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re: Can high speed rail work in the United States?

Posted on 4/15/24 at 5:07 pm to
Posted by DownSouthCrawfish
Lift every voice and sing
Member since Oct 2011
38082 posts
Posted on 4/15/24 at 5:07 pm to
We’d find a way to frick it up
Posted by Limitlesstigers
Lafayette
Member since Nov 2019
3342 posts
Posted on 4/15/24 at 5:16 pm to
quote:

For very specific corridors, i.e, the NE/East coast from Boston down to Hampton Roads, Texas triangle, California.....maybe.



This, Amtrak's only profitable line runs in a corridor with over 60 million people within a few hours drive of the line.

Brightline's model might work if it connects certain cities.

Don't see a cross country route being profitable.
Posted by NOLALGD
Member since May 2014
2395 posts
Posted on 4/15/24 at 5:18 pm to
Time to gate is only part of the story, outside of travel time the train experience is significantly easier.

I generally walk in the station 10-15 minutes before the train leaves, which is impossible to do when flying. Also never had to gate check a bag on the train.

And maybe the biggest advantage of the train, don't have wait for a flight attendant to tell me when I can get up to use the bathroom.

I know not all trains are equal, but Amtrak business class, Acela, and Brightline all are phenomenal travel experiences.
Posted by Homesick Tiger
Greenbrier, AR
Member since Nov 2006
54765 posts
Posted on 4/15/24 at 5:20 pm to
Who is going to pay fo it? Us or some private business?
Posted by Joshjrn
Baton Rouge
Member since Dec 2008
28613 posts
Posted on 4/15/24 at 5:37 pm to
quote:

Do you mean, pick a city that existed well before the advent of the automobile?
Considering the Model T was publicly released in 1908, you realize that’s “nearly every city”, right?
Posted by jeffsdad
Member since Mar 2007
22230 posts
Posted on 4/15/24 at 5:39 pm to
Didn’t they begin this in California before? Costs skyrocketed and never built.
Posted by bad93ex
Walnut Cove
Member since Sep 2018
28804 posts
Posted on 4/15/24 at 5:41 pm to
quote:

Considering the Model T was publicly released in 1908, you realize that’s “nearly every city”, right?


Probably wasn’t the clearest statement but the overwhelmingly majority of cities in the United States are built around the automobile. My current township was created in 1975.
Posted by bad93ex
Walnut Cove
Member since Sep 2018
28804 posts
Posted on 4/15/24 at 5:41 pm to
quote:

Didn’t they begin this in California before? Costs skyrocketed and never built.


I think Gov. Arnold helped kick it off
Posted by bdavids09
Member since Jun 2017
878 posts
Posted on 4/15/24 at 5:56 pm to
quote:

The amount of work the Japanese do to make sure that the train runs on time and is safe to ride is incredible.

The Japanese are much more civil and behaved than most Americans. The thugs will make traveling in the trains a nightmare. They will tear that train up
Posted by chinhoyang
Member since Jun 2011
24435 posts
Posted on 4/15/24 at 6:01 pm to
hard to hop a train when it is going 100 mph or more
Posted by Joshjrn
Baton Rouge
Member since Dec 2008
28613 posts
Posted on 4/15/24 at 6:32 pm to
quote:

Probably wasn’t the clearest statement but the overwhelmingly majority of cities in the United States are built around the automobile. My current township was created in 1975.
I could be wrong, but I assume your township doesn’t have a major airport, either?

My point was that train stations are nearly always near city centers while airports are nearly always outside of the city, sometimes significantly so. Fly into New York, Paris, Tokyo, see how long it takes you to get from the airport into the city. Hell, living in Baton Rouge, it would take me 20m to drive to the airport right now, which is comparatively nothing. But when people talk about the convenience of train travel, going from city center to city center instead of city to suburb to suburb to city is part of that discussion.
Posted by bad93ex
Walnut Cove
Member since Sep 2018
28804 posts
Posted on 4/15/24 at 6:38 pm to
quote:

I could be wrong, but I assume your township doesn’t have a major airport, either?


It’s a suburb of a major city but right off of a major interstate with a 30 minute drive to the airport.
quote:

My point was that train stations are nearly always near city centers while airports are nearly always outside of the city, sometimes significantly so.


Ah ok, I see what you’re getting at. I am at least 45 minutes (on a no traffic day) to downtown. Wife and I are heading to NYC in February and I was looking into different ways to reach Times Square from LaGuardia, most likely will just take a cab/uber but it will be about a 30 minute ride according to Google Maps.
Posted by Joshjrn
Baton Rouge
Member since Dec 2008
28613 posts
Posted on 4/15/24 at 6:49 pm to
quote:

Ah ok, I see what you’re getting at. I am at least 45 minutes (on a no traffic day) to downtown. Wife and I are heading to NYC in February and I was looking into different ways to reach Times Square from LaGuardia, most likely will just take a cab/uber but it will be about a 30 minute ride according to Google Maps.
30m on a good day. It’s taken me upwards of an hour to get from LGA to Manhattan before.

But anyway, like I said, it’s just part of the consideration. I’ve far more examples I could cite abroad, but to stick to domestic, years ago I took the Acela Express from DC to NYC. Showing up at Union 15m before your train leaves and walking out of Grand Central beats the frick out of driving out to DCA at least an hour before your flight to then land at JFK, LGA, or EWR and having to drag arse into the city from there. And that’s not even taking into consideration how much more pleasant train travel is than air.

It’s by no means a panacea, but in areas that it makes sense, it’s a hell of a thing.
Posted by bad93ex
Walnut Cove
Member since Sep 2018
28804 posts
Posted on 4/15/24 at 6:53 pm to
quote:

30m on a good day. It’s taken me upwards of an hour to get from LGA to Manhattan before.


Pretty sure this will be a one-time thing for us to visit NYC but we will definitely be using trains when we eventually get to Europe and Japan.
Posted by F1y0n7h3W4LL
Below I-10
Member since Jul 2019
1970 posts
Posted on 4/15/24 at 6:54 pm to
I haven't been back to Oahu for 5 or 6 years but they were in the midst of building an 12 billion dollar elevated boondoggle between Hawaii Kai and Pearl City, roughly 21+ miles.

It was highly contentious when I was there.

If you stopped off at one of the stops, you could still have a 30-minute walk to your destination in downtown Waikiki/Honolulu.

Then, if you had to drive from your home in Mililani, you'd have to pay to park IF you could find a spot.

I haven't spoken to anyone about this but my guess is, it's still not functioning.
Posted by deltaland
Member since Mar 2011
93558 posts
Posted on 4/15/24 at 7:41 pm to
If they were popular wouldn’t you just end up with train station hassle in place of airport hassle?

It could work between cities in New England where traffic is congested and cities aren’t far apart.

The issue is the cost to build one crossing middle America and likely wouldn’t have high enough demand for those longer trips to justify it

Posted by greenbean
USAF Retired - 31 years
Member since Feb 2019
5165 posts
Posted on 4/15/24 at 8:25 pm to
quote:

Penn Station is the most complicated train station I've been in the US and would take that everyday of the week over any airport in a large US city.


concur.
Posted by saintsfan1977
West Monroe, from Cajun country
Member since Jun 2010
8307 posts
Posted on 4/15/24 at 8:30 pm to
quote:

Can high speed rail work in the United States?


Yes, just have to grease the right palms. That's all that matters in the USA. The highest bidder wins. If the people that wanted it paid more than people that don't want it, we'd already have it. I'm betting GM, Ford, Toyota etc are greasing the palms to keep those railways outta here.
Posted by Chucktown_Badger
The banks of the Ashley River
Member since May 2013
32425 posts
Posted on 4/15/24 at 8:49 pm to
quote:

This is so ludicrous I don’t know where to begin

Thinking your experience is normal or average is peak OT


So you totally missed the point. The point was that outside of a handful of airports, basically the big ones, airports are not as time consuming as some of you seem to suggest. And keep in mind that in the country's largest airports many of the travelers are connecting through there, not originating from there. Meaning they don't deal with all the shite of commuting in Atlanta and going through security there. They do it in a smaller airport where it takes...27 minutes to commute there and get to their gate
This post was edited on 4/15/24 at 8:56 pm
Posted by Chucktown_Badger
The banks of the Ashley River
Member since May 2013
32425 posts
Posted on 4/15/24 at 8:55 pm to
quote:

I could be wrong, but I assume your township doesn’t have a major airport, either?


I bet it has an airport, though, just like probably 95% of American cities. I don't know what percentage of American cities have train stations, but it's nowhere near that.

And air between cities does not require construction or maintenance.
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