hubman

http://www.freep.com/article/20110509/NEWS05/110509013/Michigan-get-more-than-200M-boost-high-speed-rail-service?odyssey=mod|mostcom Michigan to get more than $200M to boost high-speed rail service Michigan will get $200 million to upgrade rail lines and a share of another $336 million for new high-performance trains and other equipment to build a high-speed rail network between Detroit and Chicago, the Obama administration announced today. The federal government is awarding $2 billion to expand high-speed rail nationwide, money that Florida turned back earlier this year, and Michigan was one of 24 states competing for the funding. The U.S. Department of Transportation said 15 states and Amtrak will receive money for 22 high-speed intercity passenger rail projects that the government said will connect 80% of Americans to high-speed rail in 25 years. “These projects will put thousands of Americans to work, save hundreds of thousands of hours for American travelers every year, and boost U.S. manufacturing by investing hundreds of millions of dollars in next-generation, American-made locomotives and railcars,” Vice President Joe Biden said in a statemen,,,,

Any chance we can get this line to go through Akron?????

How expensive would it be to get this started? My preference would be to get connected to Cleveland. That being said I really like this idea, giving Akron access to Columbus and Cincy, as well as Pittsburgh (which also means access to Philly and DC).

With a line going through Cleveland/Columbus/Dayton/Cincy, and another one proposed for Cleveland to Pittsburgh, how do we get Akron and Canton on board, and in discussions to be connected to the rest of the state via rail. Akron might be one of the few municipalities in the state to actually embrace rail, they have built a multimodal transportation center right next to rail lines, as well as a station next to a new High rise complex for the CSVR. Akron has also bought the right of way to some rail paths north of the city in hopes of spurring rail transit through the city.

Why not Tower City in the center of the city its on the same Red line that feeds to Hopkins, and is Ohio asking the Federal government to foot a 100% of the bill, if so are other states applying for this funding asking for a 100% also?

I believe the estimate provided by Amtrak that added an hour a half to the trip time from Cincy going through Akron, took a different route than the 1 I proposed. They went North through Galion and Shelby then East at New London through Medina county.

i think the big issue is existing track and right of way that could be used relatively quickly. i think both of these are missing in some places or would require substantial upgrades, which is why the other route was initially chosen b/c there is existing freight ROW and track that could be used with relatively modest safety and capacity enhancements. kjp posted on this a while back, it may be in this thread. i will see if i can find his response. I think most of the lapses in track availability are between Cleveland and Akron if I read KJP's earlier post correctly. A stretch that IMHO needs to be fixed anyway eventually for commuter rail purposes (I believe I read somewhere that around 30 to 40 thousand people commute between these 2 communities on a daily basis), so why not kill two birds with one stone and knock it out now with the help of Federal Stimulus money, paving the way for future commuter rail possibilities and at the same time improving the significance of the 3 C route by adding 2 major Ohio Cities and several national and local tourist attractions (Pro Football Hall of Fame/Football State Championships, Soap Box Derby)

How many more miles would be added to the trip, if instead of going the proposed way north of Columbus, they instead went through Newark, Coshocton, Massillon, Canton, Akron then Cleveland? Simply eyeballing it, it seems to only add about 30 miles but adds 2 more of the larger Ohio cities as well as 3 more universities (Akron U, Walsh, Malone), and another major Airport (Akron-Canton).