Cincinnati-Indianapolis-Chicago high speed rail (Elyria, Dublin: day care, to live, restaurant)

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by mike1003

Not in my lifetime (probably not in my grand-kid's lifetimes)

I agree. Public entities like county comissionares have planning people assigned to them. Now if they are not given an assignment to plan they become excess baggage with no purpose and should be let go. Doesn't mean any of that planning will go anywhere, it takes money to actually build something.

[kpl1228]

Oh Jeez. You had a once-in-a-generation chance for Cleveland/Columbus/Cincinnati high speed a few years back(or at least federal money created medium-speed rail with the possibility for future upgrades) and Ohio shot it down, even though it was federal and wasn't state money......but you want this?
And you had city subway infrastructure once. Always brought up every ten years or so then forgotten about again.
Pardon my skepticism for a county boasting the Ronald Reagan Highway and its conservative reputation (and anti-rail history) pushing through any legislation on tax expenditures or a bond issue for anything involving rails, esp. for maintenance costs.
If Union Terminal wasn't so gorgeous, I doubt you'd even care about Amtrak.
Here's what New Mexico did with the federal money. It's pretty great. Good ridership, for the most part. (I still miss Ohio though)
http://albuquerquedailyphoto.com/the-rail-runner/

[flashes1]

How much demand is there for rail service from downtown Cinti to downtown Columbus/Cleveland? It's so impracticle, there's no chance of it operating on a stand-alone-basis post-construction. Where are the big population centers in those 3 cities? Most people live at least 5 miles from downtown----which means someone from Montgomery drives 12 miles south to pick-up the train....pay to park their car-----then upon reaching downtown Columbus/Cleveland....how do they reach their final destination which is likely to be at least 5 miles away? Do you rent a car, or take a taxi?

A total pain in the arse....especially when I can hop in my car and be anywhere in Columbus within 2 hours....which I'm sure is much faster than taking a train.

I've never understood the Democratic parties' seemingly obsession with rail. America is not Europe, we never have been, and never will be. This is a biiiig country. Now I do understand train service from major suburbs to downtowns to transport office workers----but the inter-city rail lines don't make financial sense.

[Wilson513]

You have hit the nail on head. When the destination is a place one cannot drive or park, like NYC, etc. a train may make some sense. Although, rail technology is technology of the past. An 800,000 pound fossil fuel (diesel electric or dedicated electric) vehicle running back and forth on a schedule, sometimes empty, sometimes full, with a professional crew, makes no sense in an environment of 50mpg hybrid vehicles.

[American Luxury]

Originally Posted by Wilson513

You have hit the nail on head. When the destination is a place one cannot drive or park, like NYC, etc. a train may make some sense. Although, rail technology is technology of the past. An 800,000 pound fossil fuel (diesel electric or dedicated electric) vehicle running back and forth on a schedule, sometimes empty, sometimes full, with a professional crew, makes no sense in an environment of 50mpg hybrid vehicles.

I'd hardly say there's an environment of 50mpg vehicles. In fact only one car, the Prius, is able to achieve 50mpg.

[ProkNo5]

Originally Posted by flashes1

How much demand is there for rail service from downtown Cinti to downtown Columbus/Cleveland? It's so impracticle, there's no chance of it operating on a stand-alone-basis post-construction. Where are the big population centers in those 3 cities? Most people live at least 5 miles from downtown----which means someone from Montgomery drives 12 miles south to pick-up the train....pay to park their car-----then upon reaching downtown Columbus/Cleveland....how do they reach their final destination which is likely to be at least 5 miles away? Do you rent a car, or take a taxi?

A total pain in the arse....especially when I can hop in my car and be anywhere in Columbus within 2 hours....which I'm sure is much faster than taking a train.

I've never understood the Democratic parties' seemingly obsession with rail. America is not Europe, we never have been, and never will be. This is a biiiig country. Now I do understand train service from major suburbs to downtowns to transport office workers----but the inter-city rail lines don't make financial sense.

You know Ohio has a population density greater than France, right?

[Wilson513]

Originally Posted by American Luxury

I'd hardly say there's an environment of 50mpg vehicles. In fact only one car, the Prius, is able to achieve 50mpg.

Uh huh. That and the Honda hybrid, VW TDI, Pruis Plug in (55mpg), Four (55 mpg), Volt, Tesla, Focus, Mits, Leaf.

The 800,000 pound behemoth was a technological advance when there were horse drawn carriages in the street and a tire was unlikely to make it 42 miles.

[jbcmh81]

Originally Posted by Wilson513

Uh huh. That and the Honda hybrid, VW TDI, Pruis Plug in (55mpg), Four (55 mpg), Volt, Tesla, Focus, Mits, Leaf.

The 800,000 pound behemoth was a technological advance when there were horse drawn carriages in the street and a tire was unlikely to make it 42 miles.

Um.. Cars came about when the horse carriage was still dominant in terms of individual transit. If the criticism is that rail is an old technology, why aren't cars?

[jbcmh81]

Originally Posted by flashes1

How much demand is there for rail service from downtown Cinti to downtown Columbus/Cleveland? It's so impracticle, there's no chance of it operating on a stand-alone-basis post-construction. Where are the big population centers in those 3 cities? Most people live at least 5 miles from downtown----which means someone from Montgomery drives 12 miles south to pick-up the train....pay to park their car-----then upon reaching downtown Columbus/Cleveland....how do they reach their final destination which is likely to be at least 5 miles away? Do you rent a car, or take a taxi?

A total pain in the arse....especially when I can hop in my car and be anywhere in Columbus within 2 hours....which I'm sure is much faster than taking a train.

I've never understood the Democratic parties' seemingly obsession with rail. America is not Europe, we never have been, and never will be. This is a biiiig country. Now I do understand train service from major suburbs to downtowns to transport office workers----but the inter-city rail lines don't make financial sense.

For the record, does I-71 operate on a stand-alone basis? Why's it okay to provide massive subsidies to roads but not for anything else, especially when this is public money we're talking about?

And how is this a political issue? I see it more as a generational one, where older folks who grew up showing off their Studebakers at the local malt shop still get all googly-eyed at the latest issue of Car & Driver, while younger generations are increasingly "meh" about the entire culture.

[WILWRadio]

Originally Posted by American Luxury

I'd hardly say there's an environment of 50mpg vehicles. In fact only one car, the Prius, is able to achieve 50mpg.

Time to bring back the Honda CRX. I owned a first run of those in 1984 and bought another in 1987. I was able to get over 50 mpg on the highway in both cars.