A Bullet Train from Los Angeles to… New York?

A Bullet Train from Los Angeles to… New York? | Los Angeles Metblogs

A Bullet Train from Los Angeles to… New York?
By Jason Burns
April 16th, 2009 @ 1:00 PM Mass Transit

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Today was the official announcement from the White House of a new national high speed passenger rail network. A network of 10 regional corridors, including the California Corridor connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco, Sacramento and San Diego. A network that leaves some glaring gaps on the map.

Now may be a good time for California to start looking even further ahead. As the current plans stand, the California Corridor stands alone, isolated from the rest of the nation. The first logical step would be a connection with the Pacific Northwest Corridor, with its currently planned terminus in Eugene, OR.

But, here is the bigger question. Which route would really fire people up? Which project would generate a national sense of pride, not to mention unprecedented job creation and economic – dare I say it – stimulus?

High speed rail from Los Angeles to New York.

The idea of any major rail network is to connect major destinations. With construction of the planned Chicago Hub Network and the Northeast’s Keystone Corridor, we’re already halfway there. We need to start thinking about how we can connect the California Corridor to the Hub, which is currently terminating in Kansas City. Los Angeles - Las Vegas – Denver - Kansas City.

This marks an exciting day for anyone who travels. A true, national high speed rail network. A network that will probably be completed before the Metro Purple Line even reaches Westwood.