Commentary: I recently had need to go to Houston to pick up a vehicle and decided I would try Amtrak to get there rather than the carbon intensive jet flight. I waited for a while at the Deming stop and got on the train. I ended up seeing a lot of new sights I would not have driving on the freeway or traveling by air.
The ride was comfortable and clean and staff was nice. What I had not known is that freight cars are given priority over the tracks and whenever we we came to a section of two tracks, we ended up sitting still while the freight trains passed the other direction. Sitting still on the tracks many times for many minutes for this relatively short trip made it much longer than I expected. It gave me time to ponder the situation.
Forty-eight years ago, I was in Japan traveling on the famous high speed “Bullet Train”. Let me repeat that.. forty years ago! ..And here I was in the U.S. in 2019 sitting still, watching the freight trains go by probably ten times or so.
As the world burns up and floods out due to our changing weather patterns, I think it would be wise to finally consider investing in infrastructure like High Speed Rail for cross country travel instead of the need for air travel or driving oneself. It was quietly embarrassing sitting next to and talking with the Chinese girl who knows what High-Speed Rail is like.
Every other industrial country has a beautifully efficient high-speed rail system. Creating it will be like creating our vast interstate highway system. Jobs will be created and travel will be much more pleasant. Let’s Roll!