Why the anger over high speed rail?

Fear of cultural change

Marci Gilbert, Apr 22, 11.

“Stop the Train” was, literally, a rallying cry for post-Tea Party Republicans this past November, but the reasons are curious, according to a story on CNN:

Newly elected GOP governors in Wisconsin, Ohio and Florida have canceled already-funded high speed rail projects.

Much of the opposition to rail projects appears to stem not from economic arguments, but from fundamental cultural values on what “American” transportation should be.

A perusal of online commentaries about passenger rail stories reveals a curious linkage by writers between passenger rail and “European socialism.”

Never mind that the majority of European passenger rail operates on a commercial basis.

Many critics of passenger rail emotionally identify it as an enabler of cultural values they fear.

[SNIP]

Passenger rail is symbolic of many changes in our lives.

For example, passenger rail inherently requires central administration. After all, trains cannot depart from a station without authority from a central dispatcher. This very need for central authority is unique to rail and frightening to those who yearn for an individual freedom from authority.

Railroads rank among the most physically restricted of all transportation modes. Trains demand the coordination of every single movement for safety and economy.

Second, a passenger rail project labels a route as an “urban” corridor, and provides the infrastructure and incentive for even more urban development.

This contradicts a vision of America, held by many, as a small town society centered on the automobile. In reality, rural towns continue to decline. The 2000 U.S. census classifies 79% of the U.S. population as “urban.” Multiple studies project that statistic will reach 86% in 2030.

It is difficult for many to accept the impact of these population trends. Many legislators who are otherwise hostile to passenger rail accept that Amtrak’s operations in Boston-New York-Washington are “profitable,” or commercially viable, but characterize the East Coast as a region not representative of the United States.

In reality, the US Census Bureau projects through 2030 that New York’s state population will remain flat, but Florida’s population will exceed New York’s by 50%.

Third, most opponents to high speed rail simply have no experience on which to base their opposition. Those wishing to “Take America back” frequently glorify America between the Eisenhower and Reagan administrations, the peak of automobile enthusiasm in the United States.