Quote:
Originally Posted by hammersklavier
What Wizened Variations is suggesting is the exact same thing that the SNCF, RENFE, Trenitalia, British Rail, and Deutsche Bahn did in their respective countries--it's one of the major reasons European rail is so good.
Yes, HSR is sexy. It is cool. Es hat das Sex-Appeal. But the reality is that while the TGV, AVE, ICE, etc., are all symbols of a country's passenger rail prowess, they are merely top-level overlays on a fundamentally well-run system.
EDITED TO ADD: The only major thing I would change would be to break Amtrak into seven segments, six each to concentrate on improving passenger rail within specific regional submarkets (Northeast/New England, Midwest, Southeast, Texas, Cascades, and California) and one to run the long-distance routes.
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No, it is not similar to Europe because they have improved their slower lines while putting in HSR lines at the same time.
Also, unlike European countries, he precluded adding HSR in the best HSR market in N. America and then suggested increasing speed by 1 mph per year on existing rail which is silly. Train speeds don't increase by 1 mph / year anywhere. Waiting 20 to 30 years to upgrade our slow rail to slightly higher speed rail before thinking of putting in proper HSR is a waste of time. This is because land prices will increase and will make any future HSR even more expensive to construct. So, no. I disagree vehemently. Any decent HSR train line will have a trickle down affect that will encourage more investment in slower regional branch lines as more passengers will be attracted to ride the system by the HSR trip times. However, in the case of the NEC, the second slower layer is currently in place (the current line). It is also being considered for 160mph acela operation in certain sections in NJ (up from 135mph top speed). So, again 1 mph/year improvement on the NEC is ludicrous. This is where HSR needs to be and it has the best business case. Amtrak has taken 70 per cent market share on the NY-DC route due to post 9-11 airport hassles. It could increase up to 90 percent + if HSR was added.