High-speed train could one day connect San Antonio to Austin (Houston: university, move to)

[bresilhac]

Originally Posted by ktulu7

I'd definitely like this! We'd be the only place in the USA with bullet trains, aka "shinkansen." When I lived in Japan, I rode on the JR company's trains all the time, and they're fantastic. This would of course have to be well-integrated with the public transit in each of the major cities for it to work. Houston's building out their rail a good bit, and Dallas has a decent rail network already. Austin's got one line and 2 planned, and San Antonio now has a couple planned, so who knows... Maybe it'll happen in the next 10 years! Maybe by then the Astros won't suck so badly, and I can take a bullet train to go watch some baseball over the weekend!

I agree high speed rail between SA and Austin and other cities is an idea whose time has come. But I don't think the airlines would be too happy about it and they would probably lobby vehemently against it. Still though, I can see it happening within 10 to 15 years. And, in 10 to 15 years San Antonio will most likely have it's own MLB team so you wouldn't have to go to Houston to see the Astros.

[kevcrawford]

Originally Posted by Soviet

I was under the impression that Amtrak's Acela actually makes money?

I don't believe there's ever been a time where Amtrak as a company has ever been in the black. I could be wrong, but I don't think so.

Regardless, the Austin to SA train will never happen. Thea no benefit to it for either city.

Here's a good article on Amtrak.

http://www.statesman.com/business/pe...k-2377586.html

[Soviet]

Originally Posted by kevcrawford

I don't believe there's ever been a time where Amtrak as a company has ever been in the black. I could be wrong, but I don't think so.

Regardless, the Austin to SA train will never happen. Thea no benefit to it for either city.

Here's a good article on Amtrak.

Amtrak's 40-year train wreck

As a company, no. But the Northeast Corridor by itself is ALMOST a moneymaker and the Acela service by itself IS a moneymaker. I believe those are the numbers, but I could be wrong.

[chud]

They've been talking about this since I was a boy, I'll believe it when I see it.

[goodmanm]

Originally Posted by plwhit

With the cities as decentralized as they are HS rail is nothing but a fantasy....

In the amount of time it would take me to use VIA to reach the local station I could drive to Austin

Originally Posted by bresilhac

I agree high speed rail between SA and Austin and other cities is an idea whose time has come. But I don't think the airlines would be too happy about it and they would probably lobby vehemently against it. Still though, I can see it happening within 10 to 15 years. And, in 10 to 15 years San Antonio will most likely have it's own MLB team so you wouldn't have to go to Houston to see the Astros.

Are there really that many people who fly just to Austin? Doubt it.

Unless there is some incentive for folks to use it (cheaper than driving, primarily) people won't use it.

[Azure110]

The best part of having a bullet train is while you are going to your destination, you can do the following:

-Take a nap
-Read a book
-Check your email or phone messages
-Eat breakfast or a snack

You are not tied up with your hands on the steering wheel and eyes on the road. I would take a train over driving any day. These were some of the things i was able to do while I rode the shinkansen in Japan.

Of course, to get a bullet train here is many years away. People just value their big trucks too much here to give that up.

[GEM-Texas]

When I took trains to some major cities, they had a secondary mass transit web - the Underground, buses, etc.

I take the train to Austin and then want to get to the Arboretum area - how do I do that? A terrible time multiplier given the state of bus mass transit in either city.

I took the train from DC to NYC - then there was the subways in both.

It's not the truck (which of course is a symbol here, similar to richy - richy Lexus and Mercedes) but the lack of options after the train.

[txtea]

A bullet train is just not economically feasible between San Antonio and Austin. The operating cost would exceed the money generated by the passengers, not to mention the cost of building the thing. What private company would invest the hundreds of millions of dollars for such a small return?
Once you get to the Austin or San Antonio train terminal....then what do you do? Get a cab?
I can see some people using it if the train stopped close to 6th street. Go up there and party....come back home on the train.

This is not Japan or New York City, and yes we do love our trucks, but this idea just won't work here. I can get to Austin in about an hour....not that big a deal.

[GEM-Texas]

Exactly, when we go to Austin - we might go to Barton Creek to shop, then the flagship Whole Foods and then look for a nice restaurant that is a few miles away. Don't want to be waiting for the bus in our weather. Now if I have a personal Osprey, I'll take the plane and scare everyone.

[Austinite101]

Originally Posted by MattTx

The best part of having a bullet train is while you are going to your destination, you can do the following:

-Take a nap
-Read a book
-Check your email or phone messages
-Eat breakfast or a snack

You are not tied up with your hands on the steering wheel and eyes on the road. I would take a train over driving any day. These were some of the things i was able to do while I rode the shinkansen in Japan.

Of course, to get a bullet train here is many years away. People just value their big trucks too much here to give that up.

Exactly! When I lived in Tokyo, we would take Toukaidou Shinkansen to Toyohashi to visit my great aunt all the time. Japan is just so many light years ahead of the world when it comes to transportation. When I was there, I took Senkai Bunka (World Cultures) and a girl did a project about the state of transportation in the US. The rest of my classmates were amazed about how it worked in the US. Not in a good way.