Reborn Tech Maniac

Chapter 661 How many people's cheese has been touched
……

Since the California high-speed rail can be used as a target, it naturally involves the interests of many parties.Whose cheese did it touch?The answer is: a lot, a lot!
The first to bear the brunt is the American National Railroad Passenger Company, whose peers are enemies.

Historically, railroads have played a very important role in the economic development of the United States.For example, during the industrial revolution period from 1810 to 1850 and the new colonial development period from 1850 to 1890, it played an irreplaceable role.

The railway era in the United States began with the establishment of the Baltimore and Ohio Railway in 1828. Later, due to government support and other reasons, the railway industry developed vigorously. Even though it encountered several economic crises and faced industry-wide recession, overall, the entire industry In the 19th century, they were all in rapid development.

The great development of railways has brought about earth-shaking changes in American transportation, whether it is freight or passenger transportation, it is undergoing a revolution.

The main mode of freight transportation in the early days was naturally waterway, but faced with many overwhelming advantages of railways, such as fast transportation speed, cheaper freight, and unimpeded flow throughout the year, there will be no water systems in high latitudes due to the long winter During the freezing period, resulting in poor turnover of cargo transportation, etc., it will inevitably fail.

In terms of passenger transport, railways have of course also had a profound impact on the way people travel.Compared with the hardships of primitive methods such as riding horses and public carriages, passengers' daily life, meals and sleep can all be completed in comfortable carriages pulled by railway locomotives and running at high speed on flat steel rails.

By 1860, almost all cities in the central and northern United States had railroad stations; in corn-producing areas, 80.00% of farms were within 5 miles of adjacent railroad lines.

By the end of the 19th century, the United States already had 20 large national railroad companies and countless small regional railroad companies.

The railway network composed of such profit-making private railway companies connects cities and villages across the United States and undertakes all intercity and long-distance passenger transportation.

This development boom reached its peak in the 1910s. The length of the U.S. railway network reached 1916 miles in 254251, ranking first in the world, and the number of railway employees was approximately 210 million.

By 1929.There are 65000 passenger cars in operation in the United States alone.

But the inflection point of the entire industry's downward trend also began at this time, especially passenger transport, which is even more obvious.

There are many reasons, mainly the invention and popularization of automobiles, which led the federal government to change the direction of subsidies, build the US national road network, and the Great Depression that broke out in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

Another point is that private railway passenger transportation companies have monopolized intercity passenger transportation across the United States, so the government has very strict regulation, which has gradually led to the loss of competitiveness of operations.

Fortunately, in the mid-1930s, thanks to a series of railway technology developments, facility updates and speed improvements, private passenger rail companies got a break.Diesel locomotives, luxury trains, and express trains such as "Pioneer Breeze" and "Flyer Yankee" have been put into operation one after another, and the traffic volume has rebounded, but the overall trend is still declining.By 1940, passenger lines accounted for only 67% of the total length of the nation's rail lines.

At this time, the private railway passenger transport company ushered in another turning point.The intensified World War II required tens of thousands of American officers and soldiers to be mobilized by rail. At the same time, gasoline was listed as war materials and strictly controlled.

Ever since, U.S. rail passenger traffic rose against the trend and reached the highest point in history.

Taking advantage of this wave of market prices, after the end of World War II, various railway companies have further updated their vehicles. The ultra-luxury trains "Super Chief" and "California Zephyr" are all equipped with luxurious decoration, comfortable travel facilities and viewing windows. Passenger rail transportation in the United States has maintained a period of prosperity.

It is a pity that the good times did not last long. The high-speed progress of American railways was interrupted by the Naperville railway accident in 1946 and a series of railway accidents in New York City in 1950. This period coincided with the rise of the civil aviation industry and the rapid development of major American automobile manufacturers. The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, supported by US President Eisenhower, led to the construction of the US Interstate Highway System.

Compared with the previous U.S. national highway network, most of the U.S. interstate highway system is a highway with at least four lanes across the board.

Under the pressure of such brutal competition, passenger rail transportation in the United States has declined further, and the speed is far faster than expected.Many stations are empty, trains have been cancelled, and more and more passenger lines are losing money for a long time.By 1965, there were only 10000 passenger car cars in operation in the United States, an 1929% decrease from 85.

To make matters worse, the business of the U.S. postal system was originally undertaken by the railway passenger transport company—a few postal carriages were often added to the back of the passenger train, which was a good and stable subsidy. However, since the mid-1960s, the U.S. Postal Service has gradually reduced and terminated Railway transportation contract, switch to road and air transportation.This move caused the railway company to lose an important source of income.

In order to save the decline of railway passenger transport, in 1958, the U.S. Congress issued a decree granting the Interstate Commerce Commission—ICC—full power to manage railway lines. Any addition, adjustment and cancellation of existing passenger transport lines must be approved by ICC.

However, this unilateral move did not have a beneficial impact on railway passenger transport.

At that time, many passenger lines were in urgent need of adjustment to cope with changes in transportation modes. However, the ICC's work efficiency was low and it often took more than eight months for approval.

In addition, ICC is unwilling to give up the lines with little passenger flow, and insists that the canceled lines must be made up for by other line adjustments, resulting in excessively long lines, lower operating speed and efficiency, and a rapid decrease in passenger traffic.

ICC also strictly controls the mergers between railway companies.Many mergers and acquisitions often last for several years or even more than ten years.Examples include the merger of the New York Central Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad, and the merger of the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad with the Erie Railroad.

When the ICC finally approved these mergers and acquisitions in the 1960s, years of government investment cuts, aging stations and vehicle facilities, and competition in the aviation and highway industries made such capital operations irrelevant.

By the late 1960s, passenger railroads in the United States were finally dying.First, various lines applied for suspension, and then various private railway passenger transportation companies filed for bankruptcy.

In 1969, Pullman Company, a legendary bus manufacturer of a generation, declared bankruptcy.

In 1970, the Pennsylvania Central Railroad, the largest railroad operator in the northeast of the United States, declared bankruptcy.

All of a sudden, the entire railway industry was in turmoil, and the poor financial situation of the railway company seemed to be about to completely destroy the world's largest railway network.
Obviously, no one in the federal government wants to see the extinction of passenger rail transportation during his tenure, so as to make himself eternally infamous.

So in 1970, the National Railroad Passenger Association proposed, passed by Congress, signed by President Nixon, and the Passenger Railroad Service Act came into being at the fastest speed.

According to this bill, a semi-private and semi-state-owned "National Rail Passenger Company" will be established to receive government and taxpayer funding and continue to operate long-distance intercity trains.

The secret of this measure is mainly that, as long as the private passenger railway company joins the national railway passenger transportation company, the passenger transportation obligations on it will be relieved and transferred to the national railway passenger transportation company, while rail freight is still a good business , The private railway passenger transport company that got rid of the burden will not have to call bankruptcy with poor financial reports.

In fact, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation is an expedient measure made by American politicians collectively in response to public concerns about the decline of passenger railroads. When the three minutes of enthusiasm are exhausted and public attention is shifted, American passenger railroads can come to an end.

However, the changes in the world are so wonderful. In the midst of a tacit consensus, the National Railway Passenger Company, which was officially established and put into operation on May 1971, 5, caught up with the two waves of world energy crises in the 1s. The biggest competitor The civil aviation industry and road transportation were hit hard, and then miraculously survived until now.

Today, the National Railway Passenger Transport Company's annual attendance is stable at around 2000 million passengers. It has never been able to achieve financial independence and take responsibility for its own profits and losses. However, it has been successful in integrating resources in some areas, such as the original three trains on the West Coast. The train, merged into the Coast Starlight, became the first passenger train across the West Coast, running between Los Angeles and Seattle.

But there is only such a little scrap left, and it will be robbed by the California high-speed rail.

The distance between Los Angeles and San Francisco, the National Rail Passenger Company's operating time is about 10 hours, and the California high-speed rail can directly save half of the time.The Coastal Starlight was crippled in an instant!How could the National Rail Passenger Company not be in a hurry?
To be honest, the National Railway Passenger Company is still a small shrimp, and the civil aviation industry and road transportation are the most threatened by the California high-speed rail.

It is not difficult to see from the decline of American railway passenger transport that, apart from some objective reasons, there are secretly fueled by the capital of the automobile industry and the aircraft industry.

Once the California high-speed rail is put into operation, the transportation industry in California will inevitably change the rules of the game. The huge profits enjoyed by the civil aviation industry and road transportation will inevitably be lost in large quantities.

That's all real money, how could those with vested interests willingly hand it over to others?

The guy who got into the Top Gun party was an investor in the transportation business between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

After this person came out of the police station, he boldly threatened that he would continue to oppose the California high-speed rail that caused huge unemployment, and the key was to dispel Tang Huan, the largest private investor.

……

Tang Huan, who was in a bad mood, was currently watching an animated film sample sent by Steven Spielberg and produced by him, called "An American Tail" - "American Rat Tale".

This is Steven Spielberg's first foray into the field of animated films. With Tang Huan's high-tech support, his artistic creativity has been given full play. The result is that "American Rat Story" is produced very beautifully and meticulously.

This is the proper meaning of the question, and Tang Huan can no longer be excited by the technical achievements.Therefore, he focused on the story of the movie itself and watched it with gusto.

"American Rat Story" describes the story of a little mouse, Weifu, who immigrated from Russia to the United States with his family, but got lost on the way and looked for a way to find his family back.

……

In 1885, in the town of Shostka, Russia, a mouse family, the Mousekewitze family, decided to immigrate to the United States because the Cossack army and the cats it raised destroyed their settlement, and believed that there was a cat-free world. new world.

During the voyage, his young son, Wei Fu, fell from the ship into the sea due to a storm. The rest of the family, who thought they had no physical health, arrived in the United States sadly.

Weifu, who was separated from his family, did not die, but floated to the United States with the help of a bottle, and was encouraged by a French pigeon, Henry, to set out to find his family.

To make matters worse, Weifu met Warren, a liar mouse. He thought that the other party could help him find his family, but he was sold to a sweatshop.

Fortunately, Weifu escaped with Tony, an Italian rat with a clever ability to survive in urban environments.

Whistle then joins the Irish mouse, Peach, to rouse the brethren and stand up against the cat.

At this time, a group of cats named MottStreetMaulers attacked the mouse market.All you immigrant rats, here's where the rumor that there are no cats in America is false.

……

Seeing this, Tang Huan almost burst into tears, "The rumor that there are no cats in the United States is wrong...you are so creative! Perhaps, Stephen, you should give me a chance to dub."

Spielberg shrugged, "Okay, I'll remember, if there is a next time."

……

While discussing the highlights of "American Rat Story", the assistant brought a newspaper, and the first thing that caught his eye was the party troublemaker, who made a declaration of battle in front of the reporter.

Spielberg glanced at the newspaper and sighed, "Opponents of California's high-speed rail, turn the blame on you, it shouldn't be!"

"Who made me the most conspicuous target?" Tang Huanmei mocked himself.

There are quite a few people who have been favored by the richest man and have good feelings. When the gloating "Washington Post" played up how Tang Huan was attacked at his celebration banquet, it aroused a lot of contempt.

Of course, the California high-speed rail has also become the focus of public opinion in the United States, and heated discussions have been launched around whether to build it.

The California high-speed rail has not only mobilized the cheese of a powerful opponent in terms of commercial interests, but also has a construction fund of up to 300 billion U.S. dollars, making Californians hesitant and difficult to choose.

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(End of this chapter)