Push for high-speed rail in Texas re-emerges! (Houston, Dallas: hotel, home)

[TXTwizter]

We all know that TXDot killed the Trans Texas Corridor recently, but now the high speed rail option seems to be still in some peoples eyes.
IMO I think it would be a great addition to Texas. Imagine working in Dallas, and living in Waco or anywhere else. With high speed rail this might be a realistic scenario.

Push for high-speed rail in Texas re-emerges (http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2009/01/30/01302009wactxhighspeedrail.html - broken link)

[Synopsis]

If there is any state that would benefit the most from high-speed rail it would be Texas. Alaska is the largest state, but the population is so low that it wouldn't be economically feasible.

High-speed rail is great. I've ridden on the Bullet Train in Japan, and on the high-speed trains in Europe; it's the most comfortable and economical way to travel.

[TXTwizter]

Originally Posted by Synopsis

If there is any state that would benefit the most from high-speed rail it would be Texas. Alaska is the largest state, but the population is so low that it wouldn't be economically feasible.

High-speed rail is great. I've ridden on the Bullet Train in Japan, and on the high-speed trains in Europe; it's the most comfortable and economical way to travel.

When I lived in Connecticut, there we're lots of people who lived in Hartford, New Haven or New London, and worked in NYC. If they can do something like that, we can to...and have a much more efficient system.
Lets just hope this doesnt get scrapped. I think the goal of 2020 is quite ambitious and do-able!!

[sweetclimber]

High speed rail would be great for Texas. Imagine lines from:

Houston to Dallas (and South to Corpus all the way to Brownsville)
Houston to College Station, to Waco and then Lubbock and Amarillo
Houston to San Antonio then to El Paso
Houston to Austin
Dallas to Austin then San Antonio then Laredo
Dallas to Lubbock and Amarillo
Dallas to El Paso

As starters these would be great to cut back on driving for many. I know a ton of Aggies would like to take a train home on breaks to Houston or Dallas if it had been available. We once talked about it in one of my classes.

[atxcio]

Too bad it's not shovel-ready, or we could ask for stimulus dollars.

And despite talk of negotiating with Southwest Airlines, I have my doubts that Southwest will ever let this happen. Southwest is a company based on some very basic fundamentals that they don't ever change -- the single plane type, the single service type, and their high-profit core of the Texas Triangle. I just don't see anyway they would willingly give up high margin customers -- which they would be, as anyone taking the train from Dallas to Houston, Houston to SA, Austin to Dallas, etc. is a potential SWA customer. I hope I'm wrong, but I see no high speed rail while SWA is still in business.

[love roses]

SW isn't the only one. Continental and some others do the short flights as well. I like flying, but I have sort of a fear of going on a train that goes that fast. I would love a train like that though, but what scares me is that it'll throw my equilibrium off, especially if I look out of a window and see scenery blur passing by When you're in an airplane it doesn't seem like you are really going that fast. High speed elevators almost give me motion sickness too. The first time I was on one was in NY and our hotel room was on the 50th floor and that thing almost made me hit the floor and when we got to our level I couldn't move my legs for a second to get off the elevator. I even had a nightmare that I got stuck on one because I couldn't make my legs go so I had to keep going up and down the darn thing for a day before someone noticed and helped me move.