Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Politics and Other Controversies
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 11-12-2011, 04:24 PM
 
29,982 posts, read 18,558,232 times
Reputation: 20758

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by knowledgeiskey View Post
That's why we need HSR. Too bad the airline industry won't allow it to happen.



Survey says: 79% of travelers would pick high speed rail over air travel when possible | Gadling.com
I am in the 21%. Trains are a pain in the a*s. Trains are marginally convenient in congested, urban areas. Get outside of major metropolitan areas and they are a chore.

If they are so damn great, some business would have built it so satisfy all this "demand".
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 11-12-2011, 04:50 PM
 
9,848 posts, read 8,262,393 times
Reputation: 3296
Quote:
Originally Posted by knowledgeiskey View Post
That's why we need HSR. Too bad the airline industry won't allow it to happen.



Survey says: 79% of travelers would pick high speed rail over air travel when possible | Gadling.com
Too easy for terrorist to sabotage rails and kill lots of people.
Not worth it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-12-2011, 06:27 PM
 
Location: Duluth, Minnesota, USA
7,641 posts, read 18,074,705 times
Reputation: 6913
Quote:
Originally Posted by knowledgeiskey View Post
That's why we need HSR. Too bad the airline industry won't allow it to happen.



Survey says: 79% of travelers would pick high speed rail over air travel when possible | Gadling.com
Rail travel is certainly more comfortable than air travel, but it is still impractical for most long-distance travel in the US. At 200 mph - the speed of the fastest current TGV train - a trip between, say, Minneapolis and Los Angeles would take at least ten hours, and that assuming that the train is non-stop, straight-through. In reality, with stops and all, you're looking at more like at least a day. Compare this to a little over four hours on a plane. This is precisely why budget airlines fare so well in Europe, which has high-speed rail already in place. To go from, say, London to Madrid would cost about $100 (with luggage) and take 2.5 hours by air; going the same route by train would take 24 hours and probably cost much, much more (I wasn't able to get a definite price, but my guess is that it would be at least $500).
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-12-2011, 07:09 PM
 
Location: On the Rails in Northern NJ
12,380 posts, read 26,788,126 times
Reputation: 4580
Mass Transit Ridership has grow by 50% over the past year in some metros and the Northeast Corridor is now used by 730,000 people daily...which is supposed to double by 2030...
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-12-2011, 07:28 PM
 
Location: Chandler, AZ
5,800 posts, read 6,548,312 times
Reputation: 3151
Primarily because the super-congested and downright dense Northeast is the only part of the country where HSR makes sense.

Geography and the topography of the land is the overriding factor, and especially when going from west to east; from a perspective of time, HSR loses by an enormous margin.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-14-2011, 10:21 AM
 
Location: Chandler, AZ
5,800 posts, read 6,548,312 times
Reputation: 3151
A nonstop flight from Panama City Beach, Fl. to Nashville on Southwest is scheduled for 80 minutes, but routinely takes 50-55 minutes tops @500+ MPH.

Flights from LA to Phoenix on Southwest which are scheduled for 75 minutes have repeatedly taken me anywhere from 48-52 minutes from takeoff to touchdown, and I get to LAX one hour before my flight, and have never had a problem in catching my plane thanks to their advance check-in procedures.

HSR only works in very dense parts of the country; it wouldn't work from Chicago-NYC any better than it would work from DC to anywhere besides the Northeast.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-14-2011, 11:13 AM
 
Location: Dallas, TX
31,767 posts, read 28,751,991 times
Reputation: 12341
Dallas to Houston (downtown to downtown) is about 260 miles. A train averaging 150 mph would cover the distance in 1 hour and 45 minutes. Add another 45 minutes to check-in and get out. The entire journey complete in 2 hours and 30 minutes... quicker and in a lot more comfort than airplanes.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-14-2011, 11:26 AM
 
Location: Long Island
32,816 posts, read 19,406,864 times
Reputation: 9618
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nexis4Jersey View Post
Mass Transit Ridership has grow by 50% over the past year in some metros and the Northeast Corridor is now used by 730,000 people daily...which is supposed to double by 2030...
and we should hit 400 million population before 2030

so your point??
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-14-2011, 11:28 AM
 
Location: Dallas, TX
31,767 posts, read 28,751,991 times
Reputation: 12341
Quote:
Originally Posted by workingclasshero View Post
and we should hit 400 million population before 2030

so your point??
400 million would be 33% increase. "Double" would be 100%.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-14-2011, 11:29 AM
 
Location: Fuquay-Varina
4,000 posts, read 10,817,137 times
Reputation: 3303
For short runs, maybe. For long runs, I call BS.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Politics and Other Controversies
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top