It seems everywhere people and local and state transit ggroups want more rail service. There are a number of proposed routes in my area that are in great demand by the people and all of which I almost guarentee will sadly never be a reality due to not having the needed funds. What proposed routes are in your region?
Examples that I heard about-
New York-Scranton,pa
Philadelphia-Dover,de
Philadelphia-Reading,pa
Allentown,pa-Philadelphia
Various routes in the Atlanta area
LA-Los Vegas
Chicago-Madison,wi
Didn’t Phil-Reading survive into the 70s or later?
I would like to see “double service” (an additional frequency) on LD routes. It should somewhat follow the effect of the San Joaquins (see Sept 04 Trains) where passeneger counts more than double when you add an extra round trip to the route.
But as you say, the funds (and track capacity) aren’t there.
Raleigh to Asheville, NC. Hasn’t been passenger rail service to the mountains in years, and I have heard that Asheville is Amtrak’s most requested destination that isn’t served by them. On the other side of the state, Raleigh to Wilmington passenger service has been proposed too. Don’t think either one are getting much attention right now though.
Are the routes really in “great demand by the people” or just in great demand by a few vocal activists.
LA- Los Vagas has been pushed for many years. In the 1970’s there was a proposal for a “privately” finaced hig speed line. The promoters claimed they could startplanning it as soon as they got a grant from the government. Is there really enough traffic to justify it. After you getout of the LA Basin the freeways are wide open.
On all the routes, is the benefit worth the costs? I don’t know the answer.
Theres a proposed route for Cleveland columbus and Cincinnati here in Ohio.dont know if the plan was put on the back burner or thrown in the garbage.
stay safe
Joe
Wasn’t the Florida High Speed Rail corridor from Tampa to Orlando (I think) voted on and passed in one of their previous elections? I was thinking they were supposed to have one built and operational within so many years, 2010 or something, but nothing has been done on it. Any Floridians know what happened there?
…Yes, there has been legislation passed several years ago to support the creation of Orlando to tampa and also connecting with Miami with high speed rail…but these last few years Gov. Jeb Bush has been doing everything he can to get it stopped. Haven’t been in Florida the last few winters so I really don’t know just where that situation stands now.
I think a lot of these surveys are done by the state DOT’s to prove they have a rail desk in between the road & air functions.
When the Ky Cardinal was running, they actually chartered a train to continue south to Nashville. The old L&N track is still there in fairly good condition for freight. Another survey was done to build a TN state rail system. Start in Memphis-Nashville, then a Nashville-Chattanooga leg or a route thru the hills Nashville-Knoxville. The last leg would run Chattanooga-Knoxville on up to Bristol TN-VA. One problem is that CSX don’t want passenger on their track.
The third survey may actually happen. The Music City Star is the name chosen for the service. First leg is the independent Nashville & Eastern route, about 35mi to Lebanon TN. About $35 mil would be required to do the project & the state needs about $10 mil to get something started. Nashville’s population is growing rapidly, and we will soon need a public transit system. The other 4 routes will require CSX approval, & will take many years to complete…
MBTA Commuter Rail-
Boston (South Station) to Greenbush (being restored as of now)
Boston (South Station) to Fall River & New Bedford (on the edge of approval)
Boston (South Station) to T.F. Green International Airport in Warwick, RI (in the planning stage)
Boston (North Station) to Nashua, NH (rumored to be in early planning stages)
Boston (South Station) to Buzzard’s Bay/Hyannis (in wishful thinking stage)
MBTA Rapid Transit -
Blue Line extension to Lynn
Green Line extension to Forest Hills
New “Indigo Line” from South Station to Readville
Amtrak -
Boston (North Station) to Montreal
Cape Cod Central -
Hyannis to Middleboro or Attleboro
If they bring back the line to Fall River, will they bring back a connection to a modern (hydrofoil?) Fall River Line as well? And will they paint the trains white? ;-}