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    California high speed rail

    Colorado has a number of proposals for upgrading transportation along the Front Range, but one of the more ambitious is HSR from Denver to Albuquerque. This idea has been rattling around for about ten years. I hope they do something with it. Cascadia HSR is a pretty good idea. Vancouver to...
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    California high speed rail

    To be clear, the current plan is to accelerate the construction of the line through the Valley, continue dither...I mean, planning the route from Bakersfield to Palmdale, and apparently wait for a magic transit fairy to drop money on his head before extending the line. It's taking too long and...
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    Amtrak moving forward to stop all, most LDT

    The dishonest accounting system is the main problem with most of the plans being put forward. Much of the infrastructure costs of the NEC are wrapped up in the general overhead and distributed among the routes according to route length. If you deduct the corporate overhead from the money losing...
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    Maglev in the NEC?

    Why not? You fly at 500 mph, and when they go into the ground they don't normally have survivors. At least at maglev altitude they hit the ground skidding like a sled, not straight in like a pile driver. Much safer.
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    Boston DMUs?

    I ran across this article from last year and was wondering what the latest news was. Has this idea been abandoned, or are they still working on it? http://seattletransitblog.com/2014/01/13/bostons-exciting-dmu-plans/
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    Metrolink leasing locomotives from BNSF, adding one to every train

    Adding a second locomotive to the trains increases acceleration and makes the trains faster, not slower. Much faster when one of the engines breaks down again. But it is expensive. They need DMU trains for a system that size.
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    55 to 45% in Phoenix: 42 new light rail miles + bus system expands

    Part of the long term (very long term) transportation plan is regional rail to Yuma over the Wellton Cutoff. If that happens then the Eagle and Sunset would return to Phoenix. First they need to stop planning the Phoenix-Tucson rail line and actually build it.
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    Many LA Boulevards Began as Street Car Lines

    Cincinnati has a broad tree lined parkway in the middle of town that covers a subway. Sadly, inflation ate the money during WW1, and after the war they were never able to build out the system at their own expense. There was no outside money for rail projects back then, but the Feds would take...
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    Minneapolis/St. Paul-Rochester Zip Rail: Scoping document published

    Yes they did. When the line was first built they found the grades into Santa Fe were to steep to run the mainline, but once they were established they went back and ran a connection up the hill. Another "Pacific" that never made the full trip is the Iowa Pacific which still makes good money...
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    It's time to look at building a high-speed rail for America

    I think the first thing we need is to clear up the bottle necks where capacity is constricted and speeds limited. Then I would go for a national system of 125 mph DMUs (how long does it take to refuel a DMU?). Twice a day to begin, then keep increasing service to meet demand. Electrify when you...
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    Maglev in the NEC?

    JR Central and the Japanese export bank are talking about financing the maglev, so it's politically "free money", meaning you don't have to pay the bill until the next administration gets hit with the tab.
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    Texas HSR

    Of the viable candidates,Republicans have been the least dangerous, although lately they've been trying to prove me wrong. Kashkari was a real winner there. I voted for Brown. He's been doing pretty well.
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    Texas HSR

    Pure ideology. Republicans are against rail travel, even if it's not publicly funded. As a Republican, I find my party a little embarrassing these days.
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    Real story behind the demise of America's once-mighty streetcar

    It's hard for a tax paying private company to shoulder strangling government regulation, build the infrastructure for their chief competitors and compete head to head with a government mandated, funded and constructed tax exempt opponent. A lot of streetcars converted to bus just to get out from...
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    First power test of Denver Airport RTD

    A quote from the story, "The line uses 25,000-volt AC power from overhead lines, different than RTD's 750-volt DC light rail system." This sounds a little overdone for an airport shuttle. How far do they plan to extend this line and with what kind of equipment?
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    Brightline Trains Florida discussion

    Proof that humor is not dead. Just wounded. Any bets on whether people will think that's a good idea?
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    Texas HSR

    How this? State Senator Lois Kolkhorst ® doesn't want the power of eminent domain used by TCR because "...she didn’t want to see private landowners lose their land for a project that she believed is likely to fail." And this fine quote, " Yet at Wednesday's hearing, Republican senators...
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    America Fast Forward

    It might help if people knew what America Fast Forward is. Here's a link. http://americafastforward.org/
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    Has San Pedro's waterfront Red Car reached the end of the line?

    It looks like the roadway people have successfully shut down another rail line. It has to be built, it can only be built where the tracks are, and by the way, it's being built in a way that excludes rail traffic. And another piece of history is bulldozed to make room for cars.
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