High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program (USA)

[Nexis4Jersey]

They seem to be final now focusing on the NEC....

[mhays]

Originally Posted by waltlantz

Where is that?

That's good, stuff like that will show people that "hey trains aren't just a waste of money" which unfortunetly is still prevalient.

Seattle. The Portland route is going to have six per day soon rather than four, and the Vancouver route might go to three from two currently and one pretty recently. Currently, the Portland route sells out sometimes despite being a little slower than the freeway, if unjammed. Hopefully we'll get that up to one per hour eventually, which is roughly the vision.

The small speed improvements include news this week about the border, a reroute through Tacoma, and misc. sidings, overpasses, etc.

[JDRCRASH]

Originally Posted by Nexis4Jersey

They seem to be final now focusing on the NEC....

They have no reason to..... the Northeast region has already been given a head start on HSR..... It's about time the wastrels in Washington start focusing on other areas of the country and stop letting the Northeast hog all of the attention. The California corridor is BY FAR the largest area in the country without some form of HSR.

Besides, the funds will be utilized before the GOP steals them back. There is NOTHING they can do, no matter how much they whine and throw tantrums.

[fflint]

Originally Posted by mhays

Seattle. The Portland route is going to have six per day soon rather than four, and the Vancouver route might go to three from two currently and one pretty recently. Currently, the Portland route sells out sometimes despite being a little slower than the freeway, if unjammed. Hopefully we'll get that up to one per hour eventually, which is roughly the vision.

I don't know details about growth on the Portland-Seattle line, but its success is unsurprising given regional inter-urbans up and down the West Coast are booming, even in this economy.

[waltlantz]

Originally Posted by JDRCRASH

They have no reason to..... the Northeast region has already been given a head start on HSR..... It's about time the wastrels in Washington start focusing on other areas of the country and stop letting the Northeast hog all of the attention. The California corridor is BY FAR the largest area in the country without some form of HSR.

Besides, the funds will be utilized before the GOP steals them back. There is NOTHING they can do, no matter how much they whine and throw tantrums.

Nice thought, except it seems like the Golden State gents and gals have seriously soured on the idea. The authority better get this right or it will ruin the whole party for EVERYONE.

[Okstate]

Originally Posted by mhays

The small speed improvements include news this week about the border, a reroute through Tacoma, and misc. sidings, overpasses, etc.

Could you provide a link to the news this week?

[mhays]

Sure. http://today.seattletimes.com/2011/1...vancouver-b-c/

[M II A II R II K]

Regular speed rail for the past 40 years has always been 100 MPH consistently throughout the route, which is a given that it would be faster than cars on the highway, which seems to be the standard in other continents.

And will high speed rail in the US have to share the tracks with freight and stuff which currently screws up Amtrak's scheduling to make it even slower...

[M II A II R II K]

U.S. Transportation Secretary LaHood Awards $186 Million to Illinois to Expand High-Speed Rail in the Midwest


January 04, 2012

Read More: http://www.fra.dot.gov/roa/press_rel...%2002-12.shtml

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today awarded more than $186 million to the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) for a high-speed rail project that will reduce travel times and put Americans back to work this spring.

“The Great Lakes-Midwest economic region is the world’s fifth largest economy by Gross Domestic Product, and nearly 100 million people live within 500 miles of each other,” said Secretary LaHood. “The Department of Transportation’s investment of more than $1 billion in the region’s high-speed rail service will reduce trip times and save travelers money, resulting in reduced congestion for the region and making the Midwest a better place to start a business and create jobs.”

The project will extend construction of the corridor north to Joliet, allowing for 110-mph service along nearly 70 percent of the route. Construction is already underway on the Chicago – St. Louis corridor, and work on the extension to Joliet will begin this spring. Once construction is complete, travelers can expect reductions of more than an hour in trip time, with improved on-time performance as well. Ridership has grown 137 percent over the last five years. The state has plans to add more frequent trips, and further reduce trip times on this popular route in the future.

.....

[M II A II R II K]

Plans for high-speed rail are slowing down


January 15th, 2012

By Michael A. Fletcher

Read More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/busine...ory.html?wprss

.....

Obama set a goal of providing 80 percent of Americans access to high-speed rail within 25 years. But that lofty vision is yielding to the political gravity generated by high costs, determined opponents and a public that has grown dubious of government’s ability to do big things. Virtually none of the projects has gotten off the ground, and the one that has is in trouble. For Obama, the political stakes are high going into the 2012 election. Republican front-runner Mitt Romney has accused him of putting too much faith in government to build the economy. The president, Romney says to the delight of Republican partisans, “does not know” how business, or the economy, works.

- The plan that envisions bullet trains trains zipping between the nation’s major cities at speeds up to 220 miles per hour, was one of the few transformative projects included in the $797 billion stimulus program enacted early in Obama’s presidency. “Imagine whisking through towns at speeds over 100 miles an hour, walking only a few steps to public transportation, and ending up just blocks from your destination,” Obama said in announcing his vision for high-speed rail in April 2009. “Imagine what a great project that would be to rebuild America.” So far, Obama has wagered more than $10 billion in federal money on high-speed rail, only to see his plans diminished, one after another.

- House Republicans were also among those who dug in against Obama’s high-speed rail vision, saying that outside of select regions, it did not fit a sprawling, car-loving nation served by nearly 50,000 miles of interstate highways and an extensive air travel network.

- Now the nation’s only pending true high-speed rail project is facing a crisis moment in California, a Democratic stronghold known for its innovation. Few places would benefit more from the trains. California’s urban areas are notorious for hair-raising traffic jams. The skies between San Francisco and Los Angeles — the country’s busiest route — are so packed that 25 percent of the flights between the two cities are at least one hour late, according to state officials. And with the state’s population projected to soar by 50 percent over the next four decades, the congestion is expected only to grow more dire.

- Elizabeth Goldstein Alexis, co-founder of a watchdog group called Californians Advocating Responsible Rail Design, said that the Central Valley tracks would bypass many of the cities along the route, while, among other problems, causing the train station in Fresno to move away from major government buildings. In addition, said Alexis, an economist, the planning scenarios for the project contain fundamental errors.

.....

[M II A II R II K]

Speeding to Kalamazoo aboard Amtrak’s high-speed train


February 15, 2012

By MARK BROWN

Read More: http://www.suntimes.com/news/brown/1...eed-train.html

.....

What then are we to make of Wednesday’s official Amtrak kickoff for its first “high speed rail” corridor outside the Northeast — on which trains traveling between Chicago and Kalamazoo, Mich., will now reach top speeds of 110 miles per hour? Bring back the Silver Streak?

- I was among those on board, curious to see if 110 mph is noticeably faster. It is, although not quite so much that you would consider it a revelation. Still, if more of America’s railways were able to accommodate such speeds, I can promise you more of us would be riding the train, even if there is no comparison to the faster bullet trains of other nations.

- Surprising to me, though, the 110-mph speeds take only 10 minutes off the one-way trip, officials said. That’s because trains on the route were already going as fast as 95 mph before the most recent improvements that involved installing a high-tech train control system. Also, the top speed is permitted across only 80 of the 138-mile distance. The slowest portions are between here and Porter, Ind., where the 97-mile “high speed” corridor begins — and then almost immediately slows as it passes through Michigan City.

- If you’re wondering why you’d want to go to Kalamazoo, the short answer is it’s halfway on Amtrak’s route to Detroit, and Michigan officials will turn their attention next to upgrading that portion of the journey. Eventually, they’d like to cut the five and a half hour trip between here and Detroit to three hours 45 minutes. If you’re wondering why we can’t do this in Illinois, the short answer is we’re working on it — trying to establish a 110-mph route between here and St. Louis.

.....

[Jonboy1983]

A five-plus hour trip cut down to just 3 hours 45 minutes is quite remarkable. Is there any proposal to have trains travel even faster than 110? I'm just curious.

What corridors are next, besides Chicago-to-St. Louis?

[aquablue]

Originally Posted by Jonboy1983

A five-plus hour trip cut down to just 3 hours 45 minutes is quite remarkable. Is there any proposal to have trains travel even faster than 110? I'm just curious.

What corridors are next, besides Chicago-to-St. Louis?

It may be, but that is rather ridiculous for the so called superpower to be so danm backward compared to other countries. I don't care about the reasons, it is just so unambitious and embarrassing for people who have traveled. God, how pathetic, 110mph

[k1052]

Originally Posted by aquablue

It may be, but that is rather ridiculous for the so called superpower to be so danm backward compared to other countries. I don't care about the reasons, it is just so unambitious and embarrassing for people who have traveled. God, how pathetic, 110mph

In large part the US needs to rebuild rail ridership in order to put political weight behind more ambitious projects. Tea Party Republicans thought it would be a great idea to gut mass transit funding to prop up highway spending instead of dealing with the revenue end. I guess they didn't realize that even Republican House members in districts served by commuter and regional rail wouldn't be falling over themselves to help if not be outright opposed.

Investment in reliability, frequency, and speed will pay dividends but it's just going to take a while before the public will be supportive of the enormous outlays that will be required for real HSR (look at the problems CA is having).

[Jonboy1983]

Originally Posted by k1052

In large part the US needs to rebuild rail ridership in order to put political weight behind more ambitious projects.

Isn't the country already doing this? I keep seeing ridership increasing on Amtrak as well as other transit agencies. Maybe some transit agencies keep showing declines in ridership because they're fricking cutting back on services, rendering whatever is remaining to seem unattractive and unreliable.

This country is unbelievably backwards. Transit and transportation is what we SHOULD be investing in; NOT CUTTING IT BACK!

Originally Posted by aquablue

It may be, but that is rather ridiculous for the so called superpower to be so danm backward compared to other countries. I don't care about the reasons, it is just so unambitious and embarrassing for people who have traveled. God, how pathetic, 110mph

Oh, I agree with you. Even 120 mph on the NEC isn't too terribly impressive. The trains along there do hit a top speed of 150 but that's only along one SHORT segment of track north of Providence, RI...!

If you were to come to me and have trains do an AVERAGE of 110 or 120 between select cities, then I'd have to say "bravo" to that. (Trains average only 70 mph. Yes, I am referring to the Acela trains that average this...)

It would be nice to have trains top out at a MINIMUM of 150 or 160...

While we're at this point in the discussion, I think I'll bring it up that I am a member of the transit planning professionals group on LinkedIn and HSR is a rather hot topic. I see this being viable only in the Northeast, Midwest (from Chicago to MSP, St. Louis, Detroit, Toledo/Cleveland/Pittsburgh, Indianaplolis and Cincy), and Pac Coastal area for the most part -- that's where the bulk of the population is at. Some of the professionals on there agree with me on that...

Having said that, I stand by what I said about higher speeds. Why not bring Chicago and Detroit even closer together, say in 3 hours or even LESS?

Does anyone have any information of how long those different segments extending from Chicago are? i'm thinking roughly 400 or 500 miles tops...

[aquablue]

You missed Florida, a state that is getting more and more crowded. HSR is viable there for sure. Perhaps also Texas in the future.

Miami - Orlando - Tampa
Dallas - Austin - Houston
Seattle - Portland

[hammersklavier]

True HSR is likely not going to be viable in much of this country until good passenger rail networks exist.

It is far more important for us to (a) repeal those ludicrous FRA regulations wholesale (and if they're uncooperative the FRA itself) so that we can actually have access to, you know, modern passenger rail equipment in terms of performance characteristics and (b) install a modern signalling system along existing infrastructure (something like ETRMS) so that those passenger trains don't get into accidents--and even hopefully realize some freight efficiencies, too.

Then we buy a whole mess of that modern equipment we just legalized and implement reasonable service along our existing passenger corridors while creating new ones and watch ridership reach and surpass record high after record high after record high.

[aquablue]

Backward Backward -- if we can't even use modern train equipment, then I don't know what to say... just a major joke, it's like living in the 19th century here. Time to move.

Let the idiotic government argue till kingdom come, while I'm enjoying my HSR somewhere else. I'm not going to wait until I'm an old man before I can enjoy HSR.

Have fun wasting decades planning and doing countless studies, while China, Japan, Germany, France and Spain start construction on a new line every few years.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by hammersklavier

It is far more important for us to (a) repeal those ludicrous FRA regulations wholesale (and if they're uncooperative the FRA itself) so that we can actually have access to, you know, modern passenger rail equipment in terms of performance characteristics and (b) install a modern signalling system along existing infrastructure (something like ETRMS) so that those passenger trains don't get into accidents--and even hopefully realize some freight efficiencies, too.

It's worth noting that the FRA is not the problem, per se. The FRA simply passes regulations that mirror the best judgment of American railroading, which is grounded in a 1900-era rugged-individual mentality and a fierce resistance to change and new ideas from outside. That railroading community is mainly split between freight-railroad people who are resistant to any passenger rail that restricts the use of their tracks, and railfans (there's a revolving door between fandom and the industry) who are motivated by nostalgia.

C'mon - you come from Philly! The FRA isn't the reason why SEPTA is de-regionalizing the rail network; the FRA is merely a symptom of the wider problem.

[Nexis4Jersey]

Originally Posted by ardecila

It's worth noting that the FRA is not the problem, per se. The FRA simply passes regulations that mirror the best judgment of American railroading, which is grounded in a 1900-era rugged-individual mentality and a fierce resistance to change and new ideas from outside. That railroading community is mainly split between freight-railroad people who are resistant to any passenger rail that restricts the use of their tracks, and railfans (there's a revolving door between fandom and the industry) who are motivated by nostalgia.

C'mon - you come from Philly! The FRA isn't the reason why SEPTA is de-regionalizing the rail network; the FRA is merely a symptom of the wider problem.

With Rail Fanners it really depends region... The Progressive Rail Fanners can be found in the Urban Cores of the Northeastern US ,most West Coast fanners are for change. The Only backwards fanners are in the Rural areas and Texas... Freight Fanners hate everything about Passenger rail , however they don't have huge holds in the fanner community.

Theres also Transit Fanners , there a step down from Rail fanners , but are heavily invested within most Transit Agencies , all they want to see is Expansion and on a massive scale. They also care deeply about upkeep of current rolling stock and future rolling stock. Septa is not popular with either group of fanners.... NJT , MTA , BSNF , NS, MBTA , and Metra are the most popular railroads.