03 May 2008

A Candidate Finally Mentions Rail

An Obama quote from yesterday, as per Grist:

The irony is with the gas prices what they are, we should be expanding rail service. One of the things I have been talking about for awhile is high speed rail connecting all of these Midwest cities -- Indianapolis, Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, St. Louis. They are not that far away from each other. Because of how big of a hassle airlines are now. There are a lot of people if they had the choice, it takes you just about as much time if you had high speed rail to go the airport, park, take your shoes off.

This is something that we should be talking about a lot more. We are going to be having a lot of conversations this summer about gas prices. And it is a perfect time to start talk about why we don't have better rail service. We are the only advanced country in the world that doesn't have high speed rail. We just don't have it. And it works on the Northeast corridor. They would rather go from New York to Washington by train than they would by plane. It is a lot more reliable and it is a good way for us to start reducing how much gas we are using. It is a good story to tell.

Is he intent on losing the white suburban vote or with the current gas prices are they finally ready for other options?

3 comments:

Jimmy_James said...

He mentioned Detroit and Indy, but snubbed Cincinnati? Thanks a lot, Obama. All kidding aside, that's a great quote. He's not my favorite candidate, but if he geniunely believes what he said there, he's moving up on my list.

liberal foodie said...

he'll lose the white suburban vote for one reason or another. being black is another reason, which he can't help.

I love the idea. I hope he's truly serious about the rail service because our country desperately needs it. With the Delta & NW merger, plane ticket prices will be on the rise making it impossible to travel.

WestEnder said...

I've always thought it was embarrassing that the U.S. has no high-speed rail system. And I've always thought Cincy would make a great hub, given its proximity to Cleveland, Chicago, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, even Memphis and Atlanta.