Originally Posted by
Mobile 155
My point was that Europe and its rail system is still a smaller undertaking than the US even if it would take a bit more space than east of the Mississippi. Maybe it would fit east of the continental devide? Not that passenger rail stirs the heart or the average American.
The issue for US citizens is property rights and compensation for that property. Once that hurdle is jumped over there is the issue of is it something the voters want. We used to have passenger rail in the US and I found it charming. But it couldn't compete and I am not convinced it can now.
I don't know either if good rail could compete here. But competition isn't really something that can be known, since highways were given every advantage by government while railways were being starved out of existence. There has never been free competition in the transportation sector--nor should there be. Transportation is part of the "common good" that can most efficiently be provided by government, not by the private sector. So it's kind of foolish to talk about competition between highways and railways. This form of competition doesn't even exist now, never has, and never will. Nor should it.
As for property rights, the Roberts Court has pretty much written those off with it's eminent domain rulings. Even private developers can now confiscate private homes to build shopping malls or apartment complexes, so it shouldn't be too hard to take over the land for public projects like a railway or highway.