Texas Gets $15 million for Houston-DFW High Speed Rail Line

[dv1033]

Originally Posted by Lucidus

I did read the article, maybe you should too.

The project is designed to be a boondoggle, that's a feature not a bug. Part of the funds for it have been provided by the federal government specifically to be spent in areas in the central valley that absolutely do not need HSR and make the entire system less useful than it would otherwise be.

The Times realizes this and suggest starting the project in L.A. or San Francisco so that when it gets scrapped, they will at least have a short urban rail line that will get some use.

Hah. Just because California is failing to implement it properly we should just give up? There are plenty of countries that have HSR and use it quite well so it's not an issue of it can't work or won't work.

[DiverTodd62]

Originally Posted by dv1033

Hah. Just because California is failing to implement it properly we should just give up? There are plenty of countries that have HSR and use it quite well so it's not an issue of it can't work or won't work.

Give us a specific example. Tell us hoe much it cost to build. Tell us it's annual operating costs. Tell us how much the fare is between two cities. Tell us what percentage of the operating costs are covered by those fares.

[oslin3]

i think your ideals of mass transit are in the ball park. Texans love their cars way to much. Houston is now getting conjusted from around 8 am until around 10 pm, including traffic, accidents. the problem is there are just to many cars!! Whats houston going to do next, say the I-10? Expansion is at a critical point. Personally it appears the weather plays a major role in mass transit. At 98 average temp. with a 95 percent humidity, i wouldn't want to be out side my cars AC either. California has rail lines that run from south to north. This is due to average temps around 78, who wouldn't want to be outside?
Dispertion of necessites is not spread evenly. I live in katy and the closest fast food is about a mile down the road. it would save me tons of gas if i could just take a metro bus (which there isn't) to do my weekly acctivities.
The metro park and ride is really helpfull to loads of people who live way out here, but the truth is, its not enough. There are even times when the HOV lanes are moving slower than the freeway. Houston has been a city of reaction, when a huge storm swell hit, and half the city was swamped, ditches and canal expansions were under construction almost overnight, same goes for the I-10 expansion, by the time it was completed traffic jammed up the freeway the next day. It's probably time for action to be taken by improving mass transit now rather than later, this way commuters have an option wrather than a neccesity. It works great for dallas so why not here?

[TX75007]

I don't see how it will work financially.

First, you need to build the rails and that will require new land to be obtained. That will cost billions and tick off a lot of people- the farmers AND the Texas Greens, who together are FAR more effective than the ones in other states. (Guess who shut down Cooper Lake for ten years and who nixed the TTC? ) Then you have to build it. Billions more. Then operate it. Billions more. Then you have to pay the cost of capital for all of the above. Billions more.

Right now ALL the mass transit systems are in the red if they had to rely on fares. This is why there is a special tax district to support them. Are you going to have a sales tax to support a train system no one uses???

I can get to Houston in 30 minutes on Southwest. And its cheap. Or I can drive for $20 in gas WITHOUT having to park at a train station that I have to DRIVE to and then WAIT on.

[kdogg817]

Originally Posted by TX75007

I don't see how it will work financially.

First, you need to build the rails and that will require new land to be obtained. That will cost billions and tick off a lot of people- the farmers AND the Texas Greens, who together are FAR more effective than the ones in other states. (Guess who shut down Cooper Lake for ten years and who nixed the TTC? ) Then you have to build it. Billions more. Then operate it. Billions more. Then you have to pay the cost of capital for all of the above. Billions more.

Right now ALL the mass transit systems are in the red if they had to rely on fares. This is why there is a special tax district to support them. Are you going to have a sales tax to support a train system no one uses???

I can get to Houston in 30 minutes on Southwest. And its cheap. Or I can drive for $20 in gas WITHOUT having to park at a train station that I have to DRIVE to and then WAIT on.

Not necessarily...Its not like we are talking about a 40 lane highway you know...

[plwhit]

Originally Posted by majicdonjuan

myFOX Dallas Fort Worth: Feds give $15 million for DFW-Houston high-speed rail corridor (http://myfoxdfw.onespot.com/dfw/2011/05/09/cc705/feds-give-15-million-for-dfw-houston-hig - broken link)

So, thoughts? Will this be another false start? Will the airlines kill it again? Will it ever get off of the blocks?

My thoughts are that at the end of the day, the only way a HSR could work in Houston or Dallas at the present time is to connect it to the airports and allow it to work as a feeder to replace the flights between there while still allowing longer range connections.

Theoretically it would be better to connect the central cities, but given the sporadic state of public transit in both cities (particularly Houston) where would one go upon stepping off of the train?

My best guess is that any potential Texas HSR is 15-20 years away from fruition.

You gotta be kidding, 15 million? That's chump change...

In California the estimated cost of high speed rail between San Francisco-Anaheim is 60 to 80 BILLION dollars....

15 million MIGHT pay for the parking lot of the rail terminal...

[kenshi]

Originally Posted by plwhit

You gotta be kidding, 15 million? That's chump change...

In California the estimated cost of high speed rail between San Francisco-Anaheim is 60 to 80 BILLION dollars....

15 million MIGHT pay for the parking lot of the rail terminal...

Can you read?

The $15 million awarded to Texas is for engineering and environmental work on the proposed line.

[Marv101]

LAX-SFO R/T flights are approximately $140.00, vs. DAL/HOU for $120.00.

There aren't nearly enough people living in all four cities to make this work.

Boondoggle it is, and especially in California, where geography makes it impossible to get from DT LA to Union Square in SF in a purported 2.5 hours.

In the words of a beyond-legendary Texas icon, 'That'll Be The Day!!!'