High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program (USA)

[Nexis4Jersey]

Originally Posted by eleven=11

you need glasses to see a minor trip to the e.r. will
cost you $25,000 dollars.
people go bankrupt and lose there house because of cancer.
how come japan&germany have better health care than usa.
we beat them in world war 2.
the people in colorado that got shot have to beg for money
to pay there medical bills.

Its really sad that our country has come to that...

[Jonboy1983]

Originally Posted by Nexis4Jersey

Its really sad that our country has come to that...

It is, and let me just say this to all the folks who still think Obama is our saving grace. Fine, let's re-elect him and let's see if our country gets any better. To call me stupid because I don't believe in your beliefs is beyond childish and imature, kids... Really... I'm not going to get into anymore of this.

Our country is in a serious need of an upgrade, and it truely is sad that it all had to explode into a massive political debate. Yes, it's even sadder that other countries that were left in ruin 60 years ago are now light years ahead of us. Apparently because I have libertarian views (smaller government and small business interests), I'm apparently dumber than shit in spite of the fact that I hold a masters degree -- in this field. Why don't we just leave it at that and move on, ok?

[emathias]

Originally Posted by Jonboy1983

...
Yes, it's even sadder that other countries that were left in ruin 60 years ago are now light years ahead of us. Apparently because I have libertarian views (smaller government and small business interests), I'm apparently dumber than shit in spite of the fact that I hold a masters degree -- in this field. Why don't we just leave it at that and move on, ok?

I think it's great that those countries recovered so well.

Why did they recover? They recovered because they were UNITED, and they knew they needed to work TOGETHER, two things that the increasingly ironically-named United States seems to have completely forgotten.

We are all in this together. We do need to help each other. We succeed or fail together. That isn't communist, that's fact.

[atlantaguy]

Originally Posted by Nexis4Jersey

Honestly I think its time with divide the US up...its not working. We have the Conservative South vs the Old Liberal Northeast and West Coast and laided back slow midwest.... I think the Northeastern / Mid Atlantic should form one nation. NY-NJ-CT-NH-RI-ME-VT-PA-MA-MD-DE-NOVA have a population of 65 Million and a 3.6 Trillion economy , low unemployment , higher education , lower crime rates , a more European social views....

Hell to the fucking NO! The South is NOT monolithic. No damn region is, despite what you may believe. You might "get it" a little better when you are older. Can you even vote yet?

[Nexis4Jersey]

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[Nexis4Jersey]

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[Nexis4Jersey]

DERAIL! by DenisGiles, on Flickr

Now back to our regular programming...HST Trains...

By the end of the decade this section of the NEC will 4-5 tracks will the PATH reconstructed from the Street up and moved... Catenary relocation poles have been placed recently , along with new signal wiring and other things...its 3 tracks now which causes a bottleneck.


DSCN2193 by Nexis4Jersey09, on Flickr


288 by Nexis4Jersey09, on Flickr


287 by Nexis4Jersey09, on Flickr



The Original 1903 Overpass will be replaced later this decade...


Harrison PATH Station - New Jersey by Nexis4Jersey09, on Flickr

• Video Link

[M II A II R II K]

CDOT seeks details on high-speed transit tech


August 17, 2012

Read More: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/C...ch-3795028.php

Colorado is getting ready to collect information from high-speed transit technology providers, as it studies whether adding high-speed transit on Interstate 70 is doable.

The $1.8 million study is looking at the feasibility of adding 120 miles of high-speed transit along I-70 between C-470 in Jefferson County and the Eagle County Regional Airport. The Colorado Department of Transportation says that in September, it plans to issue a request for information from private companies on high-speed transit technologies so it can assess how well the technologies meet criteria for performance, operations and costs.

.....

[Wizened Variations]

Originally Posted by M II A II R II K

CDOT seeks details on high-speed transit tech


August 17, 2012

Read More: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/C...ch-3795028.php

This is comical, as many studies- proposals for HSR on I-25 North, and, I-70 have been put forth. The issue, IMO, should more correctly be summarized as "How can CDOT widen 1-25 from the I-76/I-25 interchange to 10 lanes, and, get HSR to handle the a signficant share of the highway infrastructural improvements?"

There are two, very serious problems with putting HSR along the I-25 corridor.

1st) Access through downtown for HSR has been pushed into the many billion dollar range from the deliberate destruction of potential ROWs.

2nd) Railroad right-of-way exists (and almost straight as an arrow, at that) along the Union Pacific RR running from Lodo to Greeley, with a very good diagonal connection between Greeley and Fort Collins. Both ROWs are in broad river valleys. Drive at I-25 from E-470 on, and, note that the roadway runs ACROSS creek and river bottoms, and, up over intervening ridges.

So, nothing will be built. But, neat plans keeping many employed will be drawn up with completion times in the 2050s and 2060s.

[M II A II R II K]

High-Speed Rail’s Role in Decongesting Airports


2012/08/18

Read More: http://pedestrianobservations.wordpr...ting-airports/

One common argument for building HSR is that it will help decongest airports, by displacing high-volume short-distance flights. This can result in a permanent reduction in air travel, reducing environmental impact, or a diversion of capacity to longer-distance flights, or perhaps a combination of both. The question is then how much air travel can be diverted.

- As a first filter, we can see that out of a million passengers per day, 206,000 are flying distance of up to 500 miles, and 390,000 are flying up to 773, the New York-Chicago distance. Those 39% of travelers constitute a much smaller portion of emissions than 39% but a larger portion of planes. Furthermore, not all can be realistically moved to trains: at the upper end of this range, HSR can compete with air but not decimate service the way it can on shorter trips, and on top of that many city pairs are not located on any realistic HSR corridor.

- When the 3-hour Eurostar opened, Paris-London air traffic was permanently halved, from 4.3 million per year before the Chunnel opened to about 2 million after; once the travel time was further reduced to 2:15 with the opening of High Speed 1, it further decreased, to about 1.3 million on the dominant Heathrow/CDG airport pair. What this means is that for decongesting airports, the meaningful column is the second from the left, for trips up to 3 hours. We immediately see that HSR can only have a small effect on New York, but conversely can do a great deal in Los Angeles. New York is at a further penalty since the hub system ensures it will remain an international gateway, and so traffic between two different cities still needs to pass through.

- For New York, the best things that can be done then are to use larger planes on domestic flights, and find relief airports. In Japan, the domestic flights use widebodies, sometimes even 747s, and this has enabled Tokyo-Sapporo to grow to become the world’s highest-capacity air city pair. In the US there are more airlines and the city pairs are less thick, but there is still room for larger planes than 737s and 757s. In the other direction, faster LIRR service could turn Islip into a better relief airport, but it would still have to overcome the stigma of being too far. HSR could also turn Philadelphia into a reasonable option: using the Airport Line and a freight corridor to the west to bypass some of the Wilmington Line’s curves and reduce travel time should be considered as a full build-out option, and would also put PHL about 45 minutes away from New York.

- The New York versus Los Angeles difference is not too surprising once we consider where their respective second cities are located. San Francisco is 700 km from Los Angeles, Boston and Washington are 350 km from New York and Philadelphia 150. Elizabeth of CARRD tells me that on LA-SF the current mode split is 50% air, 50% car. The situation in the Northeast is different – making reasonable assumptions on seat occupancy, even on NY-DC and NY-Boston more people take a bus than fly. The five LA-area airports between them have 27.5% of their domestic traffic within 3-hour radius, but this splits as 21% at LAX, 35% at Long Beach, 37% at Santa Ana, 40% at Ontario, and 63% at Burbank. The three Bay Area airports between them have 19% of their domestic traffic going to LA and a total of 35% within 5-hour train radius, but this splits as 14% and 29% at SFO, 27% and 48% at San Jose, and 35% and 57% at Oakland.

.....

[Jonboy1983]

Originally Posted by emathias

I think it's great that those countries recovered so well.

Why did they recover? They recovered because they were UNITED, and they knew they needed to work TOGETHER, two things that the increasingly ironically-named United States seems to have completely forgotten.

We are all in this together. We do need to help each other. We succeed or fail together. That isn't communist, that's fact.

No I'm with you 100 percent on that. I'm sick of the bickering as well. We need to put our country back together, but both sides would rather claw at each other's throats instead of doing something usefull. Anyway...


@Nexus4Jersey, I had no idea that the PATH line shared ROW with the Northeast Corridor. So you have 3 NEC tracks wedged in between PATH tracks that use 3rd rail electrification. Wow... I can't wait to see all of that completely re-done.

Originally Posted by M II A II R II K

High-Speed Rail’s Role in Decongesting Airports


2012/08/18

Read More: http://pedestrianobservations.wordpr...ting-airports/

It's interesting how we once had these domestic widebody flights between select city pairs only to have them give way to these 50-seat tuna cans in some places and 737/757 equipment elsewhere. I never was crazy about those little things, and they made/make even less sense when they're used on routes linking two large cities (i.e. Philadelphia and Detroit).

I also find it rather interesting that the article suggests Philly becoming a reliever airport of sorts to New York when on most days it has delays averaging of 20 to 40 minutes or more...

[Busy Bee]

Originally Posted by Jonboy1983

No I'm with you 100 percent on that. I'm sick of the bickering as well. We need to put our country back together, but both sides would rather claw at each other's throats instead of doing something usefull. Anyway...

That's a false choice. It's hard to have a reasonable debate or "do something useful" with a party that has drifted so far into the twilight zone. The left wants to rebuild the country's crumbling infrastructure as well as bring us into the 21st century with large expansions of transit, alternative transport and smart growth policies. To hear the right talk, you'd be under the impression they don't seem to think there's a crisis at all, let alone see the link between infrastructure investment and economic growth. They also nearly universally see public transit and attempts at HSR as boondoggle liberal spending either on poor people or what they think is 'pie in the sky' technology... as if there is no precedence internationally. How do you reason with people like that? How do you convince people to invest in the country who think they've been elected to office with some sort of perverse mandate to tear the government down?

[eleven=11]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

That's a false choice. It's hard to have a reasonable debate or "do something useful" with a party that has drifted so far into the twilight zone. The left wants to rebuild the country's crumbling infrastructure as well as bring us into the 21st century with large expansions of transit and alternative transport. To hear the right talk, you'd be under the impression they don't seem to think there's a crisis at all, let alone see the link between infrastructure investment and economic growth. They also nearly universally see public transit and attempts at HSR as boondoggle liberal spending either on poor people or what they think is 'pie in the sky' technology... as if there is no precedence internationally. How do you reason with people like that? How do you convince people to invest in the country who think they've been elected to office with some sort of perverse mandate to tear the government down?

yeah , politics is hard core. The right is for Defunctional Govt.
the more defunctional it proves their point that Govt is bad.
Publix transportation is to important for republicans to be involved.
Im all for smaller govt and less taxes , but Romney/Ryan is stupid/stupid.

[electricron]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

That's a false choice. It's hard to have a reasonable debate or "do something useful" with a party that has drifted so far into the twilight zone. The left wants to rebuild the country's crumbling infrastructure as well as bring us into the 21st century with large expansions of transit, alternative transport and smart growth policies. To hear the right talk, you'd be under the impression they don't seem to think there's a crisis at all, let alone see the link between infrastructure investment and economic growth. They also nearly universally see public transit and attempts at HSR as boondoggle liberal spending either on poor people or what they think is 'pie in the sky' technology... as if there is no precedence internationally. How do you reason with people like that? How do you convince people to invest in the country who think they've been elected to office with some sort of perverse mandate to tear the government down?

Outside of China, name one country that has HSR lines 100% funded and operated by their "National" governments? Look hard, you will not find one. It's not the right that's misrepresenting international precedence, it's the left.

Just about all European examples have government ownership of the rail corridors in some way with private ownership of the HSR trains and their operations. All Japanese HSR trains and corridors are in private ownership, the HSR trains receive zero government subsidies.

Meanwhile in America, Amtrak runs the sole HSR trains (Acela) mostly on tracks owned by Amtrak and commuter rail agencies, all of them 100% owned by government. There is no private funds associated with Amtrak trains at all.

Therefore, if you're looking at international precedence, the California and Amtrak HSR proposals don't follow the formulas found elsewhere, except in China.

Many Republicans will support the basic European or Japanese HSR models, but very few will support the Chinese model, which California and Amtrak are proposing. If you desire to see more political support for HSR trains in the USA from the political right, it is imperative that sufficient private funds be included into the project.

FEC Florida proposal (125 mph) and XpressWest (150 mph) HSR proposals are examples that Republicans can and will support.

[Standpoor]

^Seriously?

SNCF is a state owned firm. RFF is a state owned firm. The only reason RFF owns the tracks is because of an EU directive but both companies are owned by France. Furthermore, RFF contracts track maintenance, etc. to SNCF and only operates to service debt. Not only that but the board has employee representatives. Do you think that would fly in the US. In the beginning, who do you think paid for the construction of high speed lines. Sud-Est cost 13 million Euros per mile in 2007 Euros.

Renfe, Spains HSR operator, is a state owned firm. Adif, the network owner, also is a state owned firm. The Spainish government is going to breakup Renfe into different groups and allow private companies to operate on Adif but that has not happened yet. Same goes for Italy, although the government is not going to breakup Trenitalia but it does allow competition on the rails, which did not exist before this year.

Same goes for Sweeden, Germany, Russia, etc.

It is impossible to have someone besides Amtrak operate interstate rail service in the USA. The government does not own the track, even the NEC is not 100 percent owned by Amtrak. The national rail network only works because the ICC existed in 1971. If you throw out Amtrak as we know it today, the private rail companies would not allow passenger service without huge subsidies and for good measure. New right of ways are the only legitimate way to create new HSR routes in the USA and that will require large government subsidies. If the lines prove popular, then and only then will it be possible to privatize the operations.

Desert Xpress wants RRIF and will only go to Victorville. FEC is the only private proposal that has a shot and I am skeptical that it will work. The costs to run hourly trains and generate a return on $1 billion will make tickets too expensive. As an aside, it would be an interesting HSR proposal for the government to build the rails into major metropolitan areas and then let private operators build the network in between. The government would pay for the most expensive part and the part that would require the most eminent domain leaving the less costly rural connections to private investors who would then operate the trains.

[Busy Bee]

Originally Posted by electricron

Outside of China, name one country that has HSR lines 100% funded and operated by their "National" governments? Look hard, you will not find one. It's not the right that's misrepresenting international precedence, it's the left.

Just about all European examples have government ownership of the rail corridors in some way with private ownership of the HSR trains and their operations. All Japanese HSR trains and corridors are in private ownership, the HSR trains receive zero government subsidies.

Meanwhile in America, Amtrak runs the sole HSR trains (Acela) mostly on tracks owned by Amtrak and commuter rail agencies, all of them 100% owned by government. There is no private funds associated with Amtrak trains at all.

Therefore, if you're looking at international precedence, the California and Amtrak HSR proposals don't follow the formulas found elsewhere, except in China.

Many Republicans will support the basic European or Japanese HSR models, but very few will support the Chinese model, which California and Amtrak are proposing. If you desire to see more political support for HSR trains in the USA from the political right, it is imperative that sufficient private funds be included into the project.

FEC Florida proposal (125 mph) and XpressWest (150 mph) HSR proposals are examples that Republicans can and will support.

I was not making a statement about the OPERATION of the systems ala Amtrak being essentially a state railway. I do believe that its nearly a necessity for government to play a large role in the initial acquisition and construction phase of dedicated HSR because the complexities and sheer investment are too large for any private company to take on without a government partnership and/or guarantee. When was the last time you saw a private company step in and build a dam or bridge so they can, you know, start turning huge profits? Never. I believe the government and only the government has the capabilities to navigate such a complex project and building from scratch a high speed railway in developed areas. REMEMBER, even the heritage railways received land for FREE through grants to make it possible to construct ROW's to aid in the growth of COMMERCE. This was a nice gift from the government, not much different than directly aiding the construction, that the gov't could have theoretically made money on, therefore I view it as an investment in a program that would/will GROW the economy, not much different than the CaHSR scenario. It was a gift from the government, because it was in the interest of the gov't to grow the economy. Nothing in my original statement suggested the government should or would be operating the services, ala Germany, France, Italy, China, SPain, etc., whether initially or in perpetuity.

I think Standpoor made an interesting proposal with a situation where the gov't would fund and oversee the construction of the 'leads' in dense urban areas, the areas of course being the ones who's variables would be daunting and nearly impossible for a private consortium to organize and fund its overwhelmingly complex construction, whether it be ROW acquisition, environmental remediation, navigating multiple levels of state and private institutions and agencies, et cetera. This could be an interesting solution to entice private operators to build out systems radiating from cities, where a good proportion of the hardest work has already been accomplished by the gov't. Yes, I do think this would be a good use my tax dollars - virtually the same argument could be made for the wisdom of tax funding for the interstate highway system because the interstate highway aid the flow of commerce. In my opinion, there is a clear parallel between this and HSR corridor development.

As a side note, Europe is entering an era where, state owned operations are making journeys far into neighboring countries on their state owned track. In these situations, for example a DB train from Berlin making a complete journey to London, or an SCNF train going straight to Munich, the state charges an fee for use of the ROW. This could be translated in the US as private operators offering a variety of services operating on the same HSR corridor "renting" the rights to do so - while the physical trackage is owned and maintained by the gov't - just as is the scenario with RFF as Standpoor has mentioned. Alleviating the responsibility of ROW responsibility could open the door for robust private competition on state owned infrastructure. Sound familiar? The exact same formula as the interstate highway system. Why that can't translate to HS Railways is purely political.

It's important to remember that in many cases with the rural identifying Republican party, the challenge with promoting HSR doesn't seem to be coming to agreement over the percentage of public funding versus private funding. It's more along the lines of infantile clamoring on about the MERITS of HSR in general. The skepticism of the technology even (science too), as if they are completely ignorant or indifferent to what the rest of the industrialized is up too. Listen to their adolescent chants of "CHOO CHOO!", "20th century technology boondoggle!", "the US isn't Europe!", blah blah blah, all while legislating inadvertently or not for continued reliance on fossil fuels and an oil-based transportation policy. The GOP has been hijacked by people that don't think, or worse by people who think wrong and don't care. So when people start making claims about how BOTH parties need to work together to advance 21st century transportation, as if BOTH equally share the blame somehow, I feel like pulling my hair out.

[Jonboy1983]

Originally Posted by electricron

Outside of China, name one country that has HSR lines 100% funded and operated by their "National" governments? Look hard, you will not find one. It's not the right that's misrepresenting international precedence, it's the left.

Just about all European examples have government ownership of the rail corridors in some way with private ownership of the HSR trains and their operations. All Japanese HSR trains and corridors are in private ownership, the HSR trains receive zero government subsidies.

Meanwhile in America, Amtrak runs the sole HSR trains (Acela) mostly on tracks owned by Amtrak and commuter rail agencies, all of them 100% owned by government. There is no private funds associated with Amtrak trains at all.

Therefore, if you're looking at international precedence, the California and Amtrak HSR proposals don't follow the formulas found elsewhere, except in China.

Many Republicans will support the basic European or Japanese HSR models, but very few will support the Chinese model, which California and Amtrak are proposing. If you desire to see more political support for HSR trains in the USA from the political right, it is imperative that sufficient private funds be included into the project.

FEC Florida proposal (125 mph) and XpressWest (150 mph) HSR proposals are examples that Republicans can and will support.

I thought that we were trying to follow the European and Japanese models. Then again, aren't we pretty much paying China to develop California's high speed rail line?

I see there's a thread (for some time) on Florida's HSR system. I haven't checked it out yet, but I think I will now...

[electricron]

Originally Posted by Standpoor

^Seriously?

SNCF is a state owned firm. RFF is a state owned firm. The only reason RFF owns the tracks is because of an EU directive but both companies are owned by France. Furthermore, RFF contracts track maintenance, etc. to SNCF and only operates to service debt. Not only that but the board has employee representatives. Do you think that would fly in the US. In the beginning, who do you think paid for the construction of high speed lines. Sud-Est cost 13 million Euros per mile in 2007 Euros.
Renfe, Spains HSR operator, is a state owned firm. Adif, the network owner, also is a state owned firm. The Spainish government is going to breakup Renfe into different groups and allow private companies to operate on Adif but that has not happened yet. Same goes for Italy, although the government is not going to breakup Trenitalia but it does allow competition on the rails, which did not exist before this year.

Desert Xpress wants RRIF and will only go to Victorville. FEC is the only private proposal that has a shot and I am skeptical that it will work. The costs to run hourly trains and generate a return on $1 billion will make tickets too expensive. As an aside, it would be an interesting HSR proposal for the government to build the rails into major metropolitan areas and then let private operators build the network in between. The government would pay for the most expensive part and the part that would require the most eminent domain leaving the less costly rural connections to private investors who would then operate the trains.

SCNF is 100% owned by France. But it doesn't own 100% of its subsidies.
It's share of various passenger transports:
Thalys International (70%)
Eurostar International (55%)
Lyria (74 %)
Elipsos International (50%)
Artésia (50%)
SeaFrance (100 %)
Rhealys SA (30%)
iDTGV (100%)
Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori (20%)
Keolis (44.5%)
Govia (15.84%)
So, there are lots of private money circulating within SCNF subsidies.
And I'll repeat all of Japan's HSR trains and lines are in private ownership now.

DesertXpress initial plans to go to Victorville, but they have agreements in place with both Metrolink and CDOT to extend their line to Palmdale. It'll take another round of environmental impact studies (5 to 10 years to complete) before they could even think of raising the capital to build phase 2. But that doesn't mean it will never happen.
Borrowing available transportation funds from the federal government to build this line isn't much different buying homes with FHA and VA loans. The intention to pay these loans off with private money is still there.

FEC latest news releases report up to 125 mph trains between Orlando and Miami is a go. Apparently they have already found $1 Billion from private resources.

Therefore, the idea that the federal government must 100% subsidize intercity trains is false.

[Standpoor]

Originally Posted by electricron

SCNF is 100% owned by France. But it doesn't own 100% of its subsidies.
It's share of various passenger transports:
Thalys International (70%)
Eurostar International (55%)
Lyria (74 %)
Elipsos International (50%)
Artésia (50%)
SeaFrance (100 %)
Rhealys SA (30%)
iDTGV (100%)
Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori (20%)
Keolis (44.5%)
Govia (15.84%)
So, there are lots of private money circulating within SCNF subsidies.
And I'll repeat all of Japan's HSR trains and lines are in private ownership now.

DesertXpress initial plans to go to Victorville, but they have agreements in place with both Metrolink and CDOT to extend their line to Palmdale. It'll take another round of environmental impact studies (5 to 10 years to complete) before they could even think of raising the capital to build phase 2. But that doesn't mean it will never happen.
Borrowing available transportation funds from the federal government to build this line isn't much different buying homes with FHA and VA loans. The intention to pay these loans off with private money is still there.

FEC latest news releases report up to 125 mph trains between Orlando and Miami is a go. Apparently they have already found $1 Billion from private resources.

Therefore, the idea that the federal government must 100% subsidize intercity trains is false.

No there is not "lots of private money" in SNCF. There is actually a stunningly small amount. Why do you give only half of one side.
Thalys-62%SNCF(French Government), 28%SNCB(Belgian Government-furthermore SNCB has huge loses), 10%DB(German Government)
Eurostar-LCT 40%(UK government), SNCB 5% (Belgian Government), 55% SNCF (French Government)
Lyria-74%SNCF(French Government), 26% SBB (Swiss government)
Elipsos-50/50 SNCF and Renfe(Spanish Government)
Artesia-does not operate any more, 50/50 SNCF trenitalia(Italian government)
Rhealys SA-Couldn't find percentages but is a joint operation between, SNCF, DB, SBB, and CFL(government owned-92%Luxembourg, 6% Belgium, 2% France)
Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori-After all that we have finally found private money. Of course the company did not build any lines and it is still 20% owned by France but it is a private operator. The only reason this exists is because of the financial crisis in Italy. It only started operating in April and it is unknown whether or not it will be successful.
Kelios-As of April 70% SNCF, CDPQ(a public pension fund in Quebec)-does not operate HSR
Govia-35% Kelios, 65% Go Ahead-Another private operator. Yay. Govia operates trains in England not in France and they require a large subsidy to do so.

So out of all that you have zero HSR operations in France that are privately owned. And you have two that actually operate HSR, Govia and NTV, one needs a subsidy and the other has only been in existence for a few months. So who is mis-stating international precedent.

Again I would like to state that in the USA we do not have a system that is public. Most tracks are owned 100 percent by private corporations. The federal government does not provide a subsidy to upkeep the tracks nor does it fund 100 percent of Amtrak or CaHSR. So we are nothing like European operations. It is amazing what happened/happens in Japan but reality is that cannot happen here. I am all for loan guarantees for private operators (ala Solyndra) and I hope FEC is a success(I have doubts) but some places are going to require huge government funding to build viable trains.

[Nexis4Jersey]

Northeast Corridor Journey - Trenton - Philly

Improvements to be made and Notes
All Catenary to be Replaced by 2025
All Signals to be replaced by 2015
All Curves to be straighten by 2030
High Speed Crossovers to allow speeds up 85mph when switching by 2020
@ 1:42 , 2 Bridges will be replaced by 2020
@ 2:14 crossing the Delaware River into Pennsylvania
@ 2:34 Restored Morrisville SEPTA Trenton line Station
@ 2:40 , 2 Center Tracks Diverage for New Jersey Transit's Morrisville Yard
@ 2:59 , 2 Tracks cross over to head to NJT Morrisville Yard
@ 2:32 , the Land to the Left will be cleared and used for a Septa Yard
@ 5:55 , Entering Levittown Station which will be high level platformed by 2020
@ 9:11 , Pennsylvania Turnpike Extension - I-276 Crosses Above
@ 10:19 , Entering Bristol Station which will be high level platformed by 2020
@ 14:00 , Entering Croydon Station ,one of the first stations high level platformed
@ 16:38 , Passing by Eddington Station which could be abandoned by 2020
@ 17:23 , Cornwall Heights Amtrak Sub Station to be replaced by 2020
@ 17:33 , Entering Cornwall Heights Station , this station will be high level platformed and expanded by 2020
@ 21:20 , Entering Torresdale Station , this station will be high level platformed and moved slightly North by 2020
@ 26:05 , Passing Holmesburg Junction , this station will be high level platformed by 2020
@ 26:48 , I-95 can be seen to the left
@ 28:01 , Passing Tacony Station , this station will be High Level Platformed by 2020
@ 29:14-30:01 , This area will be rebuilt , with New Flyovers and New Tunnel to Center City for Next Gen Service
@ 30:04 , SEPTA Market - Frankford EL Crosses above
@ 33:10 , Entering North Philadelphia Station , the 2 Right Tracks will be restored and 1 Left Track by 2020 along with an Expanded Station and high level platformed Chestnut Hill West Platforms
@ 36:06 , The Next 3 Older Bridges to Replaced by 2020
@ 40:07 , Bridge and S-Curve to Straightened out and replaced by 2025
@ 41:52 , Crossing the Schuylkill River & I-76
@ 42:11 , Entering Zoo Interchange which will be upgraded by 2020
@ 42:14 , Crossing SEPTA TRAM Route 15
@ 42:51 , The New Zoo Substation can seen
@ 43:15 , Going under Amtrak's Keystone line
@ 43:51 , Amtrak's Keystone line Merges with SEPTA Center City Approach
@ 44:07 , Center City Skyline comes into view
@ 44:39 , This area with be Developed on by 2035 with Skyscrapers and high rises as part of a University City expansion
@ 44:44 , SEPTA's Center City Yard comes into view on the left
@ 45:19 , This area will be Developed on by 2025 with Hotel and Univ Space
@ 45:38 , Amtrak's 30th Street Station comes into View along with Center City Skyline
@ 45:58 , SEPTA's 30th Street Station

• Video Link