railroad tracks

High Speed Rail Through Peninsula Is A Done Deal! [Thoughts]

by on January 5, 2010

in bruce's thoughts, consumer

Did you know that the proposed High Speed rail project that is going to cut through hundreds of homes in the San Francisco Bay Area’s Peninsula region, the one that is still under scrutiny, is a done deal?

Yea… me too.

On 11-4-08, voters did not read their voter pamphlets on the High Speed Rail Initiative and passed it happily. Now lawsuits, delayed studies and what not are in the mix.

The High Speed Rail Initiative would widen the rail corridors BY 4 to 5 TIMES, where by eminent domain, (Which seems imminent) hundreds of homes will be taken from home owners.

Every time I read something about Quentin Kopp, who is the Chairperson of the California High Speed Rail Authority, he seems to speak as if no one’ else’s opinion matters.  He’s got a one-track mind that is set on getting this project pushed through, regardless of citizen concerns.

Even though the cost of this project could pay off the debt of California a few times over, Kopp has been quoted to saying this project is a “Done deal.“

In a Bay Area, local Peninsula newspaper, The Daily Post, an interesting article popped up.

[click to continue reading…]

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Train Horn Idiocy [Thoughts]

by on December 11, 2009

in bruce's thoughts

The Peninsula is raging about train horns.

Several months back Caltrain moved the horns to the top of the cars and cranked them up to federal standards.  Something about safety and what not.

The residents made such a stink about it that Caltrain caved in…  They lowered the horns locations back to where they were near the bottom of the train, and decreased the volume.

Now that the residents have the smell of victory in their noses, they’re going after the late night Union Pacific freight trains.

Gads, you can’t win for losing.

Tell ya what though.  Somewhere down the road, after the horns have been silenced, someone will get killed because they weren’t paying attention while cranking their iPod or mucking with their Blackberry or their Apple iPhone.

And the community will cry out why the horns weren’t louder or placed in a better location on the trains.

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