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Supertrains!
werehippy
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Obama just gave a speech on plans to expand high speed rail in the US (video in the link).
The plan includes two stages of funding, one for shovel ready projects and one to build a series of high speed hubs including:
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California Corridor (Bay Area, Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Diego)
Pacific Northwest Corridor (Eugene, Portland, Tacoma, Seattle, Vancouver BC)
South Central Corridor (Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, Little Rock)
Gulf Coast Corridor (Houston, New Orleans, , Mobile, Birmingham, Atlanta)
Chicago Hub Network (Chicago, Milwaukee, Twin Cities, St. Louis, Kansas City, Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Louisville,)
Florida Corridor (Orlando, Tampa, Miami)
Southeast Corridor (Washington, Richmond, Raleigh, Charlotte, Atlanta, Macon, Columbia, Savannah, Jacksonville)
Keystone Corridor (Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh)
Empire Corridor (New York City, Albany, Buffalo)
Northern New England Corridor (Boston, Montreal, Portland, Springfield, New Haven, Albany)
An expansion of the existing Northeast corridor
The proposed layout actually doesn't look that different from the on we were kickign around here on the board awhile back (there's a larger image that includes some non-high speed rail in the plan link)
I have to say, it's well past time we started investing in smart mass transit infrastructure, though on a person level I'm depressed as hell I'm almost dead center in the biggest in the entire Northeast.
werehippy on
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a nationwide Acela would be a spectacular waste of money
This is what bipartisan compromise gets you. Half of a railway that stops at a pointless destination.
but they're listening to every word I say
Seriously, how the fuck did we come to this point?
And the Fed and State governments will have to work hard on the private railroad cooperation. I don't think the rail industry gives two shits about any change to their system, so a cooperation that provides supposed benefits to both parties, but requires the rail industry to put up their own money, seems hard to enact.
Also: Holy God I loved BART in San Francisco, as a local means of transport, and I fucking hated the Metro system. I'd love the former to be used as a model for intracity mobility.
High speed rails require special tracks. Which is why the Acela was such a damn failure. It only has one section of high speed rails and goes a normal speed the rest of the time.
but they're listening to every word I say
Any increase in the total system is also an increase in the localized system as it makes it more connective. Standard chicken - egg fare.
And if it were actually true high speed rail it wouldn't have any impact on private rail lines as it would require purchasing new right of way. It isn't true high speed rail and is actually just track and signaling improvements to get trains back up to the speed they were at 50 years ago. Very little that gets built under this plan will be able to top off over 110 mph, sadly. It's not high speed rail it's higher speed rail. I'm looking forward to what CLEAN-TEA sets aside and to see if it'll allow a few real routes to get made. That would be awesome.
Because it wouldn't be cost effective in the slightest. HSR is only useful for distances no further than ~500 miles. After that you should be flying somewhere. Closer than that and the plane really isn't the most efficient means of travel. And fortunately we have a lot of locales that are within ~500 miles of each other which will allow you to stitch mega-regions of the country closer together.
Why? Planes are probably simply cheaper at that distance.
but they're listening to every word I say
I figured something like that.
In my opinion this needs to not be commercial oriented and needs to be run solely by the DoT. Also a commuter line that services the local area would be awesome. I would love to walk half a mile up the road, and pay for a $30 monthly pass and save all that god damned money on having to drive. Probably would be better than trying to figure out my bus route that takes 60 minutes to make a 10 mile drive.
Same thing with Dallas/San Antonio/Austin and Houston.
I don't think the reason is economics more of a "relief from dependence on fuel."
From what I understand a lot of the problems and costs associated with running high speed rail transit in the United States has to do with elevation gradients in various parts of the country and also the cost of getting the land to run the track through. Doesn't seem like either would be a problem with Omaha and I would love to be able to zip to Chicago for a weekend. Going to join a tea party over this great injustice Obama, just you wait and see.
They would be, but even if not it would be too great a distance to really be worthwhile. The only way it doesn't make any sense is that there are stops between Chicago and New York that should be on a HSR line. You'd never have a high speed train actually make a Chicago-NYC run, but you should have a Chicago-Pittsburgh and a Pitts-NYC setup which is functionally the same as Chi-NYC on a map. Of course, the DOT's map really sucks and is 20 years old so hopefully part of the early stages here is going to be LaHood and DOT/FTA fiddling with the corridors. It should look more like this:
You realize the rest of it is in planning right? It has nothing to do with bipartisan compromise - they are building it in stages.
No, it's economics. A train is slower and more expensive than a plane for distances > ~500 miles. NYC-LA is 2,791 miles.
Yes.
Shit, you're right.
Wow, I didn't realize that the difference was that great.
I would honestly rather use this for local commuting or going to the beach for a weekend than for going to visit cali or something.
how long would that take
Yeah some stuff it'd be really nice for
like I live right by NYC but aside from crappy Chinatown buses there's no way to get to Philly, Boston, or DC that isn't long, expensive or exceedingly difficult.
Every improvement in connectedness makes the whole system improved. This is the same basic argument of the 'we can't afford a comprehensive public transit system that would be attractive and useful to riders because no one rides our spartan public transit system that serves an extremely limited purpose now.'
Not to mention the fact that train stations are downtown rather than an hour outside of it. So the need for a car becomes much diminished for the purpose that trains and planes are commonly used for now anyway. Chiefly businesspeople going to meetings. The issue can also be easily improved by simply increasing the number of cab and livery drivers, car sharing programs, and car rental places nearby the train station.
That's kind of the way I feel about it.
It is "in planning" still because of partisan obstruction.
but they're listening to every word I say
Which is the one that goes from Disneyland to a brothel in Vegas? I want to get on that one.
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
I'm trying to figure out why the South-Central, Chicago Hub, and Gulf Coast lines aren't interconnected via Memphis.
France's TGV?
Germnay's ICE?
Japan's Shinkansen?
There's some good stuff out there.
Is it just "Because those dems did it!"?
It's about the same distance to DC as NYC. So roughly double that commute on Acela assuming an equivalent number of stops. Around 6 hours. Less, if they actually make Acela high speed rail and not higher speed rail.
I hear Germany and China have an awesome one.