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Originally Posted by k1052
In large part the US needs to rebuild rail ridership in order to put political weight behind more ambitious projects.
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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!
Quote:
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
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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...