January 23, 20241 yr Author Brightline West now has $5.5 billion in hand. It needs $12 billion total so almost halfway there, and certainly enough to start construction. https://www.railwayage.com/regulatory/brightline-west-lands-2-5b-in-private-activity-bonds/ "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 25, 20241 yr Alan Fisher is making a last minute call to action to push for support of the Buy America Waiver for BLW:
January 26, 20241 yr Author Fun fact: Amtrak ridership in Virginia hit an all time high, surpassing last year's all time high by 300,000 and we're not even talking about trains that go over 90mph. Fund the trains. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 26, 20241 yr Buffalo looking to expand it's single rail line. I'm sure the fine citizens of Amherst will give much pushback (the equivalent in Cleveland of running a rail line through Beachwood, or Westlake).
January 26, 20241 yr video of rail along the pacific coast highway … in 1898 🙀 https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2gUoK3Jw56/?igsh=MTl2d2VxeDdlczl6YQ==
January 29, 20241 yr gearing up for the four new bx mnrr stations with tod plans for 7500 apts at the parkchester and morris pk stations: City Planning Commission Certifies, Starts Public Review Process for Bronx Metro-North Station Area January 26, 2024 On January 22, 2024, the City Planning Commission launched the public review of the Bronx Metro-North Station Area Plan. The plan compliments the development of four new Metro-North stations along the East Bronx in Parkchester/Van Nest, Morris Park, Hunts Point, and Co-Op City. The stations will be added to the New Haven line and are expected to open in 2027. Hunts Point and Co-Op City will receive investments but no zoning changes under the plan. In Morris Park and Parkchester/Van Nest, the plan would create nearly 7,500 new homes, including 1,900 permanently affordable units through Mandatory Inclusionary Housing. Most would be in Parkchester/Van Nest, along currently existing commercial corridors to add residential uses to those areas. more: https://www.citylandnyc.org/city-planning-commission-certifies-starts-public-review-process-for-bronx-metro-north-station-area-plan/ A sketch of the redesign of the intersection of Morris Park Avenue and Eastchester Road following a future redevelopment of the area adjacent to the upcoming Morris Park Metro-North Station. Image Credit: NYC DCP.
January 29, 20241 yr Author That's what I love about NYC. New commuter service over existing tracks? Cool, let's add enough housing to it so its population is equivalent to a small city. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 30, 20241 yr 15 hours ago, KJP said: That's what I love about NYC. New commuter service over existing tracks? Cool, let's add enough housing to it so its population is equivalent to a small city. yeah bx is booming. and the thing is parkchester is already a small town of 30k people of all stripes. its an old planned apartment community built via metropolitan insurance, same folks who built the also enormous stuyvesant town development in manhattan. its pretty cool too, but i can’t imagine where they could possibly fit in any more housing. i think the majority of the new build must be going up around the morris park area.
January 30, 20241 yr Author What's going in that big hole in the ground bounded by White Plains, Tremont, Unionport and Guerlain? I can also see them building over the tracks between White Plains and Unionport roads, and possibly razing and replacing the low-rise stuff at Baker and White Plains. Too bad ConEdison has their big facility there. That would be an awesome TOD site. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
February 8, 20241 yr Author Buffalo! "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
February 13, 20241 yr Author Editorial: To save its coastal rail line, California will need to move it away from the ocean This is the fifth time in three years that train service has been interrupted by hillside erosion in the area, upending people’s commutes, long-distance trips and freight movement along this important route. The track was closed to Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner and Metrolink trains for six months last year. And with climate change fueling more intense storms, coastal erosion and sea level rise, closures of the ocean-side rail line are expected to become a regular occurrence. It’s time for Californians and transportation officials to face the inevitable reality: Saving the coastal line means moving it away from the unstable land of the ocean’s edge. https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-02-09/editorial-california-needs-to-save-its-coastal-rail-line-before-its-too-late "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
February 19, 20241 yr Salt Lake City has taken over the planning of the proposed Rio Grande Plan. The plan the city is looking at is even bigger and more expansive than the one that was originally proposed. Here's a good video of what's now proposed. Honestly, $6 billion seems like a lot but if the state canceled the unnecessary I-15 expansion, they could easily pay for this and more.
February 21, 20241 yr I took my first trip on the Brightline in Florida yesterday. Definitely impressed! It was clean, quiet and the stations included identical designs (at least in West Palm and Ft Lauderdale that I visited). Would love to see them expand into other markets that make sense. LA-Vegas should be a home run.
February 21, 20241 yr 13 hours ago, Cleburger said: I took my first trip on the Brightline in Florida yesterday. Definitely impressed! It was clean, quiet and the stations included identical designs (at least in West Palm and Ft Lauderdale that I visited). Would love to see them expand into other markets that make sense. LA-Vegas should be a home run. On my bucket list...
February 21, 20241 yr Looks like METRA is adding Stadler battery FLIRTS. I gotta say, these trains look nice .
February 21, 20241 yr 28 minutes ago, JaceTheAce41 said: Looks like METRA is adding Stadler battery FLIRTS. I gotta say, these trains look nice . They’d look better with pantographs on the top. 😀 When is the last time I-71 turned a profit?
March 3, 20241 yr On 1/30/2024 at 3:54 PM, KJP said: What's going in that big hole in the ground bounded by White Plains, Tremont, Unionport and Guerlain? I can also see them building over the tracks between White Plains and Unionport roads, and possibly razing and replacing the low-rise stuff at Baker and White Plains. Too bad ConEdison has their big facility there. That would be an awesome TOD site. a slumlord has supposedly been trying to develop it for years, but it was declared a brownfield site that was finally remediated in 2020. it was called parkchester crossing before they found out it needed cleaned up, but it will be something else now eventually: Though empty now, the 1.62-acre lot used to house multiple businesses such as a salon, a Chinese restaurant and a martial arts studio. According to city property records,Wiener owns the vacant land through another firm called ZP Realty LLC. He said he’s already been in talks with DCP on how best to develop the site. “I think we came out with a very interesting solution, and I think this will be a great asset to Parkchester and I’m excited about it,” he said about the plans for his property. According to state Department of Environmental Conservation records, the lot was labeled a brownfield site and may have been contaminated by two laundromats, a bowling alley with an unregistered fuel storage tank and a gas station with multiple underground storage tanks. In 2020, the DEC certified cleanup requirements at the site were successfully met. more: https://citylimits.org/2021/07/01/bronx-residents-and-a-developer-weigh-in-on-what-future-metro-north-stations-might-bring/ in the meantime, there are two smaller 5 story developments just below it on white plains rd happening now. no doubt the 4 new mnrr stations will jumpstart this parcel and more bx action.
March 7, 20241 yr Just took the Brightline and Tri-Rail between Ft Lauderdale and Boca Raton. Tri-Rail: Ft Lauderdale to Boca Raton The train was delayed by 25 minutes from the scheduled departure. This would have been noted in the app, but I wasn't thinking to look for delays. Timing wasn't super important, and I actually arrived about 5 minutes before my coworker got into town to pick me up. The stations were all outside with a cover, no one checked my ticket ($5 one way). There was room to store luggage. It felt a lot like a commuter train in New Jersey with a second level. No reserved seats. The tracks are a little further inland than Brightline, so not as convenient to downtowns. But Tri-Rail does have a direct connection to the Ft Lauderdale airport, and Brightline requires you reserve a shuttle in advance for $10 from what I could tell. Felt like a normal train in any other city. Very clean and enjoyable ride. They made about 5 stops between Ft Lauderdale airport and Boca Raton. Brightline: Boca Raton to Ft Lauderdale The Brightline was scheduled to depart at 7:24am, and it did exactly that. There were no intermediate stations, and it was scheduled to arrive at 7:40am. I paid $31 less than a week before my trip as this was a last minute work trip. You had to put your bags through an imaging machine and walk through a metal detector and scan your ticket to walk through a gate. The Boca Raton station had indoor waiting areas with a self checkout market. They didn't open the doors to the platform until the train was approaching. Everyone was dressed in business attire for the most part. Unfortunately, there was a freight train hauling large containers of flammable material, and we ended up sitting in the tracks about halfway to Ft Lauderdale for about 10 minutes as a northbound Brightline train was coming and the freight needed to get into our lane. I didn't realize other trains ever utilized the lines. We probably arrived about 10 or 15 minutes behind schedule. Reached a top speed of 79mph. The staff brought a snack cart through the aisle, but I think everything in the lower tier ticket cost money. The Ft Lauderdale station was bigger and had a bar inside. I didn't explore the stations much, so Boca might have also had this. There were a bunch of electric cars that could take you to your final destination if you needed to go somewhere else. I ended up walking to downtown Ft Lauderdale for breakfast before taking a local bus to the airport. Overall, I'd say the Brightline is probably worth it to go between Miami and Palm Beach or Palm Beach and Orlando. For shorter trips I'd say it's only worth it if it's more convenient to get to your hotels and stuff.
March 7, 20241 yr Author Thanks for the write-up. I rode both Tri-rail and Brightline shortly after each started. Tri-rail is much more frequent, sophisticated and the stations more elaborate now. Brightline is like nothing else in the USA, and its only international service I can compare it to is the Eurostar, which was also brand new when I rode it. I highly recommend Brightline for someone's first-ever American train ride. And yes, Brightline is under Florida East Coast Industies umbrella, same as the Florida East Coast (freight) railroad. Same tracks and infrastructure, just improved and more of it. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 12, 20241 yr a push for residential around penn station — Penn Station task force starts push to make transit hub more residential By Max ParrottPosted on March 12, 2024 A Penn Station task force helmed by Manhattan’s Community Board 5 outlined its long-term goal of increasing housing in the station’s surrounding area and making it more of a neighborhood in coordination with the state’s transit redevelopment plan. more: https://www.amny.com/transit/penn-station-task-force-residential/
March 12, 20241 yr Author Good move "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 13, 20241 yr after tampa expansion i hope brightline goes for jacksonville to daytona/nsb to orlando. or straight down to cocoa. either would be good for my mom. 😅 Edited March 13, 20241 yr by mrnyc
March 16, 20241 yr Great video from CNBC on the Texas Central high-speed rail project. Particularly like this screenshot: Video: When is the last time I-71 turned a profit?
March 17, 20241 yr On 3/16/2024 at 8:51 AM, Boomerang_Brian said: Great video from CNBC on the Texas Central high-speed rail project. Particularly like this screenshot: Video: Interestingly, the Highway Trust Fund started running deficits in 2008 and has ever since. The difference comes from general funds, of course.
March 21, 20241 yr Brightline Feb numbers out. Almost 8k passengers per day When is the last time I-71 turned a profit?
March 22, 20241 yr On 3/20/2024 at 9:30 PM, Boomerang_Brian said: Brightline Feb numbers out. Almost 8k passengers per day I did some quick math and that works out to about 246 passengers per trip - pretty good for a new service.
March 31, 20241 yr On 3/29/2024 at 10:10 AM, Dev said: Illinois looking at making some moves This is very interesting. Now we are getting into some big ticket projects which will be necessary for higher frequencies and speeds. One of the biggest will be a new bridge across the Mississippi River at St. Louis as opposed to using the current MacArthur bridge crossing, which is heavily used by freight traffic. As Gildone says "We can't halfass this stuff anymore."
April 6, 20241 yr All I can think about is how this would put a Northeast Corridor station a 1.3 mile / 30 minute WALK from where I used to live in Woburn, MA. (Specifically the Anderson RTC in Woburn, which also serves the Downeaster Amtrak service to Maine.) When is the last time I-71 turned a profit?
April 6, 20241 yr Author That Chicago map is a hot, confusing mess. The Ohio-Columbus Tunnel listing sure caught my attention! "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 8, 20241 yr path rehab $$$ — $430M upgrades will fix issues that delay commuters, PATH says Updated: Apr. 06, 2024, 6:29 a.m.| Published: Apr. 06, 2024, 6:16 a.m. By Larry Higgs | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com PATH will start a $430 million program to repair and upgrade some of the issues that derail the daily travel routines of commuters, including track and signal problems, bridge issues and trains that break down. Officials announced the $430 million PATH Forward program Friday, intended to address critical and aging infrastructure on the 116-year-old bi-state rail system between New Jersey and New York, that in the worst case, leads to delayed trains. https://www.nj.com/news/2024/04/430m-upgrades-will-fix-issues-that-delay-commuters-path-says.html
April 11, 20241 yr Author You'd think "bullet" trains would be popular in TexAss President Joe Biden is reportedly seeking to revive a project that would construct a high-speed railway from Houston to Dallas in Texas utilizing Japanese bullet trains. https://www.newsweek.com/texas-poised-first-bullet-train-line-us-1888433 "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 11, 20241 yr 2 hours ago, KJP said: You'd think "bullet" trains would be popular in TexAss President Joe Biden is reportedly seeking to revive a project that would construct a high-speed railway from Houston to Dallas in Texas utilizing Japanese bullet trains. https://www.newsweek.com/texas-poised-first-bullet-train-line-us-1888433 Not with Dallas-based Southwest Airlines and it's 128 weekly flights between Dallas and Houston buying up the legislature!
April 17, 20241 yr The second daily Chicago-Milwaukee-St Paul, MN service is one step closer to launching. It will be an “extension” of an existing Hiawatha (Chicago-MKE), so the new part is the MKE-Twin Cities segment. https://www.greatriverrail.org/post/amendments-approved-second-train-launch-date-closer “The Second Train moved one step closer to becoming a reality on March 19 with approval of agreements between Ramsey County and Amtrak. During its regular meeting, the Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authority (RCRRA) voted unanimously to approve amendments to the operating and lease agreements with Amtrak that will allow the Twin Cities-Milwaukee- Chicago Second Train to serve Union Depot in Saint Paul. … “A service announcement is expected this spring. The schedules, fares, start date and official name of the train service will be jointly announced when all the agreements have been finalized between the parties.” When is the last time I-71 turned a profit?
April 23, 20241 yr Author Work Begins on $12B High-Speed Rail Connecting Los Angeles, Las Vegas The project is touted as the first true high-speed passenger rail line in the nation. https://www.ien.com/product-development/news/22893728/work-begins-on-12b-highspeed-rail-connecting-los-angeles-las-vegas "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 24, 20241 yr 11 hours ago, KJP said: Work Begins on $12B High-Speed Rail Connecting Los Angeles, Las Vegas The project is touted as the first true high-speed passenger rail line in the nation. https://www.ien.com/product-development/news/22893728/work-begins-on-12b-highspeed-rail-connecting-los-angeles-las-vegas If actually completed it will be HUGGGGEEEE
April 24, 20241 yr 22 hours ago, KJP said: Work Begins on $12B High-Speed Rail Connecting Los Angeles, Las Vegas The project is touted as the first true high-speed passenger rail line in the nation. https://www.ien.com/product-development/news/22893728/work-begins-on-12b-highspeed-rail-connecting-los-angeles-las-vegas This and the California HSR projects are such important projects for the US. With this project using highway median most of the way, it will be so visible to everyone in cars. Millions of people every year will be driving 75-80 mph and have a train fly by them at over twice their speed. It could really kick off significant public interest from people who never consider trains an option.
April 25, 20241 yr On 4/24/2024 at 8:31 AM, PlanCleveland said: This and the California HSR projects are such important projects for the US. With this project using highway median most of the way, it will be so visible to everyone in cars. Millions of people every year will be driving 75-80 mph and have a train fly by them at over twice their speed. It could really kick off significant public interest from people who never consider trains an option. Even better when they are parked in bumper to bumper traffic because a truck load of lettuce flipped over on the I5...
April 26, 20241 yr On 4/24/2024 at 9:31 AM, PlanCleveland said: With this project using highway median most of the way, it will be so visible to everyone in cars. Millions of people every year will be driving 75-80 mph and have a train fly by them at over twice their speed. It could really kick off significant public interest from people who never consider trains an option. I think this has the opposite effect. For riders on the train, yes, they get more confident that they made the right choice, they tell others about their experience being so much better than driving etc. This serves to help build support for better transit options amongst a group of people who are already supportive or interested in transit. For the people stuck in the auto traffic, it just serves to make them mad that they are sitting in traffic while others are not. I suspect this leads them to continue to push for highway widenings at the expense of further investments in transit. I don't think they will be envious of the train riders, they will be jealous. I hope that I am wrong, and hopefully someone knows of research or data on the subject, but I worry that highway median projects are hobbled by the compromises that make them necessary to pursue. To be clear, I am not against BLW from happening and I don't think they should necessarily wait for a better project when this one is already moving forward. I'm just not convinced it's all that replicable and will have a limited long-term impact. In other words, using existing rail, and improving service incrementally, has a low floor but high ceiling, in terms of ridership volumes. The ridership is going to start off really low, but there is the ability to get it really high. Meanwhile, building HSR from scratch has a high floor and a high ceiling while a highway median project has a high floor but a low ceiling.
May 1, 20241 yr Amtrak second daily Chicago – Milwaukee – St. Paul, Minnesota service starts on May 21. Dubbed the Borealis. It is an extension of an existing Chicago to Milwaukee Hiawatha service. Schedule is 30 minutes faster than the Empire builder for the same corridor. When is the last time I-71 turned a profit?
May 1, 20241 yr Author Since the eastbound Empire Builder (scheduled to depart St. Paul at 8:50 a.m.) regularly runs 1-5 hours late, the Builder and the Borealis are going to frequently be playing train tag all the way to Chicago. EDIT: The WB schedule makes more sense, with the Borealis departing Chicago at 11:05 a.m. and the Builder at 4:55 p.m. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 1, 20241 yr On 4/26/2024 at 2:57 PM, Dev said: I think this has the opposite effect. For riders on the train, yes, they get more confident that they made the right choice, they tell others about their experience being so much better than driving etc. This serves to help build support for better transit options amongst a group of people who are already supportive or interested in transit. For the people stuck in the auto traffic, it just serves to make them mad that they are sitting in traffic while others are not. I suspect this leads them to continue to push for highway widenings at the expense of further investments in transit. I don't think they will be envious of the train riders, they will be jealous. I hope that I am wrong, and hopefully someone knows of research or data on the subject, but I worry that highway median projects are hobbled by the compromises that make them necessary to pursue. To be clear, I am not against BLW from happening and I don't think they should necessarily wait for a better project when this one is already moving forward. I'm just not convinced it's all that replicable and will have a limited long-term impact. In other words, using existing rail, and improving service incrementally, has a low floor but high ceiling, in terms of ridership volumes. The ridership is going to start off really low, but there is the ability to get it really high. Meanwhile, building HSR from scratch has a high floor and a high ceiling while a highway median project has a high floor but a low ceiling. You're probably right.... But hopefully it will help at least a few people see the light.
May 1, 20241 yr On 4/26/2024 at 2:57 PM, Dev said: I think this has the opposite effect. For riders on the train, yes, they get more confident that they made the right choice, they tell others about their experience being so much better than driving etc. This serves to help build support for better transit options amongst a group of people who are already supportive or interested in transit. For the people stuck in the auto traffic, it just serves to make them mad that they are sitting in traffic while others are not. I suspect this leads them to continue to push for highway widenings at the expense of further investments in transit. I don't think they will be envious of the train riders, they will be jealous. I hope that I am wrong, and hopefully someone knows of research or data on the subject, but I worry that highway median projects are hobbled by the compromises that make them necessary to pursue. To be clear, I am not against BLW from happening and I don't think they should necessarily wait for a better project when this one is already moving forward. I'm just not convinced it's all that replicable and will have a limited long-term impact. In other words, using existing rail, and improving service incrementally, has a low floor but high ceiling, in terms of ridership volumes. The ridership is going to start off really low, but there is the ability to get it really high. Meanwhile, building HSR from scratch has a high floor and a high ceiling while a highway median project has a high floor but a low ceiling. The visibility of the train will be HIGHLY beneficial both for ridership and for building political support for more passenger rail. (Similarly, 110-125 mph trains blowing past traffic on the STL-Chicago, Detroit-Chicago, and Brightline Florida routes are great!) The single biggest headwind we have as rail advocates is that most Americans have no idea what good rail looks like. The visibility of BrightLine West will give millions of American travelers that image. I think of my own situation as an example. When I grew up, I really enjoyed riding the Metro on visits to Washington DC. I was introduced to passenger rail as a kid on a trip to Europe (specifically Ukraine). As an adult travel, I had traveled all over the world and experienced rail systems everywhere. Yet when I lived in Boston (2004 through 2015), before I got into rail advocacy and urbanism, I wasn’t aware of rail options for going to NYC. I only knew about the Acela and my perception was that it would be too expensive. So we took the bus. I didn’t know about the Northeast Regional! (And the bus left from South Station 🤦♂️.)The best American rail system for personal travel, me as an ideal target demographic, and I didn’t even know about it. How would we expect the typical American to know? Highway adjacent rail projects will bring more awareness of passenger rail to many more Americans. That’s a good thing! When is the last time I-71 turned a profit?
May 3, 20241 yr On 5/1/2024 at 7:36 PM, Boomerang_Brian said: The visibility of the train will be HIGHLY beneficial both for ridership and for building political support for more passenger rail. (Similarly, 110-125 mph trains blowing past traffic on the STL-Chicago, Detroit-Chicago, and Brightline Florida routes are great!) The single biggest headwind we have as rail advocates is that most Americans have no idea what good rail looks like. The visibility of BrightLine West will give millions of American travelers that image. I think of my own situation as an example. When I grew up, I really enjoyed riding the Metro on visits to Washington DC. I was introduced to passenger rail as a kid on a trip to Europe (specifically Ukraine). As an adult travel, I had traveled all over the world and experienced rail systems everywhere. Yet when I lived in Boston (2004 through 2015), before I got into rail advocacy and urbanism, I wasn’t aware of rail options for going to NYC. I only knew about the Acela and my perception was that it would be too expensive. So we took the bus. I didn’t know about the Northeast Regional! (And the bus left from South Station 🤦♂️.)The best American rail system for personal travel, me as an ideal target demographic, and I didn’t even know about it. How would we expect the typical American to know? Highway adjacent rail projects will bring more awareness of passenger rail to many more Americans. That’s a good thing! Sorry, I just don't find your anecdotal experience all that convincing. Again, my point isn't that highway running rail is inherently bad, just that its (extremely) long-term potential is limited given the physical presence of the highway itself limits station flexibility and capacity. In short-term, of course it will have a huge boost to passenger rail awareness and ridership, I just worry that in 50 years there will be political fights over how to update the line to better serve intermediate populations, because the engineering would be very, very expensive and complicated. To put it another way, it seems like BLW is an express only service. Is it physically possible to run a non-express service, that hits more cities in the middle? Or maybe none of this matters once climate change hits and all of this area because increasingly uninhabitable.
May 3, 20241 yr 23 minutes ago, Dev said: Sorry, I just don't find your anecdotal experience all that convincing. Again, my point isn't that highway running rail is inherently bad, just that its (extremely) long-term potential is limited given the physical presence of the highway itself limits station flexibility and capacity. In short-term, of course it will have a huge boost to passenger rail awareness and ridership, I just worry that in 50 years there will be political fights over how to update the line to better serve intermediate populations, because the engineering would be very, very expensive and complicated. To put it another way, it seems like BLW is an express only service. Is it physically possible to run a non-express service, that hits more cities in the middle? Or maybe none of this matters once climate change hits and all of this area because increasingly uninhabitable. Getting High Speed Rail at anything remotely resembling reasonable costs in this country will likely require at least some utilization of highway medians. If we instead attempt to use existing underutilized rail rights-of-way, the grade separation costs will be astronomical. Those RoW would be better for 110 mph Regional rail because you don’t have to have full grade separation (even though removing as many grade crossings as possible would be good for safety reasons). Take a look on YouTube at Lucid Stew’s recent HSR visualizations for a pragmatic look at building HSR in the USA. Many of his suggested route use highway medians. (And another important note is that he doesn’t try to break speed records - rather, he takes an approach of balancing speed and cost.) I also want to be clear that I’m not advocating for highway media stations- that would be a disaster. I’m talking about the routing in between the cities. When is the last time I-71 turned a profit?
May 8, 20241 yr On 5/3/2024 at 9:20 AM, Boomerang_Brian said: Getting High Speed Rail at anything remotely resembling reasonable costs in this country will likely require at least some utilization of highway medians. If we instead attempt to use existing underutilized rail rights-of-way, the grade separation costs will be astronomical. Those RoW would be better for 110 mph Regional rail because you don’t have to have full grade separation (even though removing as many grade crossings as possible would be good for safety reasons). Take a look on YouTube at Lucid Stew’s recent HSR visualizations for a pragmatic look at building HSR in the USA. Many of his suggested route use highway medians. (And another important note is that he doesn’t try to break speed records - rather, he takes an approach of balancing speed and cost.) I also want to be clear that I’m not advocating for highway media stations- that would be a disaster. I’m talking about the routing in between the cities. I watched the vid he had for the NEC, where he proposed coming off the corridor and crossing the Delaware river to run express up the Jersey Turnpike. I thought that was a brilliant idea. This isn't going to work everywhere, but it's one possibility.
May 8, 20241 yr Here's Lucid Stew's idea for using the NJ Turnpike to by pass Wilmington, Philadelphia and Trenton. This segment starts at 10:51 in the vid. He estimates a 2 hour flat WAS-NYP running time, which would probably kill the air shuttles. This makes me wonder if Amtrak could raise the money privately a la Brightline.
May 10, 20241 yr Author This was one of the few hangups to be overcome prior to the start of construction and the start of service.... Mobile zoning board OKs train platform for Amtrak Gulf Coast service https://www.progressiverailroading.com/amtrak/news/Mobile-zoning-board-OKs-train-platform-for-Amtrak-Gulf-Coast-service--71883 "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 13, 20241 yr lirr history — https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6uMUCwub2T/?igsh=MXBqNTg3ODRqeGF2Yw==
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