Is the US Economy good enough in the state of Texas to build a high speed rail system connecting Austin to San Antonio? (Houston: construction, contractor)

[TouristExplorer281]

Just curious I read up on a article that I don’t know if it’ll happen anytime soon likely in the next decade or a few decades from now I understand the state of Texas is working on a bill to bring a high speed rail line called Hyperloop One to the U.S I understand their are working on one out in California but not sure when it will start running for the public. If this would even happen if the economy gets better in TX Hyperloop One could take you from Austin to San Antonio I’m like 8 minutes!!!?!!! Really????? I would think like 25-30 minutes at least. I see they want to connect Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin eventually when it’s all said and done. The San Antonio Zoo has planned a rail line service to Austin but it’s going to take 17 hours so we can forget about that. Lastly if the bill gets passed for Hyperloop in the lone star state are we talking 2020’s or 2030’s at the earliest?

[Bo]

San Antonio has voted down passenger rail projects 3 times. If the public gets a vote in this, it will be an uphill battle to get their support.

[ScoPro]

The extremely ambitious California project was recently dropped/cut back by the new governor as being way too costly for their taxpayers to bear.

It seems most Texans know how similar projects here would inevitably increase in cost exponentially over the initial estimates of the proponents. There are too many examples of incompetence & corruption in big government projects for the public to approve more of them. Can’t blame the voters for their valid skepticism.

I would like to see an efficient rail system of some kind built to serve the DFW/Houston/San Antonio/Austin triangle. The government & contractor entities involved would have to get their act together before that will happen, though.

[Austin97]

hyperloop is not high speed rail. Hyperloop is elon musk's vision of tunneling and then extremely high speed tube transport. They have some prototypes. The interesting thing is that it somewhat bypasses eminent domain, runs at very high speeds, and you would take your car in it.

[2nd trick op]

Originally Posted by TouristExplorer281

Just curious I read up on a article that I don’t know if it’ll happen anytime soon likely in the next decade or a few decades from now I understand the state of Texas is working on a bill to bring a high speed rail line called Hyperloop One to the U.S I understand their are working on one out in California but not sure when it will start running for the public. If this would even happen if the economy gets better in TX Hyperloop One could take you from Austin to San Antonio I’m like 8 minutes!!!?!!! Really????? I would think like 25-30 minutes at least. I see they want to connect Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin eventually when it’s all said and done. The San Antonio Zoo has planned a rail line service to Austin but it’s going to take 17 hours so we can forget about that. Lastly if the bill gets passed for Hyperloop in the lone star state are we talking 2020’s or 2030’s at the earliest?

Originally Posted by Austin97

hyperloop is not high speed rail. Hyperloop is elon musk's vision of tunneling and then extremely high speed tube transport. They have some prototypes. The interesting thing is that it somewhat bypasses eminent domain, runs at very high speeds, and you would take your car in it.

Most of the above is science-fantasy for an audience with no concept of the high costs and technical limitations of what's been hyped as "High Speed Rail" since Mr. Obama and a few of his groupies took one train ride from New York to Washington (and none since) some ten years ago.

On one coast, we have a functional system which is antiquated, and would take many billions to rebuild to the unrealistic promises of the HSR advocacy, but works as well as anything else offered; on the opposite coast, we have pie-in-the-sky which is already facing mothballing due to cost overruns, because it was designed with the whims of politicians and the short-sight of labor unions, rather than economic and technical realities, in mind.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by 2nd trick op

Most of the above is science-fantasy for an audience with no concept of the high costs and technical limitations of what's been hyped as "High Speed Rail" since Mr. Obama and a few of his groupies took one train ride from New York to Washington (and none since) some ten years ago.

On one coast, we have a functional system which is antiquated, and would take many billions to rebuild to the unrealistic promises of the HSR advocacy, but works as well as anything else offered; on the opposite coast, we have pie-in-the-sky which is already facing mothballing due to cost overruns, because it was designed with the whims of politicians and the short-sight of labor unions, rather than economic and technical realities, in mind.

Im just saying hyperloop is not high speed rail. High speed rail requires massive eminent domain. Hyperloop goes underground and uses technology that does not exist.

[eqshadimar]

There is also a private company that has been trying for years to "sell" high speed rail between Houston and Dallas:

https://www.texascentral.com

Having been on bullet trains many times in Japan I would love to see high speed rail take hold in the US. The main problem is transportation once you arrive but I think that UBER has mainly solved that issue.

[austinnerd]

Originally Posted by Austin97

hyperloop is not high speed rail. Hyperloop is elon musk's vision of tunneling and then extremely high speed tube transport. They have some prototypes. The interesting thing is that it somewhat bypasses eminent domain, runs at very high speeds, and you would take your car in it.

Would they "bypass" eminent domain because it's underground? If so, couldn't a traditional HSR solution also benefit?

Love high speed rail in Europe and would love to see it here, but from a practical POV, not likely to happen any time soon.

[Trainwreck20]

Underground likely has its own sets of issues in addition to the initial construction cost - ventilation, water pumping, additional cost of maintenance, etc. One of the big ones that I have always heard - an a concern in such places as the Chunnel - is disaster response. If a train does crash underground for some reason, how do you rescue people or minimize the additional issues? For the Chunnel, there is/was no high-volume above-ground option to compare to, whereas It will likely always be cheaper above ground as long as that is an option.

[2nd trick op]

Originally Posted by eqshadimar

Having been on bullet trains many times in Japan I would love to see high speed rail take hold in the US. The main problem is transportation once you arrive but I think that UBER has mainly solved that issue.

Originally Posted by austinnerd

Love high speed rail in Europe and would love to see it here, but from a practical POV, not likely to happen any time soon.

I don't mean to belittle the efforts of sincere HSR advocates; but the Japanese system was a success in no small part because it was built "from scratch" after the devastation of World War II. And the French operate under different conditions because no other industrialized nation is so dominated by its capital city; in France, all roads (and all railroads) lead to Paris.

In addition, both societies tax private automobiles, and their upkeep, very heavily, and Japanese culture tends to discourage individualistic behavior; there is a Japanese proverb: "The nail that sticks up must be hammered down.
Still, back in the Sixties/Seventies, no one would have expected Los Angeles to have a commuter rail system, and the enthusiasm has spread to Dallas, Washington, Orlando and other cities. Interest in both commuter and intercity rail is growing, but it's a very slow process.