Improving Rail in America with $14bil

[MattW]

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology...on/4312648.html

Found it on Digg. It basically reiterates what we already know, but it's good that people are beginning to recognize that we don't need 220mph trains right now as much as we need to improve what we've got!

 

[birdy]

Do both. $8 bil per year and you average a new HSR line once every year for about a months worth of the Iraqi war. After twelve years and 30 major cities get hooked up, reassess maybe.

Running trains 110 mph through at-grade crossings is probably not a good idea. Still, there are lots of 100 mile long routes that could benefit from such a project.

 

[twoaday]

I'd love to see the Chicago to Milwaukee route upgraded to 110 MPH, and I think it has a pretty good shot and getting the funding to do so.... Eventually really HSR would be nice but it is a start.

 

[birdy]

There's no time like like the present. Build prices are low. Chicago-Milwaukee-Minneapolis seems like a no-brainer for HSR. Move it to the top of the list and get going, is what I say.

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

Chicago-Milwaukee-Minneapolis seems like a no-brainer for HSR.

I am realizing (as I'm trying to build a schematic showing likely track utilization for a national HSR system) that one downside of that route is that it's not likely to carry a large number of through passengers beyond Minneapolis, which will reduce the number of passengers who will use that track each day relative to some other routes.

 

[Traingeek]

I would take the start of a 110 MPH rail instead of doing something that would take many more years. 110 MPH to Charlotte would be nice, so I wouldn't have to fly to NC.

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

110 MPH for Milwaukee to Madison is also special in that the engineering studies are already done. And I wouldn't be surprised if that would be a valuable commuter rail route even if we later get 220 MPH track connecting Madison and Milwaukee to Chicago.

Charlotte, NC already does have some conventional speed rail service. How much of a speedup are you expecting from 110 MPH upgrades? Remember that the average speed of the Acela Express from BOS to WAS is less than half the maximum speed, and any 110 MPH upgrades are going to be done under the same mentality that anywhere there'd be any substantial ROW realignments at all in getting to 110 MPH is a place where slower speeds will suffice.

 

[MattW]

I'd like 110MPH ATL-Florida (ORL, JAX, MIA...whatever). That's got to be a heavily used road corridor!

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

I'd like 110MPH ATL-Florida (ORL, JAX, MIA...whatever). That's got to be a heavily used road corridor!

I think 220 MPH is a better target there.

 

[TVRM610]

Running trains 110 mph through at-grade crossings is probably not a good idea. Still, there are lots of 100 mile long routes that could benefit from such a project.

Doesn't seem to be too much of a problem on the keystone line.