The High Speed Rail Act (Awaiting Presidential Signature/Veto)

[Franzl]

I agree with Smid and Afleitch. The bill is actually poorly written, and I agree that a Puble Private Partnership would likely be more effective than a purely government run system.

We should continue debate on that, of course. I think that an efficient rail system would be an enormous economic asset and would help Atlasia remain competitive.

As most of you know....other countries have far superior systems...and although it's not possible in Atlasia to really create a countrywide high speed system (yet), there are certain routes/certain pairs of cities that could really use such service.

It's an economic investment in the future.

[Franzl]

I'd like to see something done here.

I'd like to provide an alternative bill, as I agree with the suggestions concerning a public private partership and believe that proposal to be superior to my original bill.

I did consider shortly the possibility of distributing money among the regions again as in the "Help Atlasia Study Act", but I don't think that work quite as effectively in this case because not every region has the same needs and wants concerning high speed rail, and it would be difficult to find a just way of dividing the cash here.

Therefore, I'd say we work on a system, as Afleitch suggested, that allows the federal government to build the tracks and allow private companies to operate and maintain train services on those tracks...and pay the federal government a portion of their earnings for track maintenance and the like.

I would also suggest that we cut a lot of the routes that I had originally proposed and focus only on pairs of cities that I think everyone would agree could use such high speed service.

My suggestions:

St. Louis - Chicago
San Francisco - Los Angeles
Boston - New York - Philadelphia - Washington (the Acela Express route...but really high speed...not what the Acela does
Dallas - Houston

Actually, we could leave it at that for right now...and try out the system....as we could always add more routes later on if this turns out to be a success.

So how about this proposal:

Section 1: The Federal government will construct railroad tracks designed for high speed electrically operated trains running up to 250 km/h (156 mph) between the following cities:

St. Louis, MO - Chicago, IL
Washington, DC - Philadelphia, PA - New York, NY - Boston, MA
San Fransisco, CA - Los Angeles, CA
Dallas, TX - Houston, TX

Section 2: After the above mentioned construction is complete, private operating companies will be allowed to purchase and operate high speed trains on these routes, after acquiring permission and a contract from the government. The government will encourage as much competition as possible, and will be responsible for certifying that safety measures are appropriately taken by all operating companies.

Section 3: The federal government will collect 15% of all profits made on these routes and the collected money will be used primarily for track maintenance. Any money left over may be used for other government purposes. This arrangement will last at least 12 years, after which it will be determined, based on economic circumstances of the operating companies, whether government subsidies are still necessary. If it is determined that the routes are economically viable, then the tracks may be sold to the respective operating companie(s).


What do you think?

[Franzl]

Glad to hear the positive comments about the modified version.

Would anybody like to propose any amendments to what is now written? I'm certainly open to quite a bit, as I would definitely like to get this bill through.

[Franzl]

Section 1: The Federal government will construct railroad tracks designed for high speed electrically operated trains running up to 250 km/h (156 mph) between the following cities:

St. Louis, MO - Chicago, IL - Milwaukee, WI - Minneapolis, MN
Washington, DC - Philadelphia, PA - New York, NY - Boston, MA
Seattle, WA - Portland, OR- San Fransisco, CA - Los Angeles, CA - San Diego, CA
Dallas, TX - Houston, TX

Section 2: After the above mentioned construction is complete, private operating companies will be allowed to purchase and operate high speed trains on these routes, after acquiring permission and a contract from the government. The government will encourage as much competition as possible, and will be responsible for certifying that safety measures are appropriately taken by all operating companies.

Section 3: The federal government will collect 15% of all profits made on these routes and the collected money will be used primarily for track maintenance. Any money left over may be used for other government purposes. This arrangement will last at least 12 years, after which it will be determined, based on economic circumstances of the operating companies, whether government subsidies are still necessary. If it is determined that the routes are economically viable, then the tracks may be sold to the respective operating companie(s).


Good suggestions, MasterJedi, I accept them without protest

[Franzl]

As I said in my office thread, I won't be here for a couple of days. I'm well aware that Smid and PiT made proposals. They should feel free to bring them up for a vote.

[Franzl]

That's acceptable.

I agree with you, after further consideration, that the operating companies themselves owning the tracks would cause a certain conflict of interest, especially regarding new operating companies, should they form after the tracks are privately owned.

I accept your changed amendment as friendly.

[Franzl]

I like the bill as currently written, and request a vote on it. I believe it has sufficient support to pass.

[Franzl]

Aye