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Worlds longest high speed rail line opens Dec 26
New York to Chicago is only 950 miles. That should be doable in 6 hours. I’m just saying… Definitely a viable travel time for attracting riders.
Actually, a return to the old timings of the 20th Century Limited and the Broadway Limited, covering the distance in 16 hours would be a good start.
Why not us?
The New York - Chicago and New York - Miami routes are potential markets for long distance high speed trains. The Chicago high speed rail route from New York would harken back to the Great Steel Fleet era. China should inspire other nations with this concept.
You’ll never see this in the good old USA.
To those bemoaning America’s inability to implement high-speed trains and/or running at speeds in excess of 110mph…
China does not have to deal with all of the NIMBYs and drivers that ignore crossing signals. A quick check of the News Wire headlines here on Trains should be enough of an explanation.
Perhaps we need to make crossing gates out of something more substantial than wooden planks. Oh, and remind cities that those railroad lines were around long before most of them had any kind of populations or chose to encourage development of expensive homes along the tracks. Just because they are actually being used now is no reason the railroads should have to cave to your demands.
As long as railroads are considered behind the times and antiquated the US will never see anything like the high speed rail lines being built / run in other countries.
To all the people who won’t pay for high speed rail in the U.S.: Guess what? We paid for China’s high speed rail by buying a gazillion of their DVD players with our credit cards. How about investing in our own country?
I am a train fan and love to see projects like this but in a country where the vast majority of persons are poor and go to bed hungry I think their priorities are really messed up. China is in the business of attempting to try and make a name for itself on the backs of its people. Does this sound familiar to anyone.
Amazing what dictatorships can do isn’t it?
A more direct route between New York and Chicago is about 760 miles via the former Erie-Lackawanna route. This is more ideal for a high speed rail.
Japan inspired other nations (France) with this concept nearly 50 years ago. Maybe the US should get high-speed rail completed between Boston and Washington DC before looking at routes to Miami, Chicago, etal.
To Gary Payton: OK, so we by everything from China; you’d rather we spend that money on our own HSR. Am I reading you correctly?
So, why do we buy everything from China (why isn’t it made here?), and how do you propose to redirect this purchasing of Chinese goods into American HSR?
Yes, it is amazing what a ‘dictatorship’ can accomplish–it’s equally amazing what a do-nothing, in-fighting, bogus leadership of the supposedly greatest nation on earth cannot do!!!
If the U.S. can manage to sustain one-tenth this level of public-sector investment annually in HSR and/or HrSR it would be a credible showing and a solid commitment to long-term transportation infrastructure development. Government spending priorities and income taxation policies will need to be re-aligned accordingly.
TRY BUILDING THIS IN THE USA=HA-HA
I think that it would be a great idea to do HSR between New York City and Chicago. Although I consider myself a Pennsy man, I think that the Water Level Route should be done first. I also think that it should be electrified. But, being a realist, I know it would be very expensive. So, I guess that it would be pulled by diesel engines. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
What is the cost to fully “fix” the NEC?
Airline ticket prices are about to spike, for several reasons according to recent news articles, and this ought to shift yet more passenger traffic to our rails.
First, China is not a desperately poor country. People are not starving. The rail is part of the reason the economy has been able to grow and support/feed the people.
Second, the country made the decision to use rail instead of building roads. It has built airports but the economy of that country requires some level of transport inter-city and the government decided against roads. The billions spent on rail would have needed to be spent instead on roads and would likely required much more time.
Roads in the US used to be somewhat self supporting using the gas tax. Unfortunately starting with ICE-T the congress started to raid the highway fund to do non-highway projects, usually political pork (like the Park Service museum in Scranton). In China I am not sure the mechanism of support for the rail infrastructure. I expect it is by taxing industry which benefits from the availability of the rails.
While it is true that the government has great power I would point to a recent story of a highway built with opposing directions on either side of a house. The owner did not want to accept the government offer to buy it to put the road in so they built the road around his house. He eventually reached a settlement.
I am amused by Mr. Sager’s thoughts on the NIMBY’s. I shed a tear when Wisconsin Central pulled their street tracks along Oshkosh’s Division Street and really wonder how the city folks in Sheboygan Falls are going to react to downtown railroad by Wisconsin & Southern when the line is reopened…