Why The US Has No High-Speed Rail

[chris08876]

The video is actually quite interesting. 16 minutes, but its a good watch.

= = = = = =


• Video Link

China has the world’s fastest and largest high-speed rail network — more than 19,000 miles, the vast majority of which was built in the past decade.

Japan’s bullet trains can reach nearly 200 miles per hour and date to the 1960s. They have moved more than 9 billion people without a single passenger causality. casualty

France began service of the high-speed TGV train in 1981 and the rest of Europe quickly followed.

But the U.S. has no true high-speed trains, aside from sections of Amtrak’s Acela line in the Northeast Corridor. The Acela can reach 150 mph for only 34 miles of its 457-mile span. Its average speed between New York and Boston is about 65 mph.

California’s high-speed rail system is under construction, but whether it will ever get completed as intended is uncertain.

[ocman]

Other countries fund rail. In the US, states are required to pay for it themselves. I seriously forget why we pay federal taxes.

[SIGSEGV]

1) maybe this should be in the transportation section?

2) Hopefully with this http://www.midwesthsr.org/big-win-springfield , Illinois "HSR" can finally get started. Too bad it's only 110 MPH max... this corridor should easily support 110 MPH average.

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

1) maybe this should be in the transportation section?

2) Hopefully with this http://www.midwesthsr.org/big-win-springfield , Illinois "HSR" can finally get started. Too bad it's only 110 MPH max... this corridor should easily support 110 MPH average.

i thought the big holdup on stl-chi was the control system, disallowing the full speed of the line? (that and the garbage-can cars they are still pulling)

[Centropolis]

upon review, basically none of that is for the hsr line unless it's the "track improvements in springfield."

[Sun Belt]

Originally Posted by ocman

Other countries fund rail. In the US, states are required to pay for it themselves. I seriously forget why we pay federal taxes.

States pay about 50%, right? Federal funds match?

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by Centropolis

upon review, basically none of that is for the hsr line unless it's the "track improvements in springfield."

Here's hoping...I thought that that was one of the hold-ups.

[The North One]

Originally Posted by ocman

Other countries fund rail. In the US, states are required to pay for it themselves. I seriously forget why we pay federal taxes.

Imperialism! duh.

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

Here's hoping...I thought that that was one of the hold-ups.

could be part of this...

http://www.chicagomag.com/city-life/...l-in-Illinois/

But it’s no faster. As of early 2019, trains on the Lincoln Service line top out at 79 MPH. The 284-mile trip still takes five and a half hours.

IDOT spokesperson Guy Tridgell says faster speeds are coming soon. A section of the route between Springfield and St. Louis will allow for 90 MPH travel by this summer, and the rest will follow suit by 2020, Tridgell says.
...

But there’s no longer an official timetable for 110 MPH trains.

“We don’t know for sure,” said Tridgell. “We hope that the schedule comes into focus soon.”

The delays are largely bureaucratic. Amtrak trains aren’t allowed to hit 110 MPH without first testing what’s called positive train control (PTC) under the guidance of the Federal Railroad Administration.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by ocman

Other countries fund rail. In the US, states are required to pay for it themselves. I seriously forget why we pay federal taxes.

Is there any federation in the world with a high-speed rail system?

[hauntedheadnc]

Originally Posted by Centropolis

IDOT spokesperson Guy Tridgell says faster speeds are coming soon. A section of the route between Springfield and St. Louis will allow for 90 MPH travel by this summer, and the rest will follow suit by 2020, Tridgell says.

Oh, my... what an unfortunate acronym. I bet frustrated drivers there (and probably also in Iowa) have a blast with that one...

[JManc]

I think HSR would be great here in the US but we already have an advanced regional air network. China can get away with building rail because A) they are a dictatorship and B) they are still developing infrastructure.

[jg6544]

Originally Posted by JManc

I think HSR would be great here in the US but we already have an advanced regional air network. China can get away with building rail because A) they are a dictatorship and B) they are still developing infrastructure.

Advanced? Have you flown into or out of LAX recently?

China isn't the only country with HSR; most of Europe, Korea, Japan, and they're currently building them in India and Turkey. This is the only industrialized country in the world with such rotten rail transportation.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Is there any federation in the world with a high-speed rail system?

Not sure what you are thinking of when you say federation, but:

Russia has a line between Moscow and St. Petersburg and apparently one between Helsinki and St. Petersburg.

Germany has several lines.

Belgium has several lines.

India has a few semi-high speed lines and many in proposal status.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by jg6544

Advanced? Have you flown into or out of LAX recently?

China isn't the only country with HSR; most of Europe, Korea, Japan, and they're currently building them in India and Turkey. This is the only industrialized country in the world with such rotten rail transportation.

China is the only big country with HSR. Europe is not a country and the biggest European country is the size of Texas (France) and Japan and South Korea are small. We are a dollar late and a dollar short for HSR I am afraid. It may work on the eastern seaboard (beyond Acela), California and the Texas triangle but the US in general is in just too massive.

As for LAX, it's a massive airport but LAX isn't the only option for the LA area...I avoid LAX like the plague and fly into BUR if I can and the US has airports just about everywhere. As I said, our air network is pretty advanced. I can get on a plane and pretty much go anywhere in this country as there is almost an airport nearby.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

Not sure what you are thinking of when you say federation, but:

Russia has a line between Moscow and St. Petersburg and apparently one between Helsinki and St. Petersburg.

Germany has several lines.

Belgium has several lines.

India has a few semi-high speed lines and many in proposal status.

A federal system of government. Federal systems delegate infrastructure development down to states. Our interstate highway system is just a collection of highways managed by individual states. Off the top of my head, Amtrak is the only piece of infrastructure we have that is the domain of the federal government.

Tl;dr: our system of government probably also makes HSR projects harder to do.

ETA: Technically, the U.S. does have a HSR line, too.

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by JManc

China is the only big country with HSR. Europe is not a country and the biggest European country is the size of Texas (France) and Japan and South Korea are small. We are a dollar late and a dollar short for HSR I am afraid. It may work on the eastern seaboard (beyond Acela), California and the Texas triangle but the US in general is in just too massive.

As for LAX, it's a massive airport but LAX isn't the only option for the LA area...I avoid LAX like the plague and fly into BUR if I can and the US has airports just about everywhere. As I said, our air network is pretty advanced. I can get on a plane and pretty much go anywhere in this country as there is almost an airport nearby.

if you're staying on the westside, LAX is fine. i head straight to playa del rey or something for lunch or whatever. there's worse airports.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by JManc

As for LAX, it's a massive airport but LAX isn't the only option for the LA area...I avoid LAX like the plague and fly into BUR if I can and the US has airports just about everywhere. As I said, our air network is pretty advanced. I can get on a plane and pretty much go anywhere in this country as there is almost an airport nearby.

The U.S. is actually over reliant on air travel because of our paltry rail system, and the problems with over reliance on air travel were detailed in the video. A good example is your own state. Houston and Dallas are about the optimal distance from each other to make HSR worthwhile. If there was HSR between the two cities, it would be far faster to get between the center of both cities that way than by driving or flying.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

The U.S. is actually over reliant on air travel because of our paltry rail system, and the problems with over reliance on air travel were detailed in the video. A good example is your own state. Houston and Dallas are about the optimal distance from each other to make HSR worthwhile. If there was HSR between the two cities, it would be far faster to get between the center of both cities that way than by driving or flying.

I agree. I cited the TT as a prime spot for HSR but local politics would make such a plan an uphill battle. Wealthy ranchers balking at eminent domain and opposition within the state government plus the airline industry (mainly AA, SWA, and UAL) lobbying hard.

My parents take the train down to the City from upstate all the time; dumps them right into Penn Station and then walk/ cab a few blocks to their hotel. I'd love that for here...

[Sun Belt]

Originally Posted by JManc

I think HSR would be great here in the US but we already have an advanced regional air network. China can get away with building rail because A) they are a dictatorship and B) they are still developing infrastructure.

And

C] China's 1.4 billion basically all live in the eastern/coastal provinces of the country. 94% of the Chinese population live east of The Hu Line. China has 1.1 billion more people than the entire United States and they're all crammed into a relatively small geographical area.


http://www.undertheraedar.com/2012/0...-of-china.html