Midwest High Speed Rail Act of 2014 (Passed)

[windjammer]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Sponsor: Lumine

Lumine is retiring, so I hope Arturo and Cris will understand that his bill will be debated before their bills!

[Lumine]

I sincerely thank the Archduke for giving me the chance of having an extended discussion on this. This is my ultimate project, and I would like to think that we have a chance of building something decisive for the future of the Most Serene Republic. This was attempted by Gass in the Mideast Assembly almost a year ago, and I think that having a High Speed Rail will be positive for the Midwest in many aspects. It generates revenue, it allows for more efficient transport across the region and it will hopefully serve as a model for other regions.

It's going to be a very expensive project, so I made the cost estimate based on certain thoughts:

-I considered that a very long term plan is doomed given constant changes to the budget, so my idea was to use five years to build it. Given that the distances in the region are astounding from state to state, I tried to create as less lines as it was possible, and I came up with five lines set up like this:

-Let’s say we have between 15 to 20 billion to allocate to the project for the first year. In the Mideast 860 miles required (at 120 mph, or 193 km/h) 42 billion, and I decided to make the estimate from a high cost for each mile, which means that this will likely cost a lot less:

We’ll have to go with tracks by fiscal year: (from Minneapolis to St Paul 8.69 miles)

1.- Minneapolis-St. Paul (MN) to Des Moines (IA): 242.8 miles. (12,140 billion)
2.- Des Moines (IA)-Lincoln (NB)-Topeka (KS)-Oklahoma City (OK): 567.3 miles. (28.365 billion)
3.- Helena (MT)-Cheyenne (WY)-Denver (CO): 617.3 miles. (30.865 billion)
4.- Cheyenne (WY)-Sioux Falls (SD)-Minneapolis-St-Paul (MN): 643.2 miles. (32.160 billion)
5.- Fargo (ND)-Sioux Falls (SD): 230 miles. (11,500 billion)
6.- Topeka (KS)-Denver (CO): 498 miles. (24.900 billion)

Grand Total: 2800 miles (2798.6)
Basic Estimation: 140 Billion.

Thoughts?

[windjammer]

The cost: 20 Billion or 140 Billion?

[Lumine]

The cost: 20 Billion or 140 Billion?

140 Billion for the whole project, divided into five years (Article 2 of the Act).

[windjammer]

I of course support this bill, I propose this amendment;

You must be logged in to read this quote.

[/b]

With this amendment, this bill would only cost 1.5B.
 

[Arturo Belano]

This is a wonderful idea. High-speed rail is cost-efficient, environmentally-friendly, and is sure to create new jobs. However, there should be additional provisions regarding allocating funds for maintenance. I'm not sure how much the maintenance of this project would cost, though.

[windjammer]

Well, so 28B a year, so with my amendment: 11B. I guess we can afford that. I will withdraw my bill which would have given 10B to te Pacific, after all, the Atlasia senate voted a bill to help them.

[Senator Cris]

Well, so 28B a year, so with my amendment: 11B. I guess we can afford that. I will withdraw my bill which would have given 10B to te Pacific, after all, the Atlasia senate voted a bill to help them.

Good.
I support the Windjammer's amendment.

@Lumine
Compliments for the project and the map!

[Lumine]

I of course support this bill, I propose this amendment;

You must be logged in to read this quote.

[/b]

With this amendment, this bill would only cost 1.5B.
 

Amendment friendly, Archduke! I had not considered the possibility of raising taxes here, and the more we tax alcohol, the better for me. I also thank you for withdrawing the Pacific bill, since the Senate will indeed help them and we will need that money for this endeavour.

That said I don't want to see this passing right away, I still have two weeks to discuss this in detail and I don't want to rush with a project of this scale. Does anybody have any doubts or misgivings about this project?

[Brewer]

This is a fantastic idea, and kudos Lumine for the map.

[Lumine]

Sorry, I seem to have missed one line in the bill, it doesn't make sense to have a line that connects the Dakotas and leaves them isolated (although I did mentioned the sixth line in my post). Taking Windjammer's reforms into account, it should look like this:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

This is a fantastic idea, and kudos Lumine for the map.

Compliments for the project and the map!

Thanks!

[windjammer]

Without opposition, Windjammer's amendment is adopted.

[Lumine]

Any further comments or ideas on this?

[windjammer]

Can I call a vote?

[Lumine]

Can I call a vote?

I would have hoped to discuss this more, but if nobody has anything to say then yes, a vote would be great.

[windjammer]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

[/quote]
I call a 48 hour vote.

[Brewer]

Aye

[Senator Cris]

Aye

[Arturo Belano]

Aye

[windjammer]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

I call a 48 hour vote.

[Brewer]

Didn't we just vote in this?

[windjammer]

OUPS I'm sorry ^^

[windjammer]

This bill passes