Vacations Delivered

Source: CNN

In his State of the Union speech Jan. 26 President Obama mentioned an $8 billion investment in high-speed train systems as a key priority and has Vice President Joe Biden heading to Florida to announce the program.

Details released Thursday said the investment would be grants from the government’s $862 billion economic stimulus package to begin the planning and initial work on creating the first nationwide program of high-speed intercity passenger rail service.

Overall, projects and planning involving the rail corridors will take place in 31 states, according to a White House statement.

Obama and Vice President Joe Biden were scheduled to travel to Tampa, Florida, Thursday to formally announce the program. Other Cabinet members and administration officials also were visiting sites of the program in other states on Thursday and Friday.

According to the statement, the corridor between Tampa and Orlando, Florida, would have trains capable of traveling up to 168 mph with 16 round trips a day. The time to travel by train between

“This project will create jobs and generate economic activity as 84 miles of track are constructed, stations are built or enhanced, and equipment is purchased,” with work expected to be completed in 2014, the statement said.

“The projects announced today are part of President Obama’s strategic long-term plan to transform travel in America by building and sustaining a comprehensive passenger rail program,” the statement said. “In addition to the $8 billion awarded today, the plan also included $1 billion a year for five years in the federal budget as a down payment to jump-start the program.”

the cities would be about an hour, compared with about 90 minutes by car, it said.

More to the point, however, is the issue of jobs.  An extended infrastructure of high-speed rail lines across the major cities in the country could create a slue of jobs for displaced workers.

An out of work accreditation consultant for a hospital could find him or herself managing the state and county labor issues involved in the construction of rail lines using untrained workers, for example.

The statement described the program as “a long-term venture in which states will need to plan projects, purchase and lay track, build and assemble equipment, and construct or upgrade train stations, tunnels and bridges.”

“Spain spent two decades and $35 billion developing its high-speed rail system,” it said. “South Korea took 12 years and more than $10 billion to build a line stretching from Seoul to Busan, comparable to the distance between Boston and New York.”

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My Take: As an native Angelino (that’s Los Angeles for you non-natives), I have always supported the idea of a high-speed rail line from L.A. to San Francisco.  My dream liner is a train that would have a bar and an online casino room.  I love nothing more than to play poker online and in casinos, and a little card action on a trip to the city by the bay would be fantastic.

As a sales rep for a pretty large cosmetics manufacturing company here in Los Angeles, I know all about travel perks.  I train cosmetics development sales reps and I’d love to be able to get to my clients in San Francisco without having to fly.  The time it takes to get to the airport, park and get through security these days, what should only be about a two hour flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco turns into an entire day’s work.  That time spent in a year alone is enough to train as a Fort Worth truck accident lawyer or as a court interpreter for one of thousands of Los Angeles injury attorneys doing business in the city.

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Other Resources:

Accidents Happen:
If you travel to the great state of Texas and you are involved in a car accident, check with AAA for referrals to legitimate Texas car accident firm that can get you through the hurdles quickly and back on the road.

Jobs Corp:  
Money for job training for displaced workers in all states is available and it doesn’t matter if you’re interested in working for a hospice accreditation services company or  for LA criminal lawyers.  Obama’s travel by train program may be funded by stimulus money, but there is said to be plenty of stimulus cash left over for re-training workers.

Casualty and Personal Injury Defense

These Denver construction law lawyers have extensive experience handling jury trials in the area of personal injury defense and general casualty claims.  These attorneys have tried a large number of cases in the courts throughout the seven Denver metropolitan counties, as well as in mountain jurisdictions and the southern Front Range Communities of Colorado Springs and Pueblo.  Because of their involvement in construction litigation and, in particular, construction defect litigation, these Denver construction defect litigation attorneys have become increasingly involved in governmental affairs. These construction attorneys also provide advice and assistance to companies to establish basic lien compliance procedures, review and/or filing of necessary documentation and timely handling of litigation when necessary.