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Old 07-15-2007, 10:44 AM
 
2,231 posts, read 6,068,100 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lh_newbie View Post
Any chance there will be a commuter rail between Dallas and Houston?

Someone mentioned Houston is going to build one to Galveston. Sure would be nice to jump on a rail in Dallas and head down to Galveston! No need for a car for that trip.

Brian
Commuter rail is actually the wrong technology for that, it's more fit for local service, stations 3 or 4 miles apart, and designed to bring suburban commuters into downtown.

What we need for Dallas-Houston or Dallas-Austin-San Antonio or Houston-San Antonio is high speed rail.

In the past, it has died due to many problems, such as cost, and opposition from local landowners who didn't want their farms and ranches bisected. Cost of buying land was also a big factor.

My current idea is to implement HS Rail by laying track on the inside lane of freeways such as I45, I10 or I35. TxDOT would have to replace the lost lane by widening the freeways, but overall, the cost would be far less than starting from scratch. My plan would use lightweight cars that could also travel on existing light rail trackage, so a train could potentially run from DFW airport to downtown Dallas on existing light rail, then to downtown Houston, then Uptown Houston, or Reliant stadium, or IAH or Hobby.

Best of all, the track would be owned and maintained by TxDOT. Companies such as Greyhound would be invited to actually build and operate the railcars, with a fee paid to TxDOT for use of the track. This means that pesky freight trains would not be an issue.

The grading of the freeway would allow high speeds, faster than auto traffic, but not as fast as high speed rail in Europe. Still, it would make the Dallas to Houston run in 2-3 hours, which is actually competitive with the hassle of flying.

It would especially benefit smaller towns and cities that currently have no flights to Dallas or Houston.
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Old 07-15-2007, 11:07 AM
 
Location: ✶✶✶✶
15,216 posts, read 30,556,380 times
Reputation: 10851
The HOV lanes (at least in Houston) are useless and their benefit is negated once someone breaks down or blows a tire and it's a single-file parking lot until they clear the disabled vehicle.

The good thing is that creates a place to build a high-speed rail in the future.
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Old 07-15-2007, 11:30 AM
 
Location: In God
3,073 posts, read 11,575,369 times
Reputation: 510
Any type of rail from Dallas to Houston is a waste of money. We don't want to be connected to y'all. Lol, no just kidding, but roadway or airway from D to H is just fine.
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Old 07-15-2007, 02:33 PM
 
2,231 posts, read 6,068,100 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mpope409 View Post
Any type of rail from Dallas to Houston is a waste of money. We don't want to be connected to y'all.
Look at it this way... those who wish to escape from Houston to find freedom in Dallas have a way to get there after the Houston border guards confiscate their cars.

OK, I'll be serious... it would have been a better escape route for the post-Katrina Houstonites who were stuck on a freeway. In fact, some TRE railcars from Dallas were sent to Houston to help evacuate refugees. They were the lucky ones... they arrived.

There is a problem with using I45. It bypasses Bryan-College Station. A better route would be just one line to Waco, then the Houston line would fork southeast, with a stop in Aggieland, then Houston. This breaks the trip into some manageable segments. But I don't see a freeway on that route.

The other branch would be Temple-Fort Hood, Austin and San Antonio. I'd eliminate places like Georgetown and San Marcos because a separate commuter line between Georgetown and SA is already planned.

What I'm wondering is exactly how fast a railcar could travel over a surface right of way conforming to auto freeway banks and turns? I'm guessing that it would be greater than the 75 MPH speed limit, maybe more like 100 MPH using Talgo technology. Talgo is a mechanism that automatically tilts a railcar when it goes into a curve so it can take the curve faster. If that speed is possible, then Dallas to Houston in 2.5 hours or Dallas-Austin in 2 hours is feasible.

Also, you may wonder why a company like Greyhound would want to run trains? Why not use buses? One answer... the cost of fuel. It becomes a factor after $60 per barrel oil is factored in. The efficiency of a steel wheel on a steel rail, etc.

Last edited by aceplace; 07-15-2007 at 02:50 PM..
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Old 07-15-2007, 04:11 PM
 
Location: Texas
2,703 posts, read 3,416,860 times
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I would like a Texas Triangle-high speed rail system connecting the major Texas cities. i would definitely support it.
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Old 07-15-2007, 04:12 PM
 
Location: Texas
2,703 posts, read 3,416,860 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mpope409 View Post
What about one to Uptown?
There is already a BRT (or LRT, depending on how much money METRO gets) line for Uptown about to start construction along with the University (LRT) Line.
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Old 07-15-2007, 06:20 PM
 
Location: Washington D.C. By way of Texas
20,515 posts, read 33,540,106 times
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I've heard about that one from Ft. Hood to Georgetown. I assume it would go to Killeen over Temple since Killeen is the larger city by 50,000 people and is widening the gap, rapidly. Pesonally, I like high speed rail for regional purposes only. Meaning, rail from Dallas to Houston to San Antonio etc. etc. The starter line can be Dallas- Houston for obvious reasons. Then expand that way.

But HSR for national purposes is a waste of time and money. It's relaxing to get on a train, true. But its still a couple days from Los Angeles to New York. I'd rather fly. I took amtrak from Texas to Chicago and it was relaxing. But it took a long time. I wasn't in a hurry so it didn't bother me and we played cards and dominoes at the same time.
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Old 07-15-2007, 07:41 PM
 
2,231 posts, read 6,068,100 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Spade View Post
I've heard about that one from Ft. Hood to Georgetown. I assume it would go to Killeen over Temple since Killeen is the larger city by 50,000 people and is widening the gap, rapidly. Pesonally, I like high speed rail for regional purposes only. Meaning, rail from Dallas to Houston to San Antonio etc. etc. The starter line can be Dallas- Houston for obvious reasons. Then expand that way.

But HSR for national purposes is a waste of time and money. It's relaxing to get on a train, true. But its still a couple days from Los Angeles to New York. I'd rather fly. I took amtrak from Texas to Chicago and it was relaxing. But it took a long time. I wasn't in a hurry so it didn't bother me and we played cards and dominoes at the same time.
No, Georgetown will be the northern trminus of the line. It is designed really to support commuting in the Austin-San Antonio area.

HSR is a regional tool, I agree. It is competitive with air service in shorter distances, where the time spent in getting to and from airports, waiting in lines, etc, is a major fraction of the total trip. Flying Dallas to New York, though, is more feasible than HSR.

That is a major market for rail trips of from 1 to 3 hours. A business traveler could wake up in Dallas, take a train to Austin and get most of a days work done before returning to Dallas for the night.

I worked some numbers and it seems that the small slice of Texas that would support HSR lines contains 15 to 16 million people. Assuming that Dallas to San Antonio is 250 miles, and SA to Hou is 150 miles, the area is less than 19,000 square miles. That is comparable to areas in Europe that already have HSR, such as Munich to Cologne, or Brussels to Amsterdam.

Building HSR lines out in the middle of nowhere and trying to connect them to city centers is probably beyond our immediate means, especianny if we plan speeds of 180-200 MPH. But building HSR in a freeway, with a design speed of 100 MPH, I think is much more doable, in the short run. And the city to city transit time is "good enough".
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Old 07-15-2007, 11:48 PM
 
Location: Washington D.C. By way of Texas
20,515 posts, read 33,540,106 times
Reputation: 12152
Whoops. I meant Ft. Hood to Houston with it going through BCS. Have no idea why I said Ft. Hood to Georgetown.
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Old 07-16-2007, 06:30 AM
 
Location: Lake Highlands (Dallas)
2,394 posts, read 8,595,792 times
Reputation: 1040
I love the concept of a regional HSR in TX. Doubt there's funding or support for such a thing at this point in time, but a rail that runs at 100MPH would be wonderful.

I could definitely see taking DART to downtown, HSR to Houston and then their commuter rail into Galveston. If you factor in parking for the airport, arriving early, waiting for baggage, etc, this mode of transportation would be faster than flying!

We have friends in Austin and if there was such an HSR option, we would certainly see each other more often. Driving gets old. Plus, we could visit a little longer since we wouldn't have to worry so much about being tired on the way home - just take a nap!

I do believe HSR between Houston, Dallas, Austin and San Antonio would have pretty good ridership. Have you seen how many flights go between these cities?! There is a business market for this service. Rail is so much less restrictive than air travel - easier to move around due to no turbulence. That, and it's already an industry standard to have snack/meal cars where people can buy drinks/food. Seems like there'd be much lower overhead!

Who knows - maybe in 20 years we'll have regional rail like this?

Brian
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