Today's Washington Post posted a story about the Obama Administration's suggested plan for a national high-speed rail system. The program will spend $53 billion over six years. Even if you could build a high-speed rail system that would make money (which is not likely), this is not the time to be spending money that is not absolutely necessary to spend.
The article reminds us of the lessons of Amtrak:
"Passenger rail service inspires wishful thinking. In 1970, when Congress created Amtrak to preserve intercity passenger trains, the idea was that the system would become profitable and self-sustaining after an initial infusion of federal money. This never happened. Amtrak has swallowed $35 billion in subsidies, and they're increasing by more than $1 billion annually."
The article points out that in order to make money, a high speed rail line would have to charge high fares. If the rail charged low fares, the amount of money received from the government would need to increase. There is no way this makes sense.
The article concludes:
"Governing ought to be about making wise choices. What's disheartening about the Obama administration's embrace of high-speed rail is that it ignores history, evidence and logic. The case against it is overwhelming. The case in favor rests on fashionable platitudes. High-speed rail is not an "investment in the future"; it's mostly a waste of money. Good government can't solve all our problems, but it can at least not make them worse."
Now is not the time to build a high-speed rail system.
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