Editorial: Bullet train vs. budget deficit

Saturday, April 7, 2007 | 7:19 a.m.

As Nevada lawmakers remain stuck in neutral on funding for the state's dire transportation needs, a bullet train on a test run sped through the French countryside on Tuesday at a blistering 357.2 mph, a world record for conventional rail.

The contrast is as obvious as the speed suggests. In one corner of the globe the French TGV double-decker train, which normally travels at 186 mph, displayed the exciting possibilities of innovative transportation. In another corner of the globe we find brain freeze in Carson City.

It's too bad Nevada didn't send a delegation to France to see the 25,000-horsepower train in action as California did. Democratic Assemblywoman Fiona Ma of San Francisco even got to ride on the record-setting run. "It felt like we were ready to take off on the runway in a plane," she told the Associated Press. Naturally, she is sold on the idea of bullet trains and believes they should be employed in her state, as has been proposed to link San Francisco with Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Diego.

It is always exciting to see technological breakthroughs that push the envelope and show just how far or fast human beings can go. It is especially gratifying when those breakthroughs can be shared by the public, as is the case with the bullet train. And, yes, the French are willing to sell their technology .

We can only dream of the day when a delegation from another state or country pays a visit to see a cutting-edge mode of transportation in Nevada. But there is no sense dreaming when we cannot even decide how to pay for a stretch of blacktop.