High-Speed Train Debuts in Japan

[NickMordo]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/06/hayabusa-high-speed-train-japan_n_832044.html#249685

Pretty cool. When will the U.S. get one? 2020?

 

[Det. Jimmy McNulty]

Never, unfortunately.

 

[Stitch]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/06/hayabusa-high-speed-train-japan_n_832044.html#249685

Pretty cool. When will the U.S. get one? 2020?

Not until China invades.

 

[Armchair_QB]

A high speed rail link for the Texas Triangle (DFW-Houston-San Antonio-Austin-DFW) would be a great thing. Southwest Airlines lobbies like hell against it every time it comes up though.

 

[TrooperBari]

The shinkansen is a glorious thing. For the US to have something like that would be fantastic and, if nothing else, help relieve some of the congestion on the roads.

However, given that the states that could most use high-speed rail are either flat broke (California) or run by fiscal hawks (Florida, Texas, NJ, etc.), I can't see it happening any time in the near future.

 

[trifectarich]

A high speed rail link for the Texas Triangle (DFW-Houston-San Antonio-Austin-DFW) would be a great thing. Southwest Airlines lobbies like hell against it every time it comes up though.

Damn fools in Washington did all the planning and spent I-don't-know-how-many-millions on a high-speed rail system between Orlando and Tampa. Awesome; it would have saved someone 20 minutes. There are so many routes where this could be SO beneficial. We'll get around to this someday but probably not in my lifetime.

 

[leo1]

i read george will's anti-train screed recently and was stunned by his 'logic.' i admit that i'm a liberal but it never occurred to me that the reason conservatives are opposed to high speed trains is that they eliminate freedom because you're dependent on the government for where and when you can travel. i guess it's true that you're dependent on someone else for your travel and can't just go from point a to b at any time you choose, but that's just about the most inane argument i've heard. but this - and the power of the oil and auto lobby - is why we will never have them in this country in our lifetime.

like trifectarich says, there are so damn many routes where this would be perfect.

 

[LongTimeListener]

California voters passed a measure for one in 2008, at a projected cost of $44 billion. Soon after as it passed, the proponents were forced to admit it wasn't going to carry nearly as many riders as they said it would before the election. Because this is California, the cost will probably be more like $70 billion than $44 billion based on the history of prior public works projects. And for about a million political reasons, instead of going down the coast and through anyplace cool, it's going to follow I-5 all the way through the most desolate part of the state.

All of this is going to happen in the next 15 years in a state that can't rub two nickels together. And yet the majority of talk is something like "Woohoo! Train go fast!" And everyone who says it's a horribly timed idea that is doomed to fail is labeled an anti-progress Tea Partier.

 

[Boom_70]

I am a huge fan of Amtrak's Acela which runs between Boston and Washington.

Now that they have added wifi it's gotten even better.
No TSA, plenty of leg room and ability to walk around make train hands down better than plane.

Seems like New York to Chicago would be a very viable route.

I've read that Gov Cuomo is looking at prospects of a high speed NYC to Montreal route.

 

[ucacm]

I am a huge fan of Amtrak's Acela which runs between Boston and Washington.

Now that they have added wifi it's gotten even better.
No TSA, plenty of leg room and ability to walk around make train hands down better than plane.

Seems like New York to Chicago would be a very viable route.

I've read that Gov Cuomo is looking at prospects of a high speed NYC to Montreal route.

The price difference between the regular Amtrak train and Acela seems a bit ridiculous to me.

 

[deskslave]

I am a huge fan of Amtrak's Acela which runs between Boston and Washington.

Now that they have added wifi it's gotten even better.
No TSA, plenty of leg room and ability to walk around make train hands down better than plane.

Seems like New York to Chicago would be a very viable route.

I've read that Gov Cuomo is looking at prospects of a high speed NYC to Montreal route.

The price difference between the regular Amtrak train and Acela seems a bit ridiculous to me.

Agreed. I looked at it recently, and it was nearly double the price to save at most something like 45 minutes. I guess the Acela trains are probably more comfortable and less prone to delays, but still.

 

[wicked]

Agreed. I looked at it recently, and it was nearly double the price to save at most something like 45 minutes. I guess the Acela trains are probably more comfortable and less prone to delays, but still.

But Acela is targeting the guys who normally would fly the shuttle -- and pay last-minute fares to boot. Compared to that, it's cheaper.

 

[Boom_70]

I am a huge fan of Amtrak's Acela which runs between Boston and Washington.

Now that they have added wifi it's gotten even better.
No TSA, plenty of leg room and ability to walk around make train hands down better than plane.

Seems like New York to Chicago would be a very viable route.

I've read that Gov Cuomo is looking at prospects of a high speed NYC to Montreal route.

The price difference between the regular Amtrak train and Acela seems a bit ridiculous to me.

Agreed. I looked at it recently, and it was nearly double the price to save at most something like 45 minutes. I guess the Acela trains are probably more comfortable and less prone to delays, but still.

Depends on time of day and demand. Last week it was only a $20 differential on a trip I took to Boston.

To me the extra hour and wifi is worth it. Also better eye candy.

 

[deskslave]

I am a huge fan of Amtrak's Acela which runs between Boston and Washington.

Now that they have added wifi it's gotten even better.
No TSA, plenty of leg room and ability to walk around make train hands down better than plane.

Seems like New York to Chicago would be a very viable route.

I've read that Gov Cuomo is looking at prospects of a high speed NYC to Montreal route.

The price difference between the regular Amtrak train and Acela seems a bit ridiculous to me.

Agreed. I looked at it recently, and it was nearly double the price to save at most something like 45 minutes. I guess the Acela trains are probably more comfortable and less prone to delays, but still.

Depends on time of day and demand. Last week it was only a $20 differential on a trip I took to Boston.

To me the extra hour and wifi is worth it. Also better eye candy.

Yeah, 20 bucks I'd pay. 60, not so much.

The thing with high-speed trains is that you have to have a transport infrastructure to surround them. It's no good building a train from Orlando to Tampa if when you get to Tampa, you're left with a choice of an expensive, probably crappy taxi, a city bus or walking. Anyone who's been in either of those cities for more than two minutes knows how impractical walking just about anywhere is for a good eight months out of the year. And that's just the humidity. Doesn't even take into account lack of sidewalks, etc.

Of course, if you're Joe Business going from New York to Boston, you were going to pay for some form of ground transport whether you fly or take the train. So that's less of a consideration.

It also has to be a better alternative. Not the same as driving or flying. Better. So something has to differentiate the service. Eurostar between London and Paris isn't as quick as flying, when it comes to travel time, but if you factor in security, getting to the airport (the Eurostar terminal is in central London; Heathrow and Gatwick very much aren't), comfort, etc. etc., it becomes absolutely viable. And when you get to either side, there's a massive subway network at your disposal.

 

[Football_Bat]

Going from downtown to downtown, a train gets you there faster in the Northeast than flying.

That may be the only place where that works right now, but a train that gets you from Penn Station to downtown Chicago in 4 hours would be mighty attractive.