Posted on 06/08/2008 7:09:37 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
WASHINGTON (AP) — Plans for a levitating train from Las Vegas to Disneyland can move forward under a transportation bill signed by President Bush on Friday that frees up $45 million for the futuristic project.
Derided by critics as pie in the sky, the train would use magnetic levitation technology to carry passengers from Disneyland to Las Vegas in well under two hours, traveling at speeds of up to 300 mph. It would be the first MagLev system in the U.S.
The money is the largest cash infusion in the project's nearly 20-year history. It will pay for environmental studies for the first leg of the project.
The money had been delayed by a drafting error in Congress' 2005 highway bill, which was corrected along with some other changes by the legislation signed Friday by Bush. The delay had allowed a competing and cheaper diesel-electric plan to emerge as an alternative, but with the money now freed up supporters hope to move forward with the MagLev plan.
The train is meant to ease traffic on increasingly clogged Interstate 15, the main route for the millions of Southern Californians who make the 250-plus-mile drive to Las Vegas each year. There is no train on the route — Amtrak's Desert Wind between Los Angeles and Las Vegas was canceled in 1997 because of low ridership.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., praised passage of the law, saying the MagLev project "will safely and efficiently move people between Southern California and Las Vegas."
(Excerpt) Read more at ap.google.com ...
Idiots. $45 million dollars will pay only for more “studies.” Back when the Pioneer was canceled, it was due as much to UP opposition as anything. If the money was put into capacity improvements on the existing line, it could handle many more people at 80 mph or faster in a couple of years than spending on a pie-in the sky unproven technology. No, this is just more of Senator “Searchlight” Reid bringing home the bacon.
See additional discussion at (registration required, but the first page is free):
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,1687035,page=1
Bttt
Just more of the Federal government, aided by Democrats and a disappointly high number of Republicans, doing stuff the Constitution and the forefathers of our country, never meant to be done by the Feds.
Bingo!
Somewhere out there, WillieGreen is smiling thinking how his lies and bribes have got another toy train built which will never be profitable without subsidies from joe taxpayer.
Bttt
| a transportation bill signed by President Bush on Friday that frees up $45 million for the futuristic project.
If this were going to actual construction, instead of being pissed away on Green Weenie consultants, it would build at least 20 feet of the exciting maglev train.
And that was because of Southwest Airlines. By the way, Southwest Airlines still exists. They don't have any maglev trains, but they can get you from Orange County to Las Vegas in an hour and 5 minutes. |
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Ya gotta love the Associated Press. The $45 million was "freed up." It used to be held captive, in the place where the federal government keeps all of its extra money.