Choo Choo China

Here we go. China's C.R.R.C. Corporation announced today that it has landed a 1.3 billion dollar contract to build rail cars for the Chicago Transit Authority.

How long do you think it will take Donald Trump to add this to his stump speech? For that matter it's also perfect fodder for Bernie Sanders.

I don't know much about building trains but I do know that like most of our infrastructure the overall freight system is in decay. The cars in question for this contract are for moving people in one of our few major metropolitan cities that actually has genuine public transportation. One wonders how the people of Chicago feel about this? Thus far it's just a blurb of a story but I bet it won't remain that way for long.

Hillary Clinton has casually mentioned high speed rail from time to time and it is certainly long past the time for the United States to catch up with the rest of the world. It has always been a heavy lift legislatively because of strong opposition from the automotive and airline industry. Then there's always the argument that our country is just too big to pursue it which has always struck me as a weak argument in fact, but it tends to work. Targeting major corridors would seem to be the smart tactic to sell it politically to the American people. Once it is seen to work then it could open up broader portions of the U.S.

I'm such an optimist, choo choo!