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The drive is 2-3 hours. If you have a car, the train is useless, and the slightly faster train will also be useless. Spending billions for nothing.
I take the train to save on gas money, unless it's an emergency and I need to go to Charlotte right now (I live in Carrboro). I have friends here, so getting to the station in Durham is never an issue, and I have extended family in Charlotte, so getting picked up @ the train station, and having a car to use if needed while I am there isn't an issue.
Every time I ride, I notice more people are taking the train between Raleigh/Durham, Greensboro, and Charlotte - the Greensboro station is especially busy. And the diversity of people riding - college kids, business travelers, city-to-city commuting to jobs is increasing as well.
I once had a seat-mate who is an engineer with a job in Greenboro, his wife works in Charlotte. They both had gone through layoffs, so finding a good job was of some importance, and they owned a house and had kids in CLT, so - as a workable solution - he works a somewhat customized schedule in G'boro, and takes the train. I guess he was thankful to have a very good job, but he had no complaints, and seemed to prefer it to driving in and out of construction zones on I-85. I note a lot of travel between the Triangle and Triad - business and students both; lotsa students.
If high-speed rail is a little ahead of its' time here now, it definitely will NOT be forever. Our population, especially in the big 3 metros is certainly not shrinking.
I'm not sure why everyone is focusing on Raleigh to Charlotte.
I believe that this is for better high-speed access to Washington DC and points north.
Given the current environment with the TSA it's only a matter of time before trains are more convenient than being pat down for having too much shampoo in your carryon.
Well, the thread title is why we're discussing it that way.
Good point though. I'd love to visit DC more often. If I could hop on a train and get there quickly it'd be a fun weekend trip.
The only use I might have for the faster train to Charlotte is if I suddenly got season tickets to the Panthers games for some reason.
The better reason is that it's part of the Charlotte to D.C. (aka Southeast) High Speed corridor, and I'd like the option of a faster way of getting up north via train. According to the wiki page, up there it should connect to the Northeast Corridor, which would get to places like Boston and New York. It could also possibly extend further south like to Atlanta, eventually.
As far as why the speed upgrade is still much slower than other countries... most likely it comes down to money, as usual. And from what I understand it was a struggle just to get the limited amount of federal funding the project did receive.
The SEHSR plan calls for 90 mph max between Raleigh and Charlotte. That's "Class 5" track in the nomenclature of the Federal Railroad Administration. Currently Raleigh-Charlotte is "Class 4" track which is limited to 79 mph. Class 5 track is maintained to more precise standards, thus the higher speed limit.
SEHSR does plan some 110 mph track (Class 6) between Raleigh and Richmond, Va. North of Richmond, it will be Class 5 again (90 mph max) to Washington.
Since it's a large federally funded project...I would add years to the schedule, billions to the construction cost, and dollars to the ridership cost. If it ever is built, that is.
Unlike all those incredibly efficient private-sector projects we're always hearing about, that never go overtime or overbudget?
I think it is funny when people say that "rail is expensive" and everyone should just drive everywhere. We spend $4 billion/year in the state of NC on our highways alone! Add to that all of the costs associated with driving, maintaining, insuring, and storing cars and driving becomes very expensive too. Sheesh, China is eating our lunch on public transit which is already giving them a competitive advantage over us.
Another benefit of traveling by rail is that it is much more fuel efficient than traveling by car lessening our reliance on foreign oil.
I think it is funny when people say that "rail is expensive" and everyone should just drive everywhere. We spend $4 billion/year in the state of NC on our highways alone! Add to that all of the costs associated with driving, maintaining, insuring, and storing cars and driving becomes very expensive too. Sheesh, China is eating our lunch on public transit which is already giving them a competitive advantage over us.
Another benefit of traveling by rail is that it is much more fuel efficient than traveling by car lessening our reliance on foreign oil.
It's not all peaches and cream in China. In story after story I have read on the subject, the "common people" there mostly forgo the high speed rail as it is too expensive compared to the regular trains.
Also remember China has 1.3 billion people (and growing). The US is what, around 25% of that? They (China) are connecting major cities that have millions of people in them. The cost to build a rail network is mostly indirect, by that I mean you have to obtain the land, lay the track, and buy the machines no matter how many people ride of it; very little direct costs exist.
China is also building out its rail network at 1/4 to 1/6 the cost of the US. Easy to expand when you can just take the land, and have no environmental studies hold you up. Tough to do that here.
My biggest concern is how much luggage can a passenger bring on these trains? My wife can't go to Ikea without bringing home a truckload.
I'd think your biggest concern would be getting from the train station to IKEA to shop. If you can even do it, it would take you quite a while on Charlotte's public transit.
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