Pacific Council: High Speed Rail Initiative

[Хahar 🤔]

High Speed Rail Initiative

Whereas, the Government of the Pacific Region is committed to finding new and more efficient ways of transportation in the region.

Whereas, the Region is to receive up to $40 billion as a part of a federal stimulus to improve infrastructure.

1. The $40 billion in stimulus fund will be managed by a government-run High Speed Rail (HSR) Fund. The fund will pay for the construction and upkeep of the system, as well as administrative expenses, until the original stimulus is exhausted.

2. The Pacific Regional government will contract a company to construct high speed railroad tracks designed for trains running up to 120 mph (192 kmph) between the following cities:

San Jose, CA (diverging from the existing Los Angeles to San Francisco line at Diridon Station) > Oakland, CA > Redding, CA > Eugene, OR > Portland, OR > Tacoma, WA > Seattle, WA, for a total of approximately 850 miles of track.

3. The company contracted to construct the HSR line must be cleared by the Pacific Council to begin work. The Pacific Council may clear the company without opening a public thread or public discussion.

4. The Government of the Pacific Region shall allocate $32.504 billion dollars from the HSR Fund for the 2013-2014 fiscal year to the construction of the lines. Any money not spent during the fiscal year may be spent in subsequent fiscal periods, and can be expensed to the HSR Fund.

5. $100 million is allocated to the upkeep, maintenance, train retrofitting, and seismic retrofitting of each of the San Jose, Tacoma, and Seattle rail terminals. $200 million is allocated to each of the Portland, Eugene, Oakland, and Redding train terminals for the same purposes.

6. Construction on these lines shall commence on January 1, 2014 if the construction company is approved on or before that date. The construction may commence on or after January 2, 2014 and any day before June 30, 2014 if the construction company has been approved on or before that date. If construction does not begin before July 1, 2014, Pacific Council approval is required to begin work. Said Pacific Council approval does not need to be in a public thread.

7. Once the aforementioned railroad tracks have been constructed, private companies shall be able to purchase rights to operate trains on these routes at any price within a range provided by the Pacific Department of Transportation.

8. A rigorous safety inspection shall be mandated annually for all trains and parent corporations making use of the lines. If standards fail to be met by the operating company, the region may mandate a fine of up to $100,000,000 upon the parent company and revoke its rights to utilize the routes for up to five years.

9. The Mideast Government shall obtain 10% of the profits made on these routes in order to maintain tracks. All leftover revenue shall be annexed by the HSR Fund for future use.

Sponsor: TyrionTheImperialist

[President Tyrion]

This is to spend the federal stimulus money.

[PJ]

I will be supporting this.

[President Tyrion]

Any questions?

[Хahar 🤔]

I do have some things to say; I'd like to get to them when I'm not in class.

[President Tyrion]

I do have some things to say; I'd like to get to them when I'm not in class.

Are you still interested in debating this?

[Flake]

I will support this.

[PJ]

I do have some things to say; I'd like to get to them when I'm not in class.

Are you still interested in debating this?

If Xahar's not willing to give as much time to the council as he is to the senate, that's his problem. I call for a final vote.

[President Tyrion]

I do have some things to say; I'd like to get to them when I'm not in class.

Are you still interested in debating this?

If Xahar's not willing to give as much time to the council as he is to the senate, that's his problem. I call for a final vote.

Seconded

[PJ]

I do have some things to say; I'd like to get to them when I'm not in class.

Are you still interested in debating this?

If Xahar's not willing to give as much time to the council as he is to the senate, that's his problem. I call for a final vote.

Seconded

Well, Seatown?

[Flake]

I also call for a final vote.

[Fuzzybigfoot]

Hold on, what about a Seattle-Vancouver BC line?  People from Vancouver love to come down South to shop, and vice versa.   

[Fuzzybigfoot]

Plus, B.C. is a territory under Pacific Jurisdiction, correct?  So..

[President Tyrion]

Hold on, what about a Seattle-Vancouver BC line?  People from Vancouver love to come down South to shop, and vice versa.   

Plus, B.C. is a territory under Pacific Jurisdiction, correct?  So..

I'm not sure Canada has agreed to that, although Atlasia claims it's so. I'm not sure that we should start really considering Canadian projects.

With that said, we could run a line from Tacoma to Vancouver or something if those issues get ironed out.

[Adam Griffin]

Hold on, what about a Seattle-Vancouver BC line?  People from Vancouver love to come down South to shop, and vice versa.   

Plus, B.C. is a territory under Pacific Jurisdiction, correct?  So..

I'm not sure Canada has agreed to that, although Atlasia claims it's so. I'm not sure that we should start really considering Canadian projects.

With that said, we could run a line from Tacoma to Vancouver or something if those issues get ironed out.

The GM/SoEA is in effect the Canadian Government, so you'd probably want to consult with SJoyce/Bacon King on this first.

[President Tyrion]

Hold on, what about a Seattle-Vancouver BC line?  People from Vancouver love to come down South to shop, and vice versa.   

Plus, B.C. is a territory under Pacific Jurisdiction, correct?  So..

I'm not sure Canada has agreed to that, although Atlasia claims it's so. I'm not sure that we should start really considering Canadian projects.

With that said, we could run a line from Tacoma to Vancouver or something if those issues get ironed out.

The GM/SoEA is in effect the Canadian Government, so you'd probably want to consult with SJoyce/Bacon King on this first.

Alright. My position at this time is that we don't get tax revenue from Canadian constituents, so, at this point, I am loath to call them Atlasians in need of a high-cost public works project.

[Fuzzybigfoot]

Hold on, what about a Seattle-Vancouver BC line?  People from Vancouver love to come down South to shop, and vice versa.   

Plus, B.C. is a territory under Pacific Jurisdiction, correct?  So..

I'm not sure Canada has agreed to that, although Atlasia claims it's so. I'm not sure that we should start really considering Canadian projects.

With that said, we could run a line from Tacoma to Vancouver or something if those issues get ironed out.

The GM/SoEA is in effect the Canadian Government, so you'd probably want to consult with SJoyce/Bacon King on this first.

Alright. My position at this time is that we don't get tax revenue from Canadian constituents, so, at this point, I am loath to call them Atlasians in need of a high-cost public works project.

Ahh, I see.  Then I will support the bill in it's current version.

[President Tyrion]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

AMENDMENT that I could swear I made earlier, but I guess not.

[PJ]

SEATOWN

[Flake]

SEATOWN

[PJ]

SEATOWN

[Fuzzybigfoot]

Bump

[Flake]

SEATOWN

Damnit seatown can you please do your job

[PJ]

SEATOWN

Damnit seatown can you please do your job

[PJ]

SEATOWN

Damnit seatown can you please do your job