Where is our High Speed Rail?

Bombardier is based in Canada. This could be good news to us as they are selling their trains around the world. Bombardier is the world's largest rail manufacturer. They've sold in China, Italy and many other countries. Those are the wise ones who have chosen to invest in high speed rail. And it's been proven that high speed rail is the only moneymaker. For example, the Acela is the only Amtrak line that makes a profit of $41 per passenger. All the others lose money and need to be subsidized. It's been proven that high speed rail works, it makes money and it saves the environment. We have one of the most advanced high speed rail makers in our country. Right now, Bombardier is building trains for everywhere but Canada. It's time to invest in high speed rail.

But the Acela is Amtrak's only profit-maker, with an average profit per passenger of $41. Amtrak's other lines lose an average of $32 per passenger.

For all that, Bombardier looks on the U.S. as only a "medium-term possibility" for revenue gains. In countries like China and France, Bombardier deals with one decision maker, the central government along with a state-owned transport authority.

In the U.S., 24 states are clamouring for high-speed rail funds – a promising sign of interest, to be sure, but a reminder of the labours of dealing with multiple levels of bureaucracy. Republicans in those states have balked at the proposed expenditure. And train buff Obama will be in office, at most, for only seven more years. After that, who knows?

The decades-long wait for high-speed rail in central Canada proves the same point, that commitment to passenger rail – high-speed or conventional – remains far stronger outside North America.

http://www.thestar.com/business/article/744697--olive-bombardier-is-on-the-right-track