Texas Central Railway to build high speed shinkansen type line

[BusHunter]

Was reading an article in Trains magazine about Texas wanting to build a high speed shinkansen type service from Dallas to Houston with only one stop in the Brazos valley. The line will be completely elevated and run trains at a speed of up to 205 mph. (Japans shinkansen can go 300 mph) construction was supposed to have started in 2019 with completion in 2026. They claim that I-45 in Texas is one of the most deadly stretches of highway. In the USA. It sounds like it could be a viable alternative to the short flights within texas. It would be cool if this would catch on in other states. 

[artthouwill]

22 hours ago, BusHunter said:

Was reading an article in Trains magazine about Texas wanting to build a high speed shinkansen type service from Dallas to Houston with only one stop in the Brazos valley. The line will be completely elevated and run trains at a speed of up to 205 mph. (Japans shinkansen can go 300 mph) construction was supposed to have started in 2019 with completion in 2026. They claim that I-45 in Texas is one of the most deadly stretches of highway. In the USA. It sounds like it could be a viable alternative to the short flights within texas. It would be cool if this would catch on in other states. 

That would be great.   Southwest Airlines started as an intrastate airline connecting Dallas,  Houston, San Antonio, and Austin.   These high speed corridors would be great, except the big problem of land acquisition and bureaucracy.   Some landowner will always be an impediment and Some advocate will always file lawsuits to blick these projects..  in bigger,  older cities like Chicago,  there's no infrastructure to support high speed rail..  The way our Chicago to St Louis high speed network would look, top speed would be 110mph and would only shave one hour off the current travel time. 

Lis Angeles to San Francisco needs a high speed rail network.   I thought Florida was trying to construct one too.

[BusHunter]

I dont see the difference in building a structure in texas versus here. A structure is a structure. If each state could build something then they could all connect and become a network. They say that rail service in the us doesnt have good ridership but if you speed it up you have something to rival the airlines. I wonder why all the help for the airlines and not so much love for the trains. There just seems to be a different culture here than in Japan.  In Japan the trains carry half the population of Japan. That could change here but you have to invest in  it or you'll have a lackluster service. Was looking at amtrak last week and the journey on the california zephyr, out to SF from here is 41 hours youch!!! Its something I always wanted to do. Theres actually an amtrak train tracker which shows the train out to sf in real time. Theres like 5 trains one a day. Each train is numbered 1-5. Seems like a cool thing to do!!

Oh I was  reading also the new engines amtrak got for its state ran service as well as Wisconsin and Michigan*  the hiawatha ro milwaukee runs them and a service to carbondale runs those). I was reading amtrak wants to buy those engines for its interstate service like the california zephyr or empire builder so the future of amtrak will be those locos. It's really cool seeing those run downstate. If you drive I-55 down around Pontiac you'll see them. 

[artthouwill]

8 hours ago, BusHunter said:

I dont see the difference in building a structure in texas versus here. A structure is a structure. If each state could build something then they could all connect and become a network. They say that rail service in the us doesnt have good ridership but if you speed it up you have something to rival the airlines. I wonder why all the help for the airlines and not so much love for the trains. There just seems to be a different culture here than in Japan.  In Japan the trains carry half the population of Japan. That could change here but you have to invest in  it or you'll have a lackluster service. Was looking at amtrak last week and the journey on the california zephyr, out to SF from here is 41 hours youch!!! Its something I always wanted to do. Theres actually an amtrak train tracker which shows the train out to sf in real time. Theres like 5 trains one a day. Each train is numbered 1-5. Seems like a cool thing to do!!

Oh I was  reading also the new engines amtrak got for its state ran service as well as Wisconsin and Michigan*  the hiawatha ro milwaukee runs them and a service to carbondale runs those). I was reading amtrak wants to buy those engines for its interstate service like the california zephyr or empire builder so the future of amtrak will be those locos. It's really cool seeing those run downstate. If you drive I-55 down around Pontiac you'll see them. 

Tell me WHERE you can build a high speed  rail network here?

[BusHunter]

3 hours ago, artthouwill said:

Tell me WHERE you can build a high speed  rail network here?

On existing service lines of course. The service is already elevated in the city. You just need to elevate it in the burbs. The world is changing. Metra is at 10 percent ridership. Covid has changed the world like 911 changed it. Those office buildings downtown that are vacant may remain vacant indefinitely. The office sector has been shown now how easily to have a stay at home network, so why would they ever come back to the office? Even with a vaccine it will be until 12 months for people to get vaccinated, so it will be at least that long. Remember the 911 scares we had after 911. It will be some time before the people trust confined spaces even after a vaccine because no one will know who got it.

Plus being elevated you can electrify the whole line. Trains would be faster because they are lighter. We could actually get around the city instead of waiting for trains all day. That could also work on a freight network too. You could have high speed freight which would rival the trucking industry. I'm not saying it will happen tomorrow, but if it don't happen at all then your stuck in the past and things in the past get left behind.

[artthouwill]

1 hour ago, BusHunter said:

On existing service lines of course. The service is already elevated in the city. You just need to elevate it in the burbs. The world is changing. Metra is at 10 percent ridership. Covid has changed the world like 911 changed it. Those office buildings downtown that are vacant may remain vacant indefinitely. The office sector has been shown now how easily to have a stay at home network, so why would they ever come back to the office? Even with a vaccine it will be until 12 months for people to get vaccinated, so it will be at least that long. Remember the 911 scares we had after 911. It will be some time before the people trust confined spaces even after a vaccine because no one will know who got it.

Plus being elevated you can electrify the whole line. Trains would be faster because they are lighter. We could actually get around the city instead of waiting for trains all day. That could also work on a freight network too. You could have high speed freight which would rival the trucking industry. I'm not saying it will happen tomorrow, but if it don't happen at all then your stuck in the past and things in the past get left behind.

Most of the "existing service" is  owned and operated by freight  railroads.   They are not, nor will they ever be interested in passenger rail service.   Amtrak has to pay them to use their tracks  everywhere except the northeast corrudor Acela service.  If CN were to abandon its Illinois Central tracks through Illinois then that would be a fantastic thing.  Outside of that, you are in fantasy. 

Most freight cars are top loaded which could not be done with overhead electrical wiring.  The costs would be astronomical.