Should we built the high speed rail network? (Washington, city, businesses)
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High speed rail for passengers.
=
only HIGH POPULATION areas ONE WAY NO STOPS.
can be largely automated if there are no accidents conductors don't need to do anything.
rural areas = use cars no high speed until they get into large cities
NYC to San Francisco
NYC to HOUSTON
NYC to MIAMI
NYC to WASHINGTON DC
vice versa.
if small towns want it too bad they need to meet the population density threshold first.
in the scale of dense large cities
PROBLEM SOLVED.
no reason not to have them.
perhaps one high speed rail to each state later on
BUT NOT NOW ONLY DENSELY POPULATED AREAS MAKE SENSE.
that is the compromise I would make with the magnetic bullet trains if they want it.
public transportation only makes sense if your population density is high after all
steps: for high speed
1. high speed for regional transportation
2. get off and take local transportation once in area.
3. walk/bike/taxi when it gets close to said area
done
we can also have high speed freight on trains instead of on planes.
You are missing the point.
Economies develop around infrastructure, not the other way around.
During our three nation vacation, we preferred rail over flying for MANY reasons. And while not on HSR, I will let a few images from India speak for themselves:
Board...
Dinner with first course...
Relax and get a good night sleep...
Breakfast served following morning tea...
Socialize...
What I didn't mention... no intrusive security check point, luggage restrictions, no non-sense. Arrive 10-15 minutes early, board, relax, sleep, destination. The alternative was taking a flight (30 lb luggage restriction, number of pieces one could carry), keep couple of hours at the airport, another hour or so to receive your checked baggage, take taxi, find a hotel, find a restaurant...
Wish Amtrak could be like that here, and I would drive less and spend more time meaningfully. As for HSR, what a great way it would be to travel from Dallas to Houston or Austin, in about half the time and much more relaxed way to travel than to drive or, worse, to fly.
During our three nation vacation, we preferred rail over flying for MANY reasons. And while not on HSR, I will let a few images from India speak for themselves:
Board...
I can eat at the airport if I choose.
There is no flight that remains in the US that requires me to sleep.
There are no plane restrictions the keep me from talking to those seated beside me, and in the case of some Southwest seats, in front of me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EinsteinsGhost
What I didn't mention... no intrusive security check point, luggage restrictions, no non-sense. Arrive 10-15 minutes early, board, relax, sleep, destination. The alternative was taking a flight (30 lb luggage restriction, number of pieces one could carry), keep couple of hours at the airport, another hour or so to receive your checked baggage, take taxi, find a hotel, find a restaurant...
Wish Amtrak could be like that here, and I would drive less and spend more time meaningfully. As for HSR, what a great way it would be to travel from Dallas to Houston or Austin, in about half the time and much more relaxed way to travel than to drive or, worse, to fly.
I typically arrive for all domestic flight abouts 75 minutes prior to departure and have never waited more than 15 minutes for a checked bag. Where are you flying and with what airline?
I live in Houston, and I'd much rather drive to Dallas, Austin, San Antonio or Corpus than take a plane or a train.
There is no flight that remains in the US that requires me to sleep.
There are no plane restrictions the keep me from talking to those seated beside me, and in the case of some Southwest seats, in front of me.
I typically arrive for all domestic flight abouts 75 minutes prior to departure and have never waited more than 15 minutes for a checked bag. Where are you flying and with what airline?
I live in Houston, and I'd much rather drive to Dallas, Austin, San Antonio or Corpus than take a plane or a train.
I'm glad to be not you, your willingness to deal with what I see as an abomination and restrictions... but may be you haven't really experienced much besides what you've been dealt.
No. And there are so many reasons I don't even know where to begin.
One obvious one that comes to mind is that every city on the map will want a stop and the resulting "high speed" train will end up going slower than Amtrak does today.
I wonder why HappyTexan is wrong about everything?
You do know that there is multiple options on trains, decisions on stops, and capability to have express as well as local trains?
It only would be "that slow" if it was designed that way.
China is moving forward with high speed trains, and currently has the fastest, topping 300mph.
3,000 miles.
A jet does the trip in 6hours
A 300mph train could do it in 10hrs
4 hour difference, if you could handle 300mph the entire time. Maybe not feasible today, but feasible soon. Plus trains would more likely bring you right to city center (and not 30-1hr outside of city of laguardia or whatever). Not to mention the comfort options (6 hours in a tube, 12 hours in luxury at the same price). I know with kids, I would pick comfort and somwhere for my 2 year old to run.
China will demonstrate the effectiveness of high speed rail over large distances, and maybe after they do we will jump on the band wagon too late?
this isn't even thinking about technology that could enable faster than plane travel (such as the Tesla idea).
I think airtravel is a stop gap, you can't keep doing it with big gas guzzling planes forever.
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