Houston residents asked to give input on Texas' $12 billion bullet train (Dallas: rental car, middle-class)

[oceangaia]

Originally Posted by LocalPlanner

The primary audience for this is those who already travel by air between the two locations, and a large share of those are business travelers. How in the world do they manage without a car once they arrive at their destination airport?

And the question becomes how are they going to get people to choose train over plane? The cost looks like it will be about the same, maybe even more. The train can provide a better work environment, on par with a small work cubicle and continuous cell coverage and hi-speed internet but I'm not sure the projected $199 fare is for that class.

If it took many customers away from SWA (or any other airline), the airline could easily drop fares to $50 or whatever it took to decimate the rail line.

[Mr. Krinkle]

It's a 1hr 15m flight without delays. You also need to arrive at the airport appriximately 45 minutes early to deal with security, and leave the house hoping there isn't any traffic on the way to the airport. Then you have to figure in parking or shuttle service if you are driving yourself. I live in the loop and I would probably leave my house around 10am for a noon flight. That would put me in Dallas at 1:15 (if on time), and then have to mess with deboarding and another 10 minutes until I got out of the airport.

I would gladly pay a little more not to bother to bother with all that. Just get to the train station and be in Dallas in 1hr 30m.

[Jack Lance]

Originally Posted by Mr. Krinkle

It's a 1hr 15m flight without delays. You also need to arrive at the airport appriximately 45 minutes early to deal with security, and leave the house hoping there isn't any traffic on the way to the airport. Then you have to figure in parking or shuttle service if you are driving yourself. I live in the loop and I would probably leave my house around 10am for a noon flight. That would put me in Dallas at 1:15 (if on time), and then have to mess with deboarding and another 10 minutes until I got out of the airport.

I would gladly pay a little more not to bother to bother with all that. Just get to the train station and be in Dallas in 1hr 30m.

There's not going to be any security screening for the train ? Also what about that stop in College Station , that will add a few minutes to the trip, won't it ?

P.S. Southwest list that flight at 1 hour flat..

[oceangaia]

Originally Posted by Mr. Krinkle

It's a 1hr 15m flight without delays. You also need to arrive at the airport appriximately 45 minutes early to deal with security, and leave the house hoping there isn't any traffic on the way to the airport. Then you have to figure in parking or shuttle service if you are driving yourself. I live in the loop and I would probably leave my house around 10am for a noon flight. That would put me in Dallas at 1:15 (if on time), and then have to mess with deboarding and another 10 minutes until I got out of the airport.

I would gladly pay a little more not to bother to bother with all that. Just get to the train station and be in Dallas in 1hr 30m.

Huh? You have to "bother with all that" either way. You may have traffic on the way to train station, you have to figure in parking or shuttle, you have security, you have deboarding, you have to get out of the station.

[Mr. Krinkle]

Huh? It takes about 5 minutes to go through security and board a train.

Train security is very easy, and I assume they will have parking at the station (and a cheap Uber for me). It's very fast to deboard a train and not even as close to the size of an airport. The stop in College Station is included in the travel time.

The Houston and Dallas stations are pretty central located. Very conveniant for those living in the city.

[gwarnecke]

If you miss your Southwest flight, you can get standby at no charge (except for the cheapest fare class) and catch the next flight, which departs 30 minutes to an hour later. It's pretty convenient.

Train could potentially beat the airlines on convenience, depending upon how aspects like check-in and security screening are handled, but it won't be able to touch airlines on price. I'm just not seeing a viable business case here. Pleased that a private company, rather than the gov't, is having a go at it, but I'd fear that once it goes belly-up, taxpayers would end up having to subsidize either its operation or the clean-up and restoration of its half-finished construction route.

Furthermore, if autonomous cars really take off, they would put the hurt on both air traffic from Dallas->Houston and a potential train route. No, they can't fly down the highway at 150 mph, but they would be the ultimate in convenience. Cheap, door-to-door service (plus use of a car in either of two car-dependent cities, once you arrive), and the ability to work, sleep, or drink on the way.

[Jack Lance]

Originally Posted by Mr. Krinkle

Train security is very easy, and I assume they will have parking at the station. It's very fast to deboard a train and not even as close to the size of an airport. The stop in College Station is included in the travel time.

That's interesting , when this project was first proposed they said Houston to Dallas in 90 minutes , but the original route was a more direct route along I-45 DT to DT. So I find it funny that they now have a less direct route along with at least 1 stop that still takes 90 minutes..

[Mr. Krinkle]

Originally Posted by gwarnecke

If you miss your Southwest flight, you can get standby at no charge (except for the cheapest fare class) and catch the next flight, which departs 30 minutes to an hour later. It's pretty convenient.

The train will have departures every 30 minutes during peak periods each day, and every hour during off-peak period. Most trains allow flexible check-ins, but who knows how these will operate at the moment.

That's interesting , when this project was first proposed they said Houston to Dallas in 90 minutes , but the original route was a more direct route along I-45 DT to DT. So I find it funny that they now have a less direct route along with at least 1 stop that still takes 90 minutes

I'm not possitive, but I'm pretty sure they have planned at least one stop even in the beginning stages of planning.

[oceangaia]

Originally Posted by Mr. Krinkle

Huh? It takes about 5 minutes to go through security and board a train.

Train security is very easy, and I assume they will have parking at the station (and a cheap Uber for me). It's very fast to deboard a train and not even as close to the size of an airport. The stop in College Station is included in the travel time.

What time do you envision leaving your house for a noon train?

The Houston and Dallas stations are pretty central located. Very conveniant for those living in the city.

Point was, you can't compare apples and oranges as in the time you leave your house to time you arrive at hotel for airline but only time you leave the station to time you arrive at station for train.

With TSA PreCheck, it takes about 5 minutes for me to go through airport security.

One good train bombing and we'll have airport-style security at train stations.

We don't know how often the trains will run. That will depend on passenger volume. They aren't going to be running empty trains every 15 minutes.

[Mr. Krinkle]

The train will have departures every 30 minutes during peak periods each day, and every hour during off-peak period.

Ok, I'll do apples to apples for a 12pm departure. Also remember wheels-down (arrival) is referred to flight time. Trains are much more reliable on destination time.

My house. Hobby to Love Field:
Leave at 10am. Deal with idiots at the airport (even with TSA PreCheck) and the painful boarding process. Plane touches down in Dallas at 1pm. Taxiing the runway, deboard, and out of the airport if I don't have bags to check at 1:30pm.

My house. Train to Love Field:
Leave at 11:15am just to make sure I get there 15 minutes prior to boarding. Get to the Dallas station at 1:30pm. Out of the train station at 1:35pm. No stress at the airport and a more confortable ride.

Besides, this service isn't really focused on the casual Houston/Dallas weekend travelor. It's the business people who travel weekly between the two cities. There are a lot of them.