March 8, 200916 yr Author Alabama accused of blocking high-speed rail plan (Atlanta to N.O.) http://birmingham.bizjournals.com/birmingham/stories/2009/03/09/story2.html What will these idealogues do next, prohibit inhaling oxygen and drinking water? "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 10, 200916 yr Nice map. Seems to me we can add a few decently small connectors (Cleveland or Columbus to Pittsburgh, KC to Tulsa, and Jacksonville to Orlando) and one big connector (OK City to San Diego or LA?) and we've got ourselves one nice, country-wide high speed rail system. Small steps....
March 10, 200916 yr Nice map. Seems to me we can add a few decently small connectors (Cleveland or Columbus to Pittsburgh, KC to Tulsa, and Jacksonville to Orlando) and one big connector (OK City to San Diego or LA?) and we've got ourselves one nice, country-wide high speed rail system. Small steps.... These are just the federally designated high speed corridors (i.e. eligible for any federal high speed funding) and NOT a national system. That's what's missing from all this discussion about high speed rail. We need a NATIONAL network.
March 12, 200916 yr a maintanence facility is holding up minneapolis rail expansion?!??!? Bell: Thune-led objection is latest threat to Central Corridor light-rail line By Dave Orrick [email protected] Posted: 03/03/2009 12:01:00 AM CST Stop Or Go? The newest roadblock for the planned Central Corridor light rail linking St. Paul and Minneapolis is coming from a surprise place: none other than the St. Paul City Council. http://www.twincities.com/news/ci_11822362?nclick_check=1
March 12, 200916 yr and may the best tunnelers win! 03/12/2009 10:24 AM Bids To Be Accepted For New Hudson River Tunnel By: NY1 News Starting tomorrow, bids will be accepted for a new rail tunnel between New York and New Jersey. a short news video here: http://www.ny1.com/content/news_beats/transit/95430/bids-to-be-accepted-for-new-hudson-river-tunnel/Default.aspx
March 12, 200916 yr Detroit really needs to connect to Toledo. So to eventually get from Detroit to New York (assuming there is a Cleveland to Buffalo line some day), you've got to go to Chicago first? :lol: yeah, that det-chi line is very strange and looks like a waste of money. it should just spur from detroit down to toledo, then detroiters could go east or west from there. also, if louisville's line went to cinci instead of indy it looks a bit shorter too + it could pick up the airport along the way.
March 16, 200916 yr Author http://www.railjournal.com/latenews.shtml#Feature4-3-16 March 6, 2009 Houston to expand light rail network HOUSTON Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) has unanimously approved a $US 1.46 billion contract for four new light rail lines, which would add 32km to the city’s 11km starter line. MTA awarded has Parsons Transportation Group a design-build-operate-maintain (DBOM) contract for planned East End, Southeast, North, and Uptown lines. Veolia will act as operations and maintenance contractor. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 18, 200916 yr indy news: Light rail could face obstacles in Senate Key chairman voices concerns about funding Noblesville-to-Indy line By Chris Sikich Posted: March 2, 2009 A Legislation that could fund a $160 million light-rail system from Noblesville to Downtown Indianapolis has cleared the Indiana House but could run off the tracks in the Senate. The bill would allow county and city governments to create regional transportation districts. Those governmental bodies would have the power to raise income taxes to pay for road projects, new or expanded bus service and light rail. http://www.indystar.com/article/20090302/NEWS05/903020341/1304/LOCAL
March 18, 200916 yr http://www.railjournal.com/latenews.shtml#Feature4-3-16 March 6, 2009 Houston to expand light rail network HOUSTON Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) has unanimously approved a $US 1.46 billion contract for four new light rail lines, which would add 32km to the city’s 11km starter line. MTA awarded has Parsons Transportation Group a design-build-operate-maintain (DBOM) contract for planned East End, Southeast, North, and Uptown lines. Veolia will act as operations and maintenance contractor. Metro intends to spend $US 632 million on the initial phase of the project, primarily on the East End line ($US 390 million). CAF, Spain has been awarded the $US 118 million 29 LRVs, 19 of which will operate on the existing line with the remaining 10 destined for the East End Line. Metro President and CEO Mr Frank Wilson said the total cost of the contract was below the $1.57 billion estimate the agency gave to the Federal Transit Administration last year. What irony. Here in Cleveland we want more rail, in Houston they think this is a laughable toy.
March 20, 200916 yr Virginia commits state funds to add Amtrak service www.railwayage.com In a first for “The Old Dominion State,” Virginia will provide $25.2 million in state funding to run two round-trip Amtrak trains serving Washington, D.C., over a three-year period. One train would link the nation’s capital with Lynchburg, Va., adding a second frequency over Norfolk Southern right-of-way used by Amtrak's Crescent. A second round trip would add more Amtrak service between Richmond and Washington, over right-of-way owned by CSX Transportation. ...... http://www.railwayage.com//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=652&Itemid=121
March 20, 200916 yr The list is now up to 15 states that support intercity passenger rail. How much more proof does the Ohio Senate need?
March 21, 200916 yr Author http://www.detnews.com/article/20090321/POLITICS/903210343/Funding+for+high-speed+rail+considered Funding for high-speed rail considered Mich. lawmaker says White House may grant share of stimulus cash for Detroit to Chicago project Gordon Trowbridge / Detroit News Washington Bureau WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration said Friday that a plan for high-speed rail between Detroit and Chicago is "well positioned" to receive federal stimulus funding, according to a state lawmaker. ..... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 21, 200916 yr Author And another article from the Midwest...... http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/41608122.html Doyle seeks full cost of faster train line By Larry Sandler and Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel Posted: Mar. 20, 2009 Milwaukee-Madison route Click to enlarge Follow the Money Special Section: The Journal Sentinel tracks how the economic stimulus money is being spent in Wisconsin State officials are seeking federal stimulus money to pay the full $519 million cost of a proposed 110-mph Milwaukee-to-Madison passenger train line, not just part of it, Gov. Jim Doyle says. ........ "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 23, 200916 yr This is going to be painful. The monthly card goes from$81 to $103 :wtf: In a decade the cost of buying a monthly card has gone from $63 to $103 MTA Finance Committee Approves Fare Hike The Metropolitan Transportation Authority finance committee voted today to approve higher fares for subway, buses and commuter trains, two days ahead of the full board's vote. The agency has threatened that unless Albany lawmakers come up with a bailout plan by Wednesday, the fare hikes and service cuts will take effect. .... http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/23/how-will-you-cope-with-higher-fares/?hp
March 24, 200916 yr Paterson is going to go down as the worst governor in recent history of the country.
March 24, 200916 yr The Wisconsin proposal sounds good; there's already a waiting market, and the Hiawatha Service trains do their job very well. Speed things up and add more service, and the demand would increase in direct proportion. Anyone who doubts a demand for more service trains should see the weekend lines at the ticket counter in Milwaukee, especially around holidays. And if they haven't fixed that abysmal train shed since the last photos I saw, that would be a very good place for some of the stimulus money.
March 25, 200916 yr IBM hops aboard high-speed rail By Martin LaMonica, CNET News, March 24, 2009 Imagine traveling by rail at 200 miles per hour between cities, and then catching a local line to your final destination. IBM on Wednesday plans to announce details of three rail projects outside the U.S. that bring that vision of efficient and convenient rail travel closer to reality. Overall, the projects in China, Taiwan, and the Netherlands show how rail travel can reduce urban congestion and cut down on pollution from transportation, said IBM. See more: http://www.dot.gov/affairs/dot3009.htm http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/20/us/20rail.html?scp=1&sq=rail%20stimulus&st=cse http://www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov/
March 27, 200916 yr What do you guys think the economic impact of a bunch of high speed rail corridors would be realistically (looking at the map at the top of the page). It looks like the downfall of the aviation industry but I wonder if it would attract a lot of international investment.
March 27, 200916 yr Author The commercial aviation makes its money on high volume, longer distance routes that rail can't compete with. Most short-haul flights are necessary evils and loss-leaders for the airlines, yet that's where rail excels. And as long as rail is connected to airports and there are code-sharing arrangements with the airlines, both rail and the airlines should win. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 27, 200916 yr I can see where airports like Fort Wayne's might take a beating even from fast trains (110mph) that run on time and frequently. I haven't investigated the services lately, but I think a lot of the traffic is to larger hubs that are well within the range of passenger rail; Chicago and Indianapolis, for example. Currently the only "competition" Fort Wayne's air carriers have for service to Chicago is bus, and that's two trips per day, one via South Bend and taking an hour longer than driving, and the other via Toledo (!!! :wtf:) taking seven hours. In order for rail to be serious competition against air service from regional airports to major hubs, rail would have to have easy, direct connections with the hub airports, and service from Fort Wayne to Union Station doesn't cut it. Either you drop a hefty cab fare, $40 or so, to get to O'Hare, or if you're familiar enough with CTA, hike with your luggage to the nearest Blue Line station allowing at least an hour for the ride. We need to better integrate our various transportation modes and relax the rules that make it difficult for a carrier to operate multiple modes, so that a traveler can choose whichever combination best suits his/her needs.
April 1, 200916 yr Author http://www.rtands.com/breaking_news.shtml#Feature4-4-1 March 31, 2009 SFRTA launches “Fund or Fail” effort to save Tri-Rail The South Florida Regional Transportation Authority is mounting a major grassroots effort to bring the financial plight of the Tri-Rail commuter rail service to the attention of Gov. Charlie Crist and state senators and representatives. The “Fund or Fail” campaign is being organized to inform members of the public of the impact the impending revenue shortfalls will have on service and to encourage them to contact the Governor and their elected representatives in the state House and Senate with the message that Tri-Rail service is critical to the livelihood and welfare of the people of South Florida and it must be saved. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 2, 200916 yr a new train to the game station is about ready to open 04/01/2009 07:34 PM Metro-North Station At Yankee Stadium To Open May 23 By: Bobby Cuza When it comes to taking the train to the Yankees game, there's one more option to taking the B,D and 4 subway lines. This baseball season, Yankees fans can for the first time take Metro-North to a station that is now nearing completion near the new Yankee Stadium in the Bronx's Concourse Village. video: http://www.ny1.com/content/news_beats/transit/96680/metro-north-station-at-yankee-stadium-to-open-may-23/Default.aspx
April 2, 200916 yr Paterson is going to go down as the worst governor in recent history of the country. Yeah, this guy's a total joke. The State really needed relief after the Spitzer fiasco... and they got Patterson... ugh!
April 2, 200916 yr Paterson is going to go down as the worst governor in recent history of the country. Yeah, this guy's a total joke. The State really needed relief after the Spitzer fiasco... and they got Patterson... ugh! Too be fair, just like Obama, he inherited a bunch of stuff that Spitzer wasn't watching. Now that it's landed in his lap, he's had to clean up the mess and because of the way he ended up in office, he's being watched more closely than spitzer. Seriously, we talk about people, but I wonder if any of us could do a better job under the same circumstances.
April 4, 200916 yr OMG, MyTwoSense... comparing Patterson to Obama!? Go to your room with no dinner tonight and sit in the corner!... Seriously though, I don't know what kind of mess Spitzer left other than NYState embarrassment. I'd like to be fair to Patterson -- both as a minority (sadly only one of 2 guvs of color) and as a legally blind man, but you've got to admit, he's said and done some really dumb things; most notably torpedoing highly-honorable Caroline Kennedy's run for Hillary's seat... anyway, back to our regularly-scheduled other states/rail thread...
April 4, 200916 yr OMG, MyTwoSense... comparing Patterson to Obama!? Go to your room with no dinner tonight and sit in the corner!... Seriously though, I don't know what kind of mess Spitzer left other than NYState embarrassment. I'd like to be fair to Patterson -- both as a minority (sadly only one of 2 guvs of color) and as a legally blind man, but you've got to admit, he's said and done some really dumb things; most notably torpedoing highly-honorable Caroline Kennedy's run for Hillary's seat... anyway, back to our regularly-scheduled other states/rail thread... Personally, I don't give a f*ck since I'm not a NYer! :wink: Highly-honorable and qualified are two different things. I still think there are some skeletons in the Kennedy closet.
April 4, 200916 yr well, at least some mta money is being used appropriately -- now that's a lot of new trains! :-o New trains roll out on the F Next stop, the F line Finally, F train riders have something to celebrate. New digital trains started rolling out on the F last week, adding some automated enjoyment to the much-maligned line. The addition of the R160s to the F made it the ninth line to receive the new trains, a Transit spokesman said. The other lines are: the E, J, L, M, N, Q, W and Z. In other milestone, more than 1,000 of the R160 cars are now operating in the system. Transit owns 1,049 of the cars and had rolled out 1,010 of them as of Thursday. http://weblogs.amny.com/entertainment/urbanite/blog/2009/04/new_trains_roll_out_on_the_f.html
April 4, 200916 yr ^I like those R160 cars. A tad sterile, but functionally efficient. Many systems are moving to digital station displays like this, esp commuter rail... I did like those 80s (?) MTA cars with those silver-y walls and faux wood-grain panels. They seemed to be the workhorse of the subways.
April 5, 200916 yr ^Digital displays, dude. It's nice knowing how long its going to be until the train arrives. If only buses were that accurate urgh.
April 6, 200916 yr I did like those 80s (?) MTA cars with those silver-y walls and faux wood-grain panels. They seemed to be the workhorse of the subways. Those are the R44's and R46's, built in the 1970's and rebuilt in the 90's. They were the "new generation" subway trains of their day, but were riddled with technical and mechanical problems when first introduced. Those problems are what put the St. Louis Car Co. and the Pullman Co. out of business, respectively. They're generally reliable post-rebuild, but they're showing their age (I ride them nearly everyday) they'll be the next generation to get replaced once the current R160 contract is done.
April 6, 200916 yr ^ The R32's are the oldest in the system, those are the next to be retired completely.
April 6, 200916 yr Yes, but the R32's (along with the R36's, R40's, and R42's) are currently being replaced by the R160's. I'm talking about what comes after the R160's.
April 6, 200916 yr Caltrain OKs agreement with state High Speed Rail Authority RailwayAge.com The Caltrain Board Thursday unanimously approved an agreement with the California High Speed Rail Authority to establish an initial organizational framework where the authority and Caltrain will engage as partners in planning, design, and construction of improvements along the Caltrain corridor to be shared by both Caltrain and a portion of the state’s planned $44 billion, 700-mile HSR network. http://www.railwayage.com//content/view/710/121/
April 8, 200916 yr Author Many rail industry observers expected Florida to apply for up to $2 billion in stimulus funds. Now it looks like they won't be submitting anything. While I feel bad for Florida, this could bode well for Ohio...... http://www.railwayage.com//content/view/720/121/ Florida HSR leader quits, protesting state's inertia One of Florida’s leading high speed rail proponents has resigned from the Florida High Speed Rail Authority, citing state indifference to federal HSR funds now available. C.C. “Doc” Dockery (pictured) has submitted his letter of resignation to authority Chairman Lee Chira, expressing displeasure with Florida’s unwillingness to seek any of the $8 billion in federal HSR funding being made available. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 8, 200916 yr Gov. Jeb Bush, who terminated the state’s HSR program in 1999 and who tried to force the authority to disband. Gov. Bush, however, put the issue back on a subsequent ballot, and voters approved a measure to remove any obligation to build HSR within the state. I don't think history will be kind to this family.
April 8, 200916 yr Author http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090404/NEWS/904040330/0/FRONTPAGE Sat. Apr. 04, 2009 Rally for Fort Wayne train service draws hundreds By Bob Caylor of The News-Sentinel Derrick James, an emissary from Amtrak, stood in a train station where trains no longer arrive. He faced 400 to 500 people who made it clear through their chants and cheers that they want to see trains come back to Fort Wayne. James got the message. “If the enthusiasm here is any measure, any guide to whether we're going to get passenger rail service back in Fort Wayne, I'm saying we'll get it,” James said late Friday afternoon. ......... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 9, 200916 yr I was just getting ready to post info on the Fort Wayne Rally for Rail. You had to have been there to have understood how strong the feeling was. With all the economic stimulus money being made available, it seems all Indiana's Governor Mitch Daniels and the legislators can talk about it roads-and-bridges, roads-and-bridges. Here's the photo thread that I just posted: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,18897.0.html
April 9, 200916 yr Someone forwarded to me some interesting comments about California's high speed rail, particularly regarding the San Francisco station being designed. Also includes links to other blogs following the situation. http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/4/7/717663/-An-HSR-Station-Grows-at-Transbay-(SF),-Grand-Finale(pt-3)
April 13, 200916 yr Kresge Foundation commits funds to Detroit LRT project Railway Age Magazine Of nearly $73 million in grants awarded by the Kresge Foundation for the year’s first quarter, half of it, $35 million, was identified for developing light rail transit in the foundation’s hometown of Detroit. http://www.railwayage.com//content/view/743/121/
April 13, 200916 yr Author Holy sh*t! "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
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