Now this would be nice

[HarveyDarkey]

New map: US High Speed Rail System. This map is inspired by ideas from various agencies and advocacy groups including Amtrak, The Transport Politic, Wikimedia Commons, Florida High Speed Rail, SkyscraperPage Forums, Southern High Speed Rail, Southeast High Speed Rail, Ohio Department of Transportation, California High Speed Rail Authority, Midwest High Speed Rail Association, US DOT Federal Railroad Administration, Texas High Speed Rail and Transportation Corp
Get PDFs and posters at https://sites.google.com/site/californiarailmap/us-high-speed-rail-system

[april]

1. this should have happend a longtime ago!

[sakabatou]

13. +1

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. I like it too.

We could put a good number of folks to work building this vast network.

K&R

[madamesilverspurs]

54. Yup!

Even more jobs if we added a route between Denver and the PAC NW.


-

[libtodeath]

3. Long overdo

[Sekhmets Daughter]

4. I would spend my life

touring the nation if we had this now. By the time they do, I won't be around.

[Hoyt]

6. Me too. It's a shame.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

14. Yep...

I loved riding the train, when I was a kid, from NYC to Pittsburgh....

[Flatulo]

29. Same here. I dislike flying, but rail would be lovely. You really get to see the country

From ground level.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

32. Exactly...

Not to mention that it's much more comfortable.

[Baitball Blogger]

5. We'll have to wait for Rick Scott to stop being governor of Florida.

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

17. And for Scott Walker to stop being governor of Wisconsin.

He's stated firmly that high speed rail won't go through his state at all.

I would like to travel to Chicago in 2 1/2 hours, honestly. But that maggot needs to be voted out first.

[Mister Ed]

46. If it involves a giveaway to any of his wealthy patrons, it'll happen in an eyeblink. n/t

[ljm2002]

7. That graphic has me drooling...

...I can only wish that I live long enough to see this or something like it.

[SunSeeker]

8. That would be so awesome.

I don't know which I'd take first, the "Red Line" to NY or the "Yellow Line" to New Orleans. We should already have this.

[Thav]

9. No Doubt.

I live about 2 hrs from Des Moines, Ia, and would LOVE to be able to drive down there and be able to go to chicago, or NYC, or LA. Sure it'd take some time to get there but it'd be WAY better than driving/flying. Plus, train rides are an awesome way to get down time.

[progressoid]

10. We should have had that at a MINIMUM a couple decades ago.

[Semi_subversive]

11. Sacramento to San Francisco or Reno in about a half hour?

I could do that!

[RebelOne]

12. I am all for this. Why don't we have this in the U.S.?

I have been to the British Isles and their transportation system is fantastic. Why are we so behind the times?

[davidn3600]

21. Money. And most people don't think we need it.

Nearly everyone has a car these days. And we have airplanes to move long distances.

A lot of people think a train would be a waste a money and no one would use it.

[freshwest]

48. Baggers and their conspiracy theories are part of the reason, no kidding.

Tthe anti-Agenda 21, anti-sustainable agriculture, they're coming to get us gang. They've been howling about this plan for about a decade now.

IIRC, blue governors have embraced the rail while red governors turned the funding down because it's socialism...

[guardian]

53. What is the 21 agenda?

do the baggers want to increase the drinking age?

[freshwest]

61. Agenda 21 - go to Wikipedia.

[guardian]

62. Thanks nt

[BlueJazz]

15. Countries that don't spend most of their money on Wars get to have those Rail Systems.

[Flatulo]

30. Even without hot wars, we're still footing the defense bill for the WWII allies.

[BlueJazz]

31. Very true.

[Blanks]

16. If you think about how much of your household income goes toward...

Just having your own car: car payment, auto insurance, fuel, maintenance. It would be an incredible savings to a lot of people if we could get anywhere on mass transit.

When I lived in Germany (30 years ago) we could get anywhere by bus, train or taxi. We had a little cart that we took our laundry to the laundromat, and we took it to the grocery store too.

My wife and I went to Chicago a couple years ago and we bought a pass that allowed us to travel by bus and subway... It was cool.

I look forward to the day when I don't have to own a vehicle at all. They tell us that Americans love their cars. Perhaps, but some days; I really really hate merging onto the interstate. I'm ready for mass transit to become a priority.

BTW, Little Rock isn't quite in the right place on the map.

[obxhead]

38. I love my car and I wouldn't give it up

However I would gladly give up my 75 to 90 minute (1 way) commute with my car. It's heavy wear and tear and in the end makes an 8 hour day feel like an 11 hour day.

If I could sit and read for that time it would be wonderful beyond belief.

Building usable mass transit wouldn't get me to give up my car though. It would just extend my cars life to 20+ years and save me a ton of money nearly immediately. It would also have a positive environmental impact as well.

[Blanks]

47. I'm not sure I'd give up my pickup either...

Sometimes I have to haul stuff. However, we have 2 pickups and 2 cars between 3 drivers, and I'm like you; I've driven over a half hour to work and it would be nice to have productive use of that time.

It's the difference between having something because it is convenient and having something because it is a necessity.

[CrispyQ]

18. It is so past time for this.

We are living in the last century & the middle part of it, to boot!

kick

[DaveJ]

19. It looks like Chicago to St. Louis is than 2 hours

That's pretty good time compared to driving which takes me 5 hours including breaks.

[adieu]

26. When you're traveling at 220 mph,

it can get there much faster than by car.

I think for most people, the problem isn't the vast distances these trains go, but what to do when one gets there. In most cases, the local public transportation is terrible, so either one has to rent a car or do a lot of walking or take taxi. None of those are the best choices to travel when one reaches the destination.

This means, of course, that all municipalities along all these train lines should upgrade their public transportation infrastructure to handle people coming in without their own cars.

[DaveJ]

33. That might be what prevents this from ever happening.

Plus getting to and from the station at home is an issue. Parking your car costs money and people don't like leaving their car in strange places.

I like the idea, but it might not work. We'd probably be better off with a self driving highway system with electric cars.

[JDPriestly]

43. You rent a car when you get there just like we do nowadays when we travel by plane.

Trains would cut a lot of the pollution.

[oldhippydude]

20. this where amtrack should have started....

however I remember the Portland Rose (Portland via Cheyenne through southern Idaho).. as well as the link between Albuquerque and Topeka being retained

[Egalitarian Thug]

22. This is why we can't have nice things.

[mrmpa]

23. Amtrak service between Pittsburgh & Philadelphia is in peril............

Below is a Philadelphia report. The Pittsburgh papers ran an article about the peril of the route. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article stated that the average speed of the train between Pittsburgh & the State capital Harrisburg is 45mph. Between Harrisburg and Philadelphia the speed is 70mph.

What I would give for high speed travel.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20130204_Pittsburgh-Harrisburg_Amtrak_route_imperiled.html

[W T F]

24. Good luck getting this past the airline lobby

[Earth_First]

25. Who is responsible for the Ottawa > Detriot segment? nt

[bongbong]

27. We had it at one time

Maybe not so fast, but you could ride from pretty much anywhere in the USA to anywhere else by rail. No car needed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interurban

These have been swept completely down the memory hole, but at one time everybody knew about them - and used them.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

28. Chicago to LA in a day would be cool.

[Heather MC]

34. didn't they build a highspeed rail system in the book Atlas Shrugged

this is great when do the wealthy asshole start to disappear??????

[JDPriestly]

35. What are we waiting for?

Here in California, and would like to visit the Midwest much more often. I'm just one of many who hates sitting in a narrow little airplane seat and contending with all the fuss of airports.

[AndyTiedye]

40. We Took the Train Cross-Country After Thanksgiving

If there's ever a time that one doesn't want to be flying, it's Thanksgiving weekend. We took the train. Providence RI to Emeryville, CA.

[AndyTiedye]

36. We Need This Like Yesterday

[Pat Riot]

37. Problem is

It would create jobs, reduce pollution, and strengthen the infrastructure.

[LisaLynne]

42. Yeah, who wants that stuff?

[Godot51]

39. However,

all conservatives will say: it's too expensive; it'll take too long to build; it'll violate too many property owner's rights; besides, all the rich and VIPs can afford private jets and/or 1st class anyway; who'd need this?

I remember the Super Chief...

[obxhead]

41. Larger .pdf link

http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~atwu/maps/US-High-Speed-Rail-System-by-FirstCultural-2013-02-03.pdf

[ReRe]

44. The USA used to be....

...the country that did things first. Now we're the country that does things last.

[LibDemAlways]

45. Anyone who has travelled by rail in Europe and Japan in particular

knows how pathetic our train system is. There's no excuse other than that our politicians lack the political will and prefer to waste the national treasure on useless wars rather than invest in improving and modernizing our infrastructure. Long past time that we rearrange our priorities.

[Martin Eden]

49. Would we have to take off our shoes and be subjected to a full body scan?

I'll take hi speed rail over air travel ANY day.

A week ago Sunday I spent 7 hours travelling and got nowhere. Freezing rain at O'Hare delayed then cancelled my flight on a cramped tin can I sat in for 2-1/2 hours. We had to book the next day for a Chicago to Nashville flight that spends 1 hour in the air.

[timdog44]

50. I would take slow speed rail anytime

It is the only way I can travel. Meet lots of interesting people and see this beautiful country of ours. And yes, even Nebraska is beautiful.

[graham4anything]

51. +1. YES this would be great

I want to be able to travel from NYC to Nashville Tenn and from there go to Florida, then home.
or go to Dallas and Huston then out to California and so on.

bring back the rails!

[liberal N proud]

52. Utopia

I would ride that at every chance.

[maddiemom]

55. My daughter just read that PA Gov. Corbett is proposing to eliminate the passanger route

between Harrisburg and Philly. At Philadelphia, you can connect to the airport. She's taken this train and says it's convenient and enjoyable. Corbett claims that you can get there just as fast by driving. Well, Duh...typical Republican thinking.

[wandy]

56. What a dream. 60 minutes drive to Denver, change over at Cleveland........

Quick hop to what looks like Syracuse. Fishing on the St. Lawrence and a few hour drive through beautiful country from home.
Travel time at 220 MPH. HA! You'd spend more time at airport terminals.
Makes you wonder why the republicans want this to be a third world country.

[No Vested Interest]

57. Too bad Ohio Gov. John Kasich refused to take part

in this project, so, no, Ohio won't be a part of it.

Last I heard, Ohio's share of the high-speed-rail money went to California.

(BTW, when was this map prepared?)

[HarveyDarkey]

58. The PDF at the link is dated 02-03-2013

Did you click on the link?

[No Vested Interest]

60. No, I didn't.

Can't help but wondering if those who prepared the map were aware of what had happened in Ohio and several other states.

[EC]

59. It'll never happen.

I've looked forward to something like this for a long time.