Paul Carpenter Is Cheerleading 'FOR' Trains.. AGAIN!

On March 12, 2013 Paul Carpenter of the Morning Call wrote...

High-speed rail concept would include the Lehigh Valley

"...it is a disgrace that we cannot keep up with the trains of the 19th century, the foresight of the Eisenhower era, or the progress of Turkey...

... If politicians seeking your votes now refuse to take actions to benefit your children and grandchildren, dump them. It is a clear choice. Do you want your progeny to benefit from the foresight of politicians like Eisenhower, or do you want them to live in an America that has slowly deteriorated into a third-world nation?"
It's not the first time Paul has taken to cheerleading 'FOR' taxpayers to foot billions of dollars for rail service.

Rail service is about the dumbest idea ever to come down the line concerning a return on investment for taxpayers. Here's a few reasons why... * New York's MTA in 2011 was in debt to the tune of $31 billion dollars with an operating deficit of $900 million. By 2017 the debt will be $41 billion according to the New York Post. New York World stated, "Borrowing has led to $33 billion in debt... This year, the MTA will receive about $4.7 billion — about 35 percent of total revenue for its operating budget — through taxes levied by the state specifically to fund mass transit". As of 2011 the number of weekly riders of NYC subways are over 10.5 million at $2.00 to $2.50 a pop-... AND THEY ARE STILL TENS OF BILLION$ IN THE HOLE!

Simple logic dictates that if the MTA can't operate at a profit with over 10 million riders a week traveling uptown and downtown in a single city, why would anybody in their right mind consider a few thousand riders traveling 87 miles one way from Allentown to New York or Philadelphia a good idea?

* According to the Washington Post Amtrak.. "...rail service needed $1.4 billion in subsidies from Congress in 2012"
I could post countless other examples. For the sake of brevity let me challenge my readers to find one mass transit passenger rail service that makes profit and is not funded on the backs of taxpayers here in the United States. I don't give a hoot how well it may or may not work in Europe. The simple straight forward fact is, it doesn't in the United States.. PERIOD!


I will repeat what I previously once had posted back on July 19, 2012...Here we have a perfect example of media pimping for a expen$ive taxpayer supported rail system.

The Lehigh Valley isn't even on the charts for high speed rail.

If we wanted to travel elsewhere on Amtrak we'd have to get to 30th street station in Philadelphia (some 60 minutes away) in the first place. (Never mind the parking problem we'd have leaving from the L.V. train station)

So why is Paul pushing for a $500 million train of no use to us?
What's your point Paul?

Paul Carpenter says... "If another great old train — the Lehigh Valley Railroad's Black Diamond — went that fast, it means it also could have gone from the Lehigh Valley to Broadway in 45 minutes or thereabouts."
"could have"
...BUT IT DIDN'T!!!!

Check it out for yourself HERE (Page 5).
The "Black Diamond": To NYC: 5:18-7:30 (2 hours 12 minutes)
OR
4:10-6:15 (2 hours 5 minutes)
This is because depending on the time of day it made 12-15 stops. AND that's assuming it was on time, which it never was. :-)

Secondly IT NEVER WENT TO BROADWAY. It went to Penn Station 31st & 7th Avenue. That's 9 blocks from Times Square (which most folks consider Broadway). 'Times Square' is one block away from the bus terminal (Port Authority) where the bus comes in.

The old LVRR only had 1 train in the morning and two in the late afternoon going to NYC.. are you kidding me!

Not only does the Bieber Bus make it to NYC from Wescosville in as little as 2 hours, it does so at a profit and takes you right into 42nd street. It has 13 different departure times in the morning and another 6 more in the afternoon.

It not only saves the taxpayers $649 million to create local rail service in the first place, but another $11.7 million yearly to maintain it. I've gone through this before.

Could we please just bag this insanely expen$ive train idea for once and for all?

Want do something useful?
Create more bus only lanes.