Real Bullet Trains to come to America

screwysquirrel · 11-25-2008, 05:08 PM

Atlanta's businesses are abuzz with a new legislation proposed by John Kerry (D-MA) that will put atlanta as one of several hubs for 11 high speed passenger rail lines that will cross-cross the country.

The proposed $8 Billion project would establish new, no-grade crossing high-speed passenger rail service along both coasts from Boston to Miami, Seattle to San Diego, with transcontenential links in the various mega-cities in texas, Chicago, Washington, New york, and Atlanta

Min speed on the new line would be 110mph, with speeds pushing 200 in the plains and the southwest desert.

Links:
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/sha...the_aisle.html

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/bott...and-spect.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/20...061/985/666177

http://trains4america.wordpress.com/...om-john-kerry/

full text of the bill:

http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/do...ll_summary.pdf

railohio · 11-26-2008, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by screwysquirrel

The proposed $8 Billion project would establish new, no-grade crossing high-speed passenger rail service along both coasts from Boston to Miami, Seattle to San Diego, with transcontenential links in the various mega-cities in texas, Chicago, Washington, New york, and Atlanta

Fat chance. The title of this thread is grossly misleading. This kind of legislation gets propped up every couple years and never goes anywhere.

California is the closest of any state to get a high speed rail network; it has been approved by the state's voters and soon bonds will be sold and matching funds sought.

Any national system would not cost anywhere near eight billion dollars. That's probably just the funding to study it further. Eight hundred miles in California is projected to cost $45 billion. A truly national system would be over one trillion dollars.

Russ Bellinis · 11-26-2008, 03:56 PM

The ink is hardly dry on the election certification and already there is talk of some of the approved high speed rail funding being diverted to freight railroads!

jbaakko · 11-26-2008, 07:29 PM

Amtrak's been running "test" trains on the LA-Las Vegas corridor, IIRC with funding from California & Nevada.

Honestly, I'd love to take a high speed train to Seattle!

Russ Bellinis · 11-28-2008, 09:21 PM

I think it makes a lot of sense to have high speed trains, but the cost is such that I think what needs to be done is to expand what is already there. Perhaps build a high speed corridor off the Northeast corridor connecting Chicago to NYC & Boston at Albany with stops in Detroit & Pittsburgh, and any other cities that would fall on that route. Once into Chicago, the next step would be to go down the Mississippi River to New Orleans with stops in St Louis, and other large cities along the Mississippi. It would be expensive to build the entire system, but by building one leg at a time, and letting the increased revenue from the ridership pay back the government, we could have a high speed rail system that would rival Europe. The problem with high speed rail going all the way across country is that I don't think it is practical to try to run high speed rail over the mountains of the West. How fast can you climb from sea level to 10,000 feet and go back to sea level with all of the attendant twist and turns necessary to keep grades reasonable?

11-25-2008, 05:08 PM	#1
screwysquirrel Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Raleigh, NC Posts: 724 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Real Bullet Trains to come to America Atlanta's businesses are abuzz with a new legislation proposed by John Kerry (D-MA) that will put atlanta as one of several hubs for 11 high speed passenger rail lines that will cross-cross the country. The proposed $8 Billion project would establish new, no-grade crossing high-speed passenger rail service along both coasts from Boston to Miami, Seattle to San Diego, with transcontenential links in the various mega-cities in texas, Chicago, Washington, New york, and Atlanta Min speed on the new line would be 110mph, with speeds pushing 200 in the plains and the southwest desert. Links: http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/sha...the_aisle.html http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/bott...and-spect.html http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/20...061/985/666177 http://trains4america.wordpress.com/...om-john-kerry/ full text of the bill: http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/do...ll_summary.pdf __________________ "When I hear the iron horse make the hills echo with his snort like thunder, shaking the earth with his feet and breathing fire and smoke from his nostrils, ... it seems as if the earth had got a race now worthy to inhabit it." --- Henry David Thoreau

11-26-2008, 07:29 PM	#4
jbaakko Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 1,157 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Amtrak's been running "test" trains on the LA-Las Vegas corridor, IIRC with funding from California & Nevada. Honestly, I'd love to take a high speed train to Seattle! __________________ Josh Models: To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. \| My Videos: To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Model Railroad Tips: To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Custom paint services, & Hobby shop: To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

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11-26-2008, 03:56 PM	#3
Russ Bellinis Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Lakewood, Ca. Posts: 4,755 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	The ink is hardly dry on the election certification and already there is talk of some of the approved high speed rail funding being diverted to freight railroads!

11-28-2008, 09:21 PM	#5
Russ Bellinis Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Lakewood, Ca. Posts: 4,755 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	I think it makes a lot of sense to have high speed trains, but the cost is such that I think what needs to be done is to expand what is already there. Perhaps build a high speed corridor off the Northeast corridor connecting Chicago to NYC & Boston at Albany with stops in Detroit & Pittsburgh, and any other cities that would fall on that route. Once into Chicago, the next step would be to go down the Mississippi River to New Orleans with stops in St Louis, and other large cities along the Mississippi. It would be expensive to build the entire system, but by building one leg at a time, and letting the increased revenue from the ridership pay back the government, we could have a high speed rail system that would rival Europe. The problem with high speed rail going all the way across country is that I don't think it is practical to try to run high speed rail over the mountains of the West. How fast can you climb from sea level to 10,000 feet and go back to sea level with all of the attendant twist and turns necessary to keep grades reasonable?