decide to look at rail travel.  I think that the major passenger lines should be electrified in order to save diesel fuel and to be able to utilize energy sources that are domestic in origin.  Coal is presently the major fuel for power generation but there are alternatives that could be used to power smaller stations
that are dedicated to powering electrified railways  Electric fast rail is common in European countries so the technology should be mature by now.  All that is needed is the will to use it and the demand to sustain it once it is implemented.

[johnhp]

Why do you say that?  History of war has shown that the host country comes out second best.  The invading country doesn't have its infrastructure and civilians put a risk like the host country does.

I don't believe in knee jerk wars but there comes a time when we must take a stand on terrorism.   In the case of Iran I hope we can avoid getting involved in that one.  If Israel and Iran want to duke it out then that is their problem and not ours.  It is all based on how Arabic people in the Israel vicinity are  being treated and it seems that the Israelis haven't gone out of their way to coexist with them.

You just blather on don't you?

[johnhp]

Traditionally major railways ran from east to west in following the expansion.   There does seem to be eastern coastal lines that run from north to south. Even here in the breadbasket there is relatively little north south line per se.  There is a line from Chicago that loops thru KC and Wichita and heads on south, but that is about it.  

The Northeastern corridor is connected.  There is no reason not to make a network of connections to all major cities.  It seems to me in the long term interest of the country.