Do you support High-Speed Rail from Chicago to Cincinnati through Indianapolis?

[NOLA101]

Originally Posted by Toxic Toast

None. That's the point.

Exactly. And that's why HSR will never, ever work in the Midwest. Even Chicago, the only Midwest city with good transit, doesn't have particularly high transit share relative to other big cities. It has lower transit share than Boston, SF, and DC, and less than half the transit share of NYC.

[Mouldy Old Schmo]

Years ago, you could ride a passenger train from Cincinnati to Chicago via Indianapolis. You still can, although via a convoluted route.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_(train)

[casualsurfer]

After reading 6 pages of feedback here it's obvious and apparent that few if any of you have ever taken a ride in a HSR in Asia or Europe. The point about HSR is cutting your commute by 1/3 to 1/2 from point to point - there are many other methods of transportation from train station to your destination. Anyone here ever take the Megabus up to Chicago? It's often completely full (thanks to the people from Cincinnati) and that's a point-to-point transport, and there's zero incentive for a private company to do this unless they're making money (and they are). I think the HSR would work if people realize how great something like that is.

Oh and BTW if the "conservatives" and "pro business" folks here are true to their words, then they would support open bidding on the entire HSR system, farmed out/leased out the way Mitch My Man (not mine but maybe yours) sold our toll roads so very little tax payer money would go to this worthwhile endeavor while we continue to give $$$ to the wealthiest Americans. I'm willing to bet the Chinese would just love to throw billions of dollars our way and create jobs galore getting the HSR system setup here. And no, this ain't the 19th century, so "not a Chinaman's chance" type of incidents won't be happening here, and it'll be Americans (or Latinos) doing the manual labor this time around, with the Chinese owning all the IP and charging "fair market prices" for tickets, concessions, and onboard meals/drinks.

[domergurl]

Megabus … 2 nasty crashes on my end of 65 … don't think I'll be partaking anytime soon, which is a dang shame.

[censusdata]

I love transit and the idea of connecting American cities by rail. The problem is getting car loving Americans to agree to pay for it. I would definitely be willing to drive to Cincinnati and take a hs train to Chicago for a vacation

[baileyvpotter]

HS rail sounds good but I don't think it will ever happen due to cost. At one time in the US there
were many rail lines but due to 3 companies: General Motors, Firestone Tires and I believe Standard
Oil were instrumental in dismantling passenger rail systems and inner city/urban street cars.
Less trains = more cars. That left one passenger rail line, Amtrak which had to share
it's rail lines with commercial/freight lines.
As for the previous arguments about stations and stops, here is an example of the JR Kobe line
in Japan and the number of stations/stops.

JR Kobe Line - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

What Happened to Railroads? | EconEdLink

[SWOH]

Quick update:

Another city ? and U.S. senator ? jumps on the Cincinnati to Chicago train - Cincinnati Business Courier

Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-IN, recently supported the project.

[ColdAilment]

Originally Posted by SWOH

Quick update:

Another city ? and U.S. senator ? jumps on the Cincinnati to Chicago train - Cincinnati Business Courier

Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-IN, recently supported the project.

Way to go Joe!

[ischyros]

I think it's been mentioned here before. The problem with the rail line between Indianapolis and Chicago is it takes just over 5 hours, costs $24-$48 one way, and leaves Indy at 6am. Assuming you bring the train back that night, you get about 7 hours in downtown Chicago, spend over 10 hours on a train, and spend almost $50 to $100 round trip. That's not a pleasant day trip. About the only way I would be willing to fork over $48 round trip is if the train took 3 hours or less one way. That's the same amount of time by car and about the same price factoring in parking, gas, and tolls, which you can avoid tolls, and you wouldn't have to deal with traffic. But over 5 hours for the same price is just ridiculous.