High Speed Trains dash into our future @ 220 MPH

The Gulf Cooperation Council (Saudi, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, & UAE); yes the people who bring you about 25% of the world’s oil on a daily basis, is racing ahead with a high speed rail that will run 1,400 miles starting in Kuwait with a final stop in Saudi Arabia that will likely be completed by 2017!
So if it is so abundantly obvious to major oil producers why they should have a high speed rail; then why do we suck our teeth endlessly in the USA? I have my own thoughts on the subject but rather than going off on a rant, let me share with you the abundant sense of the high speed rail project in California.

http://www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov/getinvolved.aspx

First, the California High-Speed Rail Authority is designing their train system to run almost entirely on renewable power. “Hmmm, displace 12.7 million barrels of oil p.a. from unstable dictatorships… check in the box so far!!!”

The high-speed rail initiative has a $43bln cost and the promise of a 2hour 40 minute SF-LA ride costing $105 each way.  By its tenth year of operation (2030), the Authority said ridership should be over 39 million (upside scenario 90 million p.a.) and ‘operating surplus’ (profits) should be $3.2bln plus (+) the avoided costs of congestion and lost time estimated at $20 bln. "Hmmm, sounds good to me!"

It will create about 54,000 permanent jobs and provide 600,000 positions over the course of building the project. "Not bad!"

If you like to run back of the envelope value estimates try these formulas (the GAO has independent metric or check European metrics for best practice figures):

Number of Riders times (Benefit per Rider minus Variable Costs per Rider) minus Fixed Costs.

Amount of Cargo times (Benefit per Ton minus Variable Costs per Ton) minus Fixed Costs.

So why the reluctance? "Could history shed some light?"

For the history buffs, “Yes Virginia there does seem to have been a conspiracy by auto manufacturers to dismantle efficient urban transportation systems.” During the period from 1936 to 1950 GM & other companies held National City Lines and Pacific City Lines that were involved in the conversion of over 100 electric surface-train systems into bus systems in 45 cities including Baltimore, Los Angeles (mainly the "Yellow Cars"), New York City, Oakland and San Diego.

Only a few US cities have surviving effective rail-based urban transport systems based on tram, metro, or elevated train; notable survivors include New York City and to a lesser extent Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston, Washington D.C. and Chicago.

By the time of the 1973 oil crisis, controversial new testimony was presented to a United States Senate inquiry into the causes of the decline of transit car systems in the US. This alleged that there was a wider conspiracy—by GM in particular—to destroy effective public transport systems in order to increase sales of automobiles and that this was implemented with great effect to the detriment of many cities.

"Well, well have we learned anything from history or the Arab Spring?"

For my part, let’s dash ahead with and more environmentally sound approach to transportation => High Speed Rail. Click the link above to see how you can get involved.