High speed rail across this country would solve our problem

[Horse with no Name]

Imagine connecting urban and rural areas? Where people in rural areas could easily work in the cities and people that work in the cities could easily live in the rural areas.
I think that might be the answer to our problems.

[beachbum bob]

1. nope....the cost is prohibitive for anything but close to urban centers and most of them

have mass transport now

[Kilgore]

8. I can fly round-trip from Portland to Sacramento for $97.....

And do it in an hour.

Amtrack can do it in 15 hours for $150

Trains dont make sense

[Lars39]

12. Fuck that, it is do able if we want it.

I should be able to ride a train directly from Nashville to Chicago and get there in a timely manner.

[MichMary]

14. How many stops

would that train have to make between Nashville and Chicago before it would no longer be getting there "in a timely manner?"

[Lars39]

18. Logistics can be worked out.

Saying right off the bat it can't be done is defeatism.

[MichMary]

19. Not defeatism, pragmatism

Unless the logistics include throwing people from a train running at high speed, multiple stops (and on a Nashville to Chicago route there would have to be many stops since it is nearly 500 miles) will slow you down considerably.

[Lars39]

20. So don't even attempt it huh.

[dumbcat]

23. Not when you try to call it high speed rail

which it wouldn't be.

[TransitJohn]

21. I would start with reading reports and studies by transportation engineers and agencies.

They pretty much agree with the people you are arguing with here in this thread. Rail makes some sense for regional travel within about 200 miles. It doesn't make much sense for crossing even one of our western states. The United States is huge.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

2. I agree... Bernie has been advocating this also, for very good reason.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

3. We should submit the plan to Drumpf and his Legion of Deplorables.

[Wounded Bear]

4. No, it wouldn't...

high speed rail is the train based version of a freeway. It will be built to bypass small town America on its route between major population centers.

Light rail is needed for the suburban/urban link. A train that has to stop at all of the small town stations between Chicago and LA will not be "high speed."

Of course, if you actually think that is a problem. I don't think that's it. The real problem is that "small town/rural Americans" want everybody else to kowtow to their wishes. They're in their own bubbles.

[Horse with no Name]

5. Well since I live in rural Texas

High speed rail along the existing Interstates would open it up here.

[jberryhill]

9. "High speed rail" that stops at small towns is not "high speed rail"

If you are stopping at ten towns for five minutes, that's 50 minutes of going nowhere.

[Horse with no Name]

11. For myself...

I wouldn't expect it to stop at every town....but every 100 miles or so along the interstate would be helpful.

[Travis_0004]

6. Too expensive

And one of the reasons that rail is too slow is every small town along the way wants a stop.

If high speed rail is to be effective (and only in limited areas, like the northwest US,) it can't stop at every small town along the way.

[MineralMan]

16. Minneapolis St. Paul have light rail lines.

I could go to the MSP airport on them. However, I'd have to drive to downtown St. Paul or ride the Metro bus there to catch the train. If I drive, it will take 20 minutes and I'll have to pay for a parking space. If I ride the Metro bus, it will take 45 minutes from the nearest bus stop to. Then, I'd have to get on the Green Line and ride it to the end of the line. That takes an hour. Then I'd have to get on the Blue line and ride it to the airport. That takes almost another hour. Both light rail trains make multiple stops to pick up and discharge passengers.

What are my other options? Well, I can drive to the airport in 25 minutes from my house and park for about $11/day. Or, I can arrange for a shuttle to pick me up at my home and take me to the airport. That costs $30 and takes about half an hour from my house.

Which of all those options would you use? Personally, I call and arrange shuttle rides to and from the airport. Works great. The light rail? Not a chance, I don't need to spend almost three hours getting to the airport. Not happening.

The same problems would come with "high speed rail" from rural areas. Too many stops. Not "high speed" at all. "High speed rail" is for transportation between large population centers. There's nothing "high speed" about commuter rail lines.

[Travis_0004]

17. I just drive to the airport

I can park for about 7 bucks a day.

If I'm going somewhere for a long time, I'll take Uber, or have a friend or family drop me off and pick me up.

[BlueMTexpat]

7. So would a universal draft

for national service ... not the military only.

[branford]

10. It's the assumption that people living in rural areas actually want to

work in the major cities is precisely the sort of urban, elitist presumptuousness the resulted in the election of Trump.

Besides, if a train stops in every small town it's not high-speed rail.

[pangaia]

13. As others have said.. yes and no.

The fastest 'high-speed rail would, in fact, need to be between sizeable cities only.

But, there could possibly also be trains running on the same lines that travel at similar speeds but make more stops, thus taking longer.

As an example,
I frequently use the Shinkansen when I am in Japan.

When traveling from Kyoto to Tokyo..
The distance is about 275 miles.
There are three speeds of trains on this line-- the Tokaido Line.

The fastest is the Kodama, which makes just 4 stops- Nagoya, Yokohama, Shinagawa and Tokyo Station. --- Secret-- unless you REALLY need to go to Tokyo Station for a transfer or some other reason, get off at Shinagawa. :&gt )) ---

It takes about 2:15 to Shinagawa. and for a reserved seat costs about $120 one way..
The slower trains are cheaper. The slowest train makes about 15 stops and takes some 4 hours. (Driving takes about 6 hours and cost much more due to tolls and petrol.)


PLUS-- you don't have to worry about getting to an airport 2 hours early, standing in lines, security, cramped seats, bad weather, 'equipment' problems ( very, very rarely in Japan, anyway). Getting from the airport to the city... Plus the seats on extremely comfortable...

So, this might be one option to consider... trains with more or less stops.. (BTW, stops on the Shinkansen are FAST... 2-3 minutes. Do not linger.)


So 'high-speed' rail will not 'solve' whatever the problem is in the rural areas of the country, but it certainly would be a boon to a large percentage of the population where it is feasible, which could include smaller urban areas in otherwise 'rural America..

[Hoyt]

15. High speed internet allows most people to work remotely.

[librechik]

22. I foresee 8 yrs of Republicans holding it out as a prospect

then obstructing it for 8 years, etc etc.

[RedWedge]

24. Physicial mobility is not the problem this nation is facing.