Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > New York
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 03-11-2009, 02:32 PM
 
Location: Rochester, NY
1,293 posts, read 4,979,835 times
Reputation: 369

Advertisements

Diversified transportation would be like having a deversified energy supplier.

The airlines are very fast, but are a pain and not usefull on short distances.

The cost to own a car is expensive, you pay for parking sometimes, tolls, construction and traffic jams. Long distances can wear you down.

Trains are slow, but very comfortable and almost hassle free. Plus you can eat or drink, use the restroom without having to leave the train.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 03-12-2009, 07:59 AM
 
Location: amsterdam ny
155 posts, read 847,720 times
Reputation: 75
Default Localized Light Rail More Important

I think high speed rail will be great for Upstate, but I think localized light rail systems, like connecting outlying cities Amsterdam, Schenec, Saratoga to downtown Albany would be more important. Microcities downtowns could be revitalized- imagine a bustling downtown train station, people grabbing a breakfast in the AM & a quick beer after work in a nearby cafe. As it is now, commuters jump in their cars, bypass downtowns, and don't even think about doing anything social after work besides jumping in their cars to beat traffic.

You wonder why many Westchester towns still have thriving downtowns? The metro north passes through many of them on their way to Grand Central.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-12-2009, 12:42 PM
 
Location: Manhattan
133 posts, read 465,217 times
Reputation: 91
Quote:
Originally Posted by cheese9988 View Post
Diversified transportation would be like having a deversified energy supplier.

The airlines are very fast, but are a pain and not usefull on short distances.

The cost to own a car is expensive, you pay for parking sometimes, tolls, construction and traffic jams. Long distances can wear you down.

Trains are slow, but very comfortable and almost hassle free. Plus you can eat or drink, use the restroom without having to leave the train.
I've got news for you, most trains in NY are far faster than driving (w/ the exception of a few routes). However, other than the Acela driving is faster than Amtrak.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-12-2009, 01:00 PM
 
Location: Rochester, NY
1,293 posts, read 4,979,835 times
Reputation: 369
Quote:
Originally Posted by jawny08 View Post
I've got news for you, most trains in NY are far faster than driving (w/ the exception of a few routes). However, other than the Acela driving is faster than Amtrak.
I disagree, you can still drive to most places Upstate faster than what the train travels. The train makes alot of stops and does not travel as fast as a car normally would on the 90.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-14-2009, 12:57 PM
 
160 posts, read 563,087 times
Reputation: 78
Default How fast?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chelsa1075 View Post
How long will this High Speed Rail take to get to upstate or NYC?
Spain's Madrid-to-Barcelona high-speed line travels 386 miles in 2 hours, 38 minutes, 3 hours with stops. (Madrid-Barcelona high-speed rail line - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Manhattan to Buffalo is 376 miles via the Interstate highway.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-14-2009, 01:01 PM
 
Location: Manhattan
133 posts, read 465,217 times
Reputation: 91
Quote:
Originally Posted by cheese9988 View Post
I disagree, you can still drive to most places Upstate faster than what the train travels. The train makes alot of stops and does not travel as fast as a car normally would on the 90.
If you read what I wrote, I said w/ the exception of the Acela driving is faster than Amtrak. This would apply to upstate since there isn't a train system upstate.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-14-2009, 02:59 PM
 
1,301 posts, read 3,561,972 times
Reputation: 2003
The Upstate trains are a lot slower in part because the tracks in the Northeast outside of the NYC metro area are owned by commercial freight hauling companies. Derailments, accidents and so on make it almost impossible for Amtrak to keep to its schedules.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-15-2009, 09:22 AM
 
169 posts, read 418,067 times
Reputation: 66
well if you use the antiquated steel-rail technology, then the trains will have to be subsidized to cover operating costs and will not travel as fast.

but check out this: fastransitinc.com
This is the future of high speed rail travel. I even had an opportunity to meet in person with the company CEO right here in NYS (Rockefeller Center) and I can tell you this technology is for real.
It uses stationary magnetic suspension, utilizes almost no energy (other than that required to displace air) and can be integrated with existing rail infrastructure without interfering with conventional rail travel. But most importantly, it costs very little to build (<15 mil/ mile) and has extremely low operating costs, thus making even a low fare structure be able to pay for the capital costs on top of the operating costs within a decade, if not sooner.

Hook the cities upstate with this, and you will see all kinds of development take place where it belongs, in our aging city centers (buffalo, rochester, syracuse, utica, schenectady, albany, poughkeepsie).

check out the site and let me know what you guys think. The technology is 12 million dollars shy of completing their test track in California, making this system ready for implementation.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-18-2009, 10:55 AM
 
425 posts, read 1,090,812 times
Reputation: 222
This was in the Syracuse paper this am:

"U.S. transportation secretary supports Upstate New York high-speed rail line, Sen. Gillibrand says"

U.S. transportation secretary supports Upstate New York high-speed rail line, Sen. Gillibrand says - syracuse.com
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:




Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > New York

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top