Where in the hell is my cut?
Posted on 09/11/2009 8:10:54 AM PDT by Born Conservative
U.S. Senators Arlen Specter and Bob Casey and Congressmen Bill Shuster and Mike Doyle today announced that the Pennsylvania High-Speed Maglev Project will receive $28 million in federal funding. The funding is in the form of a grant from the Federal Railroad Administration SAFETEA-LU Maglev Program.
“This $28 million award is the most significant development in the 29 years we’ve been working on Maglev,” Senator Specter said. “The vision is to have a 250 mile-an-hour train traveling from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia with intermediate stops. Such a train would be a tremendous economic boon with thousands of new jobs in the steel and construction industry and would meet our increasing demand for transportation, reduce highway congestion, improve air quality and reduce our dependence on foreign oil.”
“This long-awaited and long overdue funding will help move development of high speed maglev forward,” said Senator Casey. “This project has the chance to help establish a world-class transportation system in Pennsylvania and I am pleased that the Federal Railroad Administration has decided to award these funds to the Pennsylvania Maglev project after a competitive grant process. This initiative has the potential to spur job creation while helping to improve our environment and bolster the Commonwealth’s long-term economic competitiveness. I look forward to working with all stakeholders to build on the progress that this federal investment will help bring about.”
“I’ve been working to build a mag-lev system in Pennsylvania throughout my service in Congress,” said Congressman Mike Doyle. “I believe it could be a major new engine for job creation and economic growth in our region. It’s great to see all our hard work paying off.”
“This is a great investment in the next generation of rail that will continue Pennsylvania’s long history of innovation and advancement in rail transportation,” said Congressman Bill Shuster, Ranking Republican on the House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials. “A true high speed rail line connecting Pittsburgh and Philadelphia will prove that rail transportation remains a premier way to travel in the 21st Century. I look forward to working with my colleagues Senators Specter and Casey as this exciting project moves forward.”
Today’s funding announcement represents the largest federal grant ever given to the project and more than doubles the $22.5 million in federal funding the project has received since Fiscal Year 1999. The grant will allow the project to complete pre-engineering, update its financial plan, conduct an independent cost-analysis, perform studies for infrastructure placement and execute a bid for a bridge over the Monongahela River.
The Pennsylvania High-Speed Maglev Project is an environmentally friendly and energy efficient transportation system that would initially cover a 54-mile long route in three sections, connecting the Pittsburgh International Airport (PIA) with downtown Pittsburgh and the eastern suburbs at the Pennsylvania Turnpike and the City of Greensburg. An estimated 14.2 million passengers are expected to utilize this segment per year. Eventually, the line would be extended to Philadelphia and include stops in Johnstown/Altoona, State College, Harrisburg, Lancaster and Philadelphia. It is situated as the hub of a future multi-state, intercity network that will reach from the major northeast cities to those in the Midwest.
Based on standard job projection formulas used in the transportation industry that include material production, the first segment will create nearly 57,000 overall jobs, including approximately 2,500 construction jobs for the first segment’s 2½ year construction period.
(apologies for changing title; title on website won't fit)
$28M? In (my home state of) Pennsylvania, that ought to be good for, maybe two miles of rail...
Yep. A big white elephant
My thoughts exactly. Maglev is expensive. $28 million won’t pay for tap water on a project like that, although i must say I find it exciting. Intercontinental rail could go a long way to saving energy - trucking needs to start declining.
LOL You are exactly right!
You wish. On a project like this, $28 Million won't cover the design phase. This is a $25BILLION project. ++
NO train in the US has been a “economic boom” since around 1885
That’s OK. Fast Eddie will issue all maglev passengers hitchhiking permits (at a nominal charge), so they can complete the trip fr/the ‘Burgh to Philly w/o increasing their carbon footprint.
“This $28 million award is the most significant development in the 29 years we’ve been working on Maglev,” Senator Specter said.
29 years! And people want the gubmint in charge of healthcare.
“$28M? In (my home state of) Pennsylvania, that ought to be good for, maybe two miles of rail...”
Agreed. I grew up in Philly and still visit quite often. $28 million? $28 billion I’d believe.
Anyone think about the cost of cutting through the mountains, for example?
The train to nowhere - both ways.
hahahaaha 28 Million to get to Greensburg? Please, its cost them close to $500 MILLION to add less than a Mile to the Pittsburgh Subway System. There is no way in hell they’ll get a maglev from the airport to greensburg, they won’t even get it downtown for that.
I am not inately against high speed trains, but the idea that 28 Million in this state would do anything other than MAYBE pay for another study is comical.
You can’t put up a stop sign in this state without spending $10,000 on a traffic study first.
Is there even any market for this route? (not that it matters to the politicians)
“$28M? In (my home state of) Pennsylvania, that ought to be good for, maybe two miles of rail...”
You’re correct. They’re building an extension of the subway in Pittsburgh underneath the Allegheny river that is less than 1 mile in length, and the cost is at least $1/2 Billion.
that’ll pay for a mile or two, then what?
gee, you mean I would be able to find myself in West Philadelphia in less than an hour? Are they building this to move ACORN thugs around more efficiently?
$28 million will be just enough to get the union bosses together to talk about the project. In Las Vegas.
“Is there even any market for this route? (not that it matters to the politicians)”
I doubt it. Is the Pitt/Philly business traffic that much? They’d have to charge a fortune to maintain it. Flying will once again be the cheaper alternative.
Ping
Ping?
Where in the hell is my cut?
this is America, we fly.
or we load the family into the family truckster and road-trip.
rail is so Euro-thirdworld.
(ps I love all things mechanial, especial locomotives)
it’s a 6 hour drive Philly to P-burgh
I love trains, but why do we need this again? Southwest flys from Philly to Pittsburgh several times a day. Takes an hour.
And if they think they’re building a 250 MPH high speed line which is 54 miles long..... for $29 million they’re either lying or crazy. It’ll take 10 times that much.
Tax, spend. Tax, spend. That’s all these @#@#!??@ know how to do.
Then the payoffs have been passed around, the nephews and cousins hired, the pockets lined...and now we just HAVE to finish it with State money. In for a penny, and all.
doesnt southwest charge $29 one way from phila to pittsburgh? i know its fairly cheap to fly there. whos gonna pay more to take the train? you know theyll charge at least $100 a ticket one way. this is just plain stupidity... what a waste of money, just to please some environmental nutcases who want to turn the usa into europe.
Pittsburgh to Philly? Why? What’s the point? Philly’s our stale, foul, crumbling, shriveling chocolate city, and all the steel mills in Pittsburgh are cold. Last time I was out there, I noted that an alien visitor, just learning the language, might end up believing that “Space Available” and “Building to Let” were the two biggest companies in Pitts. And Pennsylvania’s the nation’s second-eldest state, to boot. None but Florida have more old people, or a higher percentage of old people. But we’ve got $28 million for magnetic levitation train work? With government(s), unions, and consultants involved? It’ll buy ‘em little more than lunch, drinks and supper at some grand fact-finding conclave.
Do you mean you haven’t seen those jam-packed trains from Philly to Atlantic City these days? And how much did that boondoggle cost?
$28 million isn’t even enough to pay off the bribes.
On the other hand, they could build an above ground light rail for a fraction of the cost of the Maglev or add more than one train per day in each direction on the Pennsylvanian Amtrak which runs daily between New York and Pittsburgh via Philadelphia and actually is one of Amtrak's few profitable routes because people actually can afford to ride it, but that wouldn't be sexy or piss away the study dollars either.
The cheap Southwest fares are highly restricted with long advance puchase requirements and the like. However, you can get a fairly reasonable walk-up fare of around $70 each way as long as you are willing to avoid the peak travel times. Amtrak will also give you a walk-up fare for around $50, leaving Pittsburgh at about 7 a.m. and arriving in Philly by 2 p.m., continuing on to New York.
[i]”$28M? In (my home state of) Pennsylvania, that ought to be good for, maybe two miles of rail...”[/i]
Not one dime of this money goes to construction costs. This is all for feasibility studies, and other soft costs. In other words, its political pay-off money. Pissing away our tax dollars and lining the pockets of their cronies.
To be fair, they won’t be building the entire thing under a river.
I’d take a maglev from Greensburg to the airport if it was conveniently timed and cheaper than long-term parking.
Maybe it will stop in Tyrone.
To be fair, they NEVER SHOULD HAVE BUILT THIS THING UNDER THE RIVER!!! over 1/2 a BILLION dollars for a few hundred feet! People should literally be drawn and quartered for this nonsense.
The problem with the Pitt to NYC via Amtrak, is that insane Layover in Philly. I believe last I looked its a 4 or 6 hour wait time from the time you get to the Philly and the time the next train leaves for DC on a typical day.
I believe total Amtrak time Pitt to NYC is something like 12 hours or more.
Click on this link and scroll to the bottom. The timetable is for the "Pennsylvanian". Not many years ago, it had horrible service and horrible ridership. It was upgraded under the Bush administration and is now quite popular.
Not one dime of this money goes to construction costs. This is all for feasibility studies, and other soft costs. In other words, its political pay-off money. Pissing away our tax dollars and lining the pockets of their cronies.
I don't see how you make a logical leap from "feasibility studies" to "political pay-off".
Surely you don't expect them to jump right into construction without conducting the detailed planning required by the feasibility studies.
Ping?
Thanks for the ping.... I suppose....
It is mildly disturbing to see so many 'tards whining about $28 million not being enough to cover the construction costs,
Heck, it says right in the article that "The grant will allow the project to complete pre-engineering, update its financial plan, conduct an independent cost-analysis, perform studies for infrastructure placement and execute a bid for a bridge over the Monongahela River."
But that sentence is obviously way beyond the reading comprehension level of many on this thread.
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