Spurning of federal high-speed-rail money by governors like Rick Scott (R-FL), John Kasich (R-OH) and Scott Walker (R-WI) might mean some of the multibillion-dollar largesse would be rechanneled toward Sig Rogich‘s and Sen. Harry Reid‘s Desert Xpress, bound for Victorville, Calif. (For a state that’s about to attempt to create a Buckeye casino industry, the Ohio refusal might be most counterproductive, as the line would have linked three of the four casino-enabled cities.)
But whoa! The recent rail debacle in Florida provides fair warning of obstacles that might be flung athwart the Desert Xpress cowcatcher: the relatively brevity of the line (which stops well short of Los Angeles), lurking opposition by the petroleum-magnate Koch Brothers and the already-familiar question: “Could riders be persuaded to leave their cars behind and buy tickets to places where they would still probably need cars?” Like … Victorville. (Or Las Vegas, if you’re willing to leave the comfy confines of Downtown or the Strip.) Meanwhile, a Fresno–Bakersfield express is full speed ahead.
What you missed in the Ohio rejection was that the high speed train was significantly slower than going by car and much slower than the trains that ran 50 years ago