Government Spending and Trains

There are many items of government spending that I totally disagree with, but today I lauded the news of money going to develop our rail system. That is until I read the full article. Most of the money to be spent in Florida is for a high speed route from Orlando to Tampa., two cities that are only 90 minutes apart. There are so many other options that would be more usable.

Don't get me wrong, I am all for rail travel. I love it. I do not enjoy air travel in today's world and I think if most people were honest with themselves, they would also admit how little they enjoy air travel. The only good thing about it is speed. The seats are cramped and uncomfortable, security can be a huge hassle, and you spend almost as much time arranging to get on and off the airplane as you spend in the air. You can't move around much and you certainly don't have any scenery to enjoy. With a train you can move around, enjoy the almost hassle free travel, and even have a wonderful meal in the onboard restaurant. The seats are more spacious on a train and even have footrests.

I just feel there would be many better ways to use that rail development money in Florida. In the first place I wish they would reinstate the New Orleans to Jacksonville portion of the Sunset Limited. I would love to once again be able to take the train from West Palm to Houston and beyond. I also wish that they would develop a passenger line all the way down the east coast. It would be so nice to get on the train Fort Pierce and do day trips to Miami or go to the races in Daytona. If we had service along the east coast I would probably get to visit the relatives up north (including my daughter) more often. Service from Orlando to the rest of the east coast (not just Tampa on the west coast) would be a boon to the travel industry. There are probably thousands of people in the Treasure Coast area alone who would go to all the tourist attractions in Orlando and Tampa if they did not have to drive, pay toll roads and pay exorbitant amounts to park in Orlando. As it is we rarely go because the two hour drive each way makes for a very long day, or we have to stay overnight and pay for hotel rooms. We would probably also have more visitors to the Treasure Coast from Tampa and Orlando. The east coast of Florida has many outstanding features for the visitor. There are beautiful beaches, wonderful restaurants, many fantastic galleries and stores, and NASA of course.

I do want to say thank you to the govvernment for investing in Florida's train system. Hopefully this is just a starting point for expanding sevice throughout the rest of the statel