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C and D would mean there would be 3 routes going along the Fort Worth-Dallas corridor, one from Waco to Arlington to Dallas, one from Waco to Arlington to Fort Worth and one from Dallas to Fort Worth... unless travelling along one of those routes will require a transfer which is not so good. I thought it would be easier to just have one route instead of three, going from Waco to the most important city first (Dallas), then Arlington and Fort Worth.
I was thinking Arlington seemed like a good consolidation point for the whole DFW metro, and since it is directly north of Waco it seemed like a good 'gateway to the south.' I do see your point though about the inconvenience of either Dallas or Ft Worth having to transfer up there.
Here's an updated version of C which now connects through Dallas and includes Bryan/College Station:
Some politicians in North Texas want it to connect to Ft. Worth as well. Honestly that seems pointless. They're so close to each other, a high speed rail would be unnecessary. It would probably only get up to 80 mph if it were going to stop in Arlington as well. Plus land would be more expensive, and tunneling or building bridges over roads would also add more to the cost.
Quote:
The company, which is backed by the firm that built the world-renowned Central Japan Railway Co., is seeking roughly $10 billion in private investment to open Texas high-speed rail by 2020.
The group says it won't ask for state or federal funding, though North Texas officials are learning that extending the service into inner cities will cost more than the private sector is willing to put in.
Fantasize as much as you like, nome of it is likely to develop anytme soon.
The driving force behind mass transit isn't speed, it's congestion, as has been demonstrated in places like California, New Jersey, Long Island and South Florida. And has been demonstrated in the Dallas-Arlington-Fort Worth corridor in recent years. But once the projects extend beyind certain parameters of density, other economic forces, particularly the high initial cost and the resistance of people who movrd to the "exurbs" to escape many of the societal trends under way in the inner cities, begin to be felt. At best, you might see more light rail, as I understand is currenlly being proposed for emerging corridor markets such as Dallas-Denton.
Assuming current trends in the price of fuel continue to implel cost-conscious, young, increasingly-single adults toward smaller, boxier, far-less-comfortable vehicles, and assuming those cars will continue to have to share the highways with 80,000-lb, 18-wheel mastodons, we might see the disappearance of the preference for personal autos for longer trips, and that might fuel the development of intermediate-distance rail in stages. But it's going to take a long time, just as the Boston-Washington "Northeast Corridor" has been under development for fifty years.
One can already drive pretty fast in Texas, but it's never going to approach HSR speed.
Hi HandsUpThumbsDown--
Oh, I'm fully aware that if the posted speed limit is 85, then the cars will be pushing 90+.
I'm not sure that HSR will be nearly as fast as the advocates claim it will be, and top speed is in no way indicative of average speed.
I can guarantee that a proposed Texas HSR network would be constrained by similar issues that Acela faces - that it's limited in speed in built up areas (urban, suburban, and exurban), probably limited to 70-80 MPH or less. Even if you discount the NIMBY factor, there's design limitations due to whatever right of way you can manage to acquire. Add in the stops - time it takes to fully unload and reload hundreds of passengers, and I don't think that even a trans-Texas HSR would be any faster than driving on the Interstate (and due to the immense capital cost up-front, train tickets would likely be more expensive than gassing a car up).
You're faced then with the second issue of getting around once you arrive in your destination - I'm not too familiar with Houston, Austin, or Dallas' transit solutions, but I'm willing to wager that the smaller metro's (Bryan, Waco) don't have nearly the same level of transit service - leaving you to call a cabbie or rent a car.
The proposed HSR lines in Wisconsin, Ohio, and Florida would all have averaged in the ~79 MPH range (mercifully, all those were scuppered). And cars could make just as good time as those HSR lines - and have freedom to get around once you arrive at your destination.
While I think this proposed route is one of the better ideas I've heard lately (since this would serve a theoretical 20 million people), I'm still not convinced that it would make economic sense. It sure is wiser than say, Orlando to Tampa, Madison to Milwaukee, or Cincinnati to Cleveland though.
EDIT: Just to humor us all, I did a quick search of Acela - a theoretical train ticket from Boston to Washington DC would cost $99.00 and take you 7 hours and 50 minutes to get there. (leaving tomorrow morning, Wednesday).
Driving, according to Google Maps, takes 441 miles and can be done in 7 hours and 19 minutes - depending on your car's fuel economy and tolls, it could well turn out to be less than $100.
I can guarantee that a proposed Texas HSR network would be constrained by similar issues that Acela faces - that it's limited in speed in built up areas (urban, suburban, and exurban), probably limited to 70-80 MPH or less. .
Why? isn't this a new mostly-from-scratch line that is going to be built? The Acela runs in a 140-year-old right of way in the only continuious corridor of congestion in the US. There is no comparison.
Additionally (I'm sure you don't care) MPG is terrible at 90 mph, in any vehicle with rubber tires. It's an extremely inefficient way to travel fast. Why allocate public money to that - simply in the name of individualism?
Quote:
Originally Posted by hensleya1
Add in the stops - time it takes to fully unload and reload hundreds of passengers, and I don't think that even a trans-Texas HSR would be any faster than driving on the Interstate (and due to the immense capital cost up-front, train tickets would likely be more expensive than gassing a car up)..
Absolutely they will. Or else it won't get built. HSR isn't a milk run either, it will make far fewer stops than your average regional train.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hensleya1
The proposed HSR lines in Wisconsin, Ohio, and Florida would all have averaged in the ~79 MPH range (mercifully, all those were scuppered).)..
Yes and all of those were in densely developed areas, not the plains of TX.
EDIT: Just to humor us all, I did a quick search of Acela - a theoretical train ticket from Boston to Washington DC would cost $99.00 and take you 7 hours and 50 minutes to get there. (leaving tomorrow morning, Wednesday).
Driving, according to Google Maps, takes 441 miles and can be done in 7 hours and 19 minutes - depending on your car's fuel economy and tolls, it could well turn out to be less than $100.
Humoring your cherrypicked humor (in which you assume travel time in the most congested part of the country will somehow mimic what is possible in the dusty prairie of texas), you'd better leave at about 11 pm if you wish to take 7 hours and 19 minutes by car and avoid traffic delays. And even then, you could get stuck on the Cross Bronx Expressway. I've been in bumper to bumper traffic there at 2 am. It also doesn't account for fuel ups, rest, food. Looking at about ~$30 in tolls, and you'd have to be getting around 30 mpg highway to make it there under $100 in gas and tolls. That's above average.
But most travelers aren't going from Washington to Boston. Most go Washington to New York, or Boston to New York.
ETA with two weeks advance purchase, a regional train (7 hours, 44 minutes) costs $70. Acela (6 hours, 40 minutes) is $167.00. Boston is not the best place to drive or the cheapest to park, also.
Last edited by HandsUpThumbsDown; 01-29-2013 at 09:04 AM..
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