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View Poll Results: Do you support this High-Speed Rail Proposal?
Yes 15 41.67%
No 15 41.67%
Unsure 6 16.67%
Voters: 36. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 10-30-2014, 06:17 PM
 
3,513 posts, read 5,133,864 times
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Over on the Cincy forum, this is a big issue. Check it out here:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/cinci...peed-rail.html


And in case you're not familiar with the proposal, give it a look here:

Midwest High Speed Rail Association |

Anyways, I'm curious what you all think. So vote in the poll and comment below, thanks!
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Old 10-30-2014, 06:34 PM
 
7,846 posts, read 6,377,048 times
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My fictional HSR network had the following lines:

Montreal - Ottawa - Toronto - Detroit - Chicago - Davenport - Des Moine - Omaha - Denver (optional)

Minneapolis - Milwaukee - Chicago - Indianpolis - Cincinnati - Columbus - Cleveland - Buffalo - Rochester (NY) - Syracuse (NY) - Albany (NY) - Boston

I love the concept of HSR. Link as many significant cities as possible and watch the magic.
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Old 10-30-2014, 07:20 PM
 
12,999 posts, read 18,825,608 times
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Not likely. There is only one round trip a day now, so ridership would be slow to build. No good route, the existing is plagued with crossings and single track. Indiana has yet to throw its support behind it. Saving grace: the majestic, though underutilized, Cincinnati Union Terminal.

Last edited by pvande55; 10-30-2014 at 07:32 PM..
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Old 10-30-2014, 07:36 PM
 
Location: Chicago, IL
255 posts, read 580,461 times
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Who wants to go to Cincinnati?
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Old 10-30-2014, 07:52 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pidgeon92 View Post
Who wants to go to Cincinnati?
Rail lines work best with multiple destinations. Travel combinations and stuff, lol.
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Old 10-30-2014, 07:56 PM
 
9,889 posts, read 9,513,802 times
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i dont want to go to fast, it reminds me of those movies where the train goes too fast and has an accident.. How fast is this train supposed to go? Plus i could not enjoy the nice scenery going by.
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Old 10-31-2014, 07:04 AM
 
459 posts, read 471,459 times
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They talk about high speed rail all the time. Anyone see a high speed rail going in anywhere in the midwest yet? All talk as usual.
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Old 10-31-2014, 08:41 AM
 
Location: Maryland
4,671 posts, read 7,356,172 times
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No. It would take a lot of commitment from IN and OH, there's little demand on that route, and it seems those states aren't interested in high-speed rail. The corridors that really should be the focus (I think) are Chi-StL, Chi-Mpls, and Chi-Det. Work is almost done for the Chi-StL upgrade to 110 MPH. I've ridden it several times, and while the higher speed is only sustained for a short period currently, the track and train upgrades are nice. (I'm also aware that this isn't 'true' high-speed rail.) There's also talk of MN circumventing WI to make a high-speed connection from MN through IA and IL. If it actually goes through, I think it would be a bad move on the part of WI, but who knows what will actually happen.
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Old 10-31-2014, 09:02 AM
 
7,846 posts, read 6,377,048 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ipkl07 View Post
They talk about high speed rail all the time. Anyone see a high speed rail going in anywhere in the midwest yet? All talk as usual.
Of course it is all talk... it is because of this:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Maintainschaos View Post
No. It would take a lot of commitment from IN and OH, there's little demand on that route, and it seems those states aren't interested in high-speed rail. The corridors that really should be the focus (I think) are Chi-StL, Chi-Mpls, and Chi-Det. Work is almost done for the Chi-StL upgrade to 110 MPH. I've ridden it several times, and while the higher speed is only sustained for a short period currently, the track and train upgrades are nice. (I'm also aware that this isn't 'true' high-speed rail.) There's also talk of MN circumventing WI to make a high-speed connection from MN through IA and IL. If it actually goes through, I think it would be a bad move on the part of WI, but who knows what will actually happen.
Regressive thinking.

Corridors develop because of rail, not to service rail. The major world cities all developed via ports and rail.
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Old 10-31-2014, 09:09 AM
 
28,455 posts, read 85,055,031 times
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Default Nonsense...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Maintainschaos View Post
No. It would take a lot of commitment from IN and OH, there's little demand on that route, and it seems those states aren't interested in high-speed rail. The corridors that really should be the focus (I think) are Chi-StL, Chi-Mpls, and Chi-Det. Work is almost done for the Chi-StL upgrade to 110 MPH. I've ridden it several times, and while the higher speed is only sustained for a short period currently, the track and train upgrades are nice. (I'm also aware that this isn't 'true' high-speed rail.) There's also talk of MN circumventing WI to make a high-speed connection from MN through IA and IL. If it actually goes through, I think it would be a bad move on the part of WI, but who knows what will actually happen.
There are just not enough passengers that would ever NEED to travel between ANY of those cities for it to make economic sense!

I have nothing against Cincinnati, it is nice enough town. If you have business with firms there you want to get in and waste as little time as possible. Even at speeds averaging well over 100 mph (which not possible with the condition of US rail...) it would be orders of magnitude slower than a plane from Midway /O'Hare / Milwaukee.

St. Louis might be a wee bit more feasible, but when you can drive there and back in one day the whole premise of rail seems ridiculous, especially given the notoriously spread out concentric circles of development that mean few firms are actually close to the old rail station.

Detroit has all those problems PLUS the factors or hideous delays from the freight rail that is the life blood of the auto industries -- steel for automakers is a lot more vital than some doofus that can fire-up a WebEx conference from their desktop but wants to go visit the strip shows in Windsor after their big Detroit meeting.


You gotta be kidding if you think Minnesota makes any sense for high speed rail -- the "twin cities" idea of "urban density" is mostly towns with homes not closer together than a North Shore suburb like Wilmette! Toss in the fact that they have some of the most miserable weather conditions for any kind of surface travel and the whole idea is just silly. The towns in north east Iowa are increasingly becoming depopulated as mechanized agriculture requires less and less labor force. Folks are not going to take kindly to some locomotive rocketing throw a cute old downtown for no good reason!


There is just no support for these ideas beyond the small cadre of dreamers that I derisively call the "toy train types" -- such people have utterly no perspective. I mean it is one thing to look at the greater "Northeast Corridor" and see that the density and ridership along with topography and patterns of commerce might be conducive to more frequent / higher velocity rail travel but quite another to try to impose these fantasies on the Midwest or West Coast where the whole idea is likely to do more harm than good... The wrong pricing model will end up shifting public subsidized upfront costs onto tax payers and allow the profit making firms that provide equipment and/or operations to make out like bandits -- http://systemicfailure.wordpress.com...ricing-models/. This is the same sort of thing that folks cry about in regard to the "loss" of trolleys / street cars when private vehicles became more popular! Folks will rue the day that they underwrite "luxury" travel with thier taxes...

Last edited by chet everett; 10-31-2014 at 09:22 AM..
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