Baghdad commuter rail begins operation

[thelakelander]

If they can get it up and running in Baghdad, it should be possible here.

BAGHDAD â€" Baghdad commuters have a new way to bypass the city's checkpoints and congested, dusty streets with the launch of a commuter rail that travels 15 miles through Sunni and Shiite neighborhoods in the heart of the capital.

The new service, which began Wednesday and costs the equivalent of 80 cents, comes as public irritation is mounting over traffic congestion â€" a result of better security but also caused by numerous police checkpoints that help stop bombers but also slow down cars and trucks.

"We have launched this train to ease congestion and traffic jams on Baghdad's streets," said Abdul-Ameer Hamoud, the director of central transport. "The arrival of a passenger by train is faster than by car to and from the center of Baghdad."

Starting in the morning, the commuter train pulls out of the Baghdad's blue-domed main station and runs north to the mostly Shiite neighborhood of Kazimiyah, then cuts down through central Baghdad to the mainly Sunni suburb of Yousifiyah in the south. It makes a handful of stops.

Still, transport officials say they are unsure just how popular the new service will be as Iraqis adjust to the idea of rail travel in Baghdad, and it may face an uphill struggle in winning passengers.

AP Television News footage showed only a small number of people riding the train Thursday morning.

At the moment, the only major rail line in the country runs from Baghdad to the southern city of Basra.

Last September, rail officials put Saddam Hussein's private luxury train â€" complete with chandeliers and Italian-made curtains â€" into public service to help ease Iraq's train shortage.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081030/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq_commuter_rail

[9a is my backyard]

If they can get it up and running in Baghdad, it should be possible here.

Hahaha, so so true.  Maybe if we could get the Federal Government to give Florida $10B a month we could get some commuter rail going.

[Matt]

Hahaha, so so true.  Maybe if we could get the Federal Government to give Florida $10B a month we could get some commuter rail going.

[uptowngirl]

California is going to start their Bullet Trains

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081105/D94925900.html

[Ocklawaha]

BAGHDAD COMMUTER RAIL is going to be so nice. All of us should thank the present administration for their foresight and advanced transportation planning. Just look at what they're doing here in the States. That Grand Old Party of the Union, I truely believe this is why they got so many votes.

It's also truely why I voted.

OCKLAWAHA
PS: Anyone wondering what the strange hump on the locomotive and cars are all about. It's about SAND and DUST, the engines and the AC units on the wagons (cars) must have special breathers.

[Joe]

Hahaha, so so true.  Maybe if we could get the Federal Government to give Florida $10B a month we could get some commuter rail going.

The Feds do give us billions and billions and billions. It just happens to be for highways.

[uptowngirl]

Hahaha, so so true.  Maybe if we could get the Federal Government to give Florida $10B a month we could get some commuter rail going.

The Feds do give us billions and billions and billions. It just happens to be for highways.

Well California is apparently getting some fed dollars for a bullet train according to the article posted above. I wonder how they got it?

[Joe]

Yeah, you can get tons of federal dollars for transit projects. Your city just has to be very proactive (which Jacksonville simply is not). I know someone who used to be very high up in FDOT, and that person was constantly bashing Northeast Florida for having their respective heads up their asses and constantly leaving federal and state dollars on the table due to bureaucratic incompetence.

But anyway, I guesss my actual point in the other post was this ...

As long as the Feds keep giving us billions and billions for highways, any mass transit projects won't have that great of an impact. The market keeps being distorted in favor of highways, and that has as much of an impact - if not more - than a lack of transit funding.

[uptowngirl]

Yeah, you can get tons of federal dollars for transit projects. Your city just has to be very proactive (which Jacksonville simply is not). I know someone who used to be very high up in FDOT, and that person was constantly bashing Northeast Florida for having their respective heads up their asses and constantly leaving federal and state dollars on the table due to bureaucratic incompetence.

But anyway, I guesss my actual point in the other post was this ...

As long as the Feds keep giving us billions and billions for highways, any mass transit projects won't have that great of an impact. The market keeps being distorted in favor of highways, and that has as much of an impact - if not more - than a lack of transit funding.

Makes sense to me