The United States is looking for Japan to build high-speed rail. Biden decided to restart the Texas high-speed rail project, and to use Japanese high-speed rail technology, plans to build a high-speed rail from Dallas to Houston, 380 kilometers long, the estimated cost of 25 billion to 30 billion US dollars, my God, the total cost per kilometer is 65 million, US dollars, that is, 470 million yuan. Good guys, are these rails paved with gold? China's high-speed rail costs only 117 million yuan per kilometer, and the United States is four times more expensive than China to build a high-speed rail.
But I think, a country, a national situation, isn't it, compared with the American subway guardrail, this is cheap, people 3 subway station guardrails, it cost 100 million US dollars, I have to say, 100 million US dollars is really worth the money, but it is tall.
There is also an electric trolley developed by the U.S. military at a cost of 800 million US dollars, which perfectly conforms to human mechanics, you see, the United States is worthy of being a human lighthouse country, this high-speed rail, this guardrail, this small cart, are full of scientific and technological content, there is no corruption at all, who believes it~
Some people say that the United States is so vast and sparsely populated that it is not cost-effective to build high-speed rail; others say that the United States has a developed aviation industry and developed highways, so there is no need to build high-speed rail. All I can say about this is that these people understand the United States better than Obama and Biden. Facts have proved that even if the United States is not suitable for the whole country to build high-speed rail, some densely populated places still need high-speed rail, such as: Texas high-speed rail, New York University research data in 2012 showed that 100,000 residents commute every week in Dallas and Houston, the two largest cities in Texas, and some even more often. It's 2024 now, and there will be even more commuters between the two places.
Because there is no high-speed rail, the two places either pass by plane, but the plane capacity is small, the freight is high, and there is no high-speed rail environmental protection, or the road, which takes at least 4-5 hours, while the high-speed rail only takes 90 minutes.
So Texas has long wanted to build a high-speed rail to connect Dallas and Houston, but it has not been successful. Now Biden has announced that he will restart the Texas high-speed rail, really, this high-speed rail, can be said to be the last hope of the American high-speed rail dream, if the Texas high-speed rail can't be repaired, then the United States really doesn't want to build high-speed rail.
Why? Just look at the Texas high-speed rail project.
First of all, Texas is a red state, a Republican stronghold, and the environmental assessment is a little better, and it has already received a major environmental assessment in 2020. The blue state is stricter in terms of environmental impact assessment, and there are more moths, California is a blue state, and California high-speed rail began environmental impact assessment in 2007, and it was originally planned to start construction in 2015, but it was not passed until 2022. Therefore, compared with the blue state, the red state of Texas to build high-speed rail, the policy resistance is less.
Secondly, the Texas high-speed rail uses Japanese Shinkansen technology. Although, we all know, try to ask which high-speed rail technology is stronger, from the other side of the ocean to the east, although the Japanese Shinkansen cannot compete with China's high-speed rail, but it can't stand the United States for the sake of political correctness, so it has to choose Japan. In all fairness, if the United States chooses China, although the completion date is earlier and the budget is smaller, it will definitely not be able to resist the opposition of the United States, and the choice of Japan is also the key to the success of Texas high-speed rail.
However, Texas high-speed rail still has flaws, and if these problems can be solved, American high-speed rail is expected.
The first is the source of funding, large-scale infrastructure projects in the United States are generally funded by the state government + the federal government, but large-scale infrastructure costs a lot of money, and the budget must be approved by both parties. For example, in 2010, Obama allocated $3.5 billion in federal funds to the state to build high-speed rail. However, after Trump took office, he criticized California's high-speed rail as a green disaster, a world-class failure, and it is better to build high-speed rail than to build a border wall, and finally demanded the cancellation of the $929 million in federal funds originally planned to be allocated to California, and also asked California to return $3.5 billion to the federal government.
Originally, Texas learned from the experience of California's high-speed rail and decided to use private capital, but the budget continues to balloon and the start date is far away, the initial budget of $12 billion is far from enough, and now it is expected to be $30 billion, and it will be completed in 2030.
The Central Bank of Texas originally planned to use private sector funds to build high-speed rail, however, in 2022, the CEO has resigned, which is equivalent to "captain abandoning ship". In order to complete the project, Texas High-Speed Rail has abandoned the idea of private capital and decided to apply for federal grants, which have already received $500,000 in federal grants last December, and Biden has also announced $500,000 to build high-speed rail.
But it's okay that Biden doesn't speak, and as soon as he speaks, I feel that this high-speed rail is hanging again. Why, because federal funding has to be approved by both parties, guess whether the Republicans will make a stumbling block. Because of what, the Democratic Party's construction of high-speed rail is mainly beneficial to residents living in cities, these people are the Democratic Party's vote base, and the Republican Party is unwilling to increase spending for the benefit of rival voters, so they often veto the Democratic Party's high-speed rail plan.
Moreover, you have used taxpayers' money, and it is even more amazing, the senate of every place will demand that the high-speed rail can stop in his jurisdiction, what, from Lijiatun to Wangjiazhen, as long as you go around one more circle, why don't you go here? Anyway, you just look at it, nonsense.
Of course, more importantly, Biden, if you don't count how long you have left in office? Can you be re-elected in the next term? The United States, for the sake of the general election, uses any tricks, and who can't brag now, the key is whether the policy can be implemented. If Biden is not elected next term, do you think the next president will allocate funds for this project? Why should I spend money on Biden's political achievements?
Therefore, the Texas high-speed railway, although there is movement, but the movement is not big, I estimate that this high-speed rail, no matter what, it has to be a century-old project! The budget is not limited.
#美国#