Crazy Transit Pitches

The Next Gen Acela plans call for Boston to DC to take 3hr and 20mins....so 5 to 7 hrs to Miami is realistic , but would never happen.
 
whighlander said:
Urb -- that argument is flawed because in a given MSA (Metropolitan Area according to the Census Bureau) most of the trips would either not originate in the CBD near to the HSR station or would not end near to the CBD

For a more concrete example -- you wake up at home in Lincoln and your destination is White Plains NY:
1) Train
a) drive to Westwood at Rt-128 -- you could take the Commuter Rail & T to South Station
b) Acela to Penn Station,
c) then what?
2) Plane
a) drive to Logan -- you could take the Commuter Rail & T to Logan
b) Fly to Laguardia or Newark
c) rent a car
d) drive to White Plains
3) Car -- drive directly to White Plains and your destination

I had a consulting project in Stamford that moved to White Plains. When it was in Stamford, I mostly took the train mostly from Rt-128. After the move to White Plains, I tried all three modes (the plane sometimes actually flew directly to White Plains) -- after the project moved to White Plains I ended-up driving most of the time

Note -- If there had been a flight from Hanscom to White Plains -- I would have taken it every time except when I was hauling a bunch of equipment
Click to expand...

Hmmmm....

White Plains has a train station and is 30mins from Grand Central. One day , 20 years from now there will be a east - west rail link connecting WP to the NEC and HSR to Boston...
 
Nexis4jersey said:
Top High Speed rail Networks by 2050

California High Speed Rail Network
Size : 800+ Mi (1,300kms)
Number of lines : 6
Stations : 25+
Projected Ridership : 95 Million a Year or 260,730 Daily
Top Speed : 220mph (350Km/h)
Cost : 68.5 Billion $

Midwest High Speed Rail Network
Size : 700 Mi+ (1,296Kms)
Stations : 76+ (Feeders factored in)
Lines : 6+ with 7 Feeders
Projected Ridership : 43 Million a year or 120,000 daily (Feeders factored in)
Top Speed on Trunk lines : 220mph (350Km/h)
Top Speed on Secondary / Feeder lines : 125mph (201Km/h)
Cost : 58 Billion $

Northeastern High Speed Network
Size : 1940 Mi+ (3,592kms)
Lines : 4+ with 6 Feeders
Stations : 90+ (Feeders factored in)
Projected Ridership : 127 Million a year or 350,000 daily (Feeders factored in)
Top Speed on Trunk lines : 220mph (350Km/h)
Top Speed on Secondary / Feeder lines : 125mph (201Km/h)
Cost : 120 Billion $

Taken from MWHSR , CAHSR and AMtrak Next gen sources , all done by 2050 or 2060 which is easy to do...Some of the lines are under Construction I do count the 110mph lines for now. I would say that 260 miles is under construction for enhancements and HSR prep in the Northeast which means 110mph , with room for 125mph Electric service down the road.
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Click to expand...

Can you please tell me the exact routes and station on the high speed networks?
 
glmap2.jpg

Here's my stylized map showing what I believe to be the most critical extensions over coming decades, both to serve new areas and also enhance the efficiency of the network.

Green Line
BC –Government Center
Cleveland Circle – “Silver Line Way”, via surface Essex Street (closed to vehicles)and Piers Transitway (Silver Line Tunnel)
Riverside – Porter
Needham Center – Kenmore
Heath Street - West Medford
Ashmont – Park Street, via BHA and Dudley and Tremont Street Tunnel
Navy Yard – City Point, via surface Greenway and Piers Transitway

Orange Line
Needham Center – Oak Grove

Red Line
Alewife – Ashmont
Alewife – Braintree
Alewife – Readville ,via Mass Ave tunnel and Fairmount Line
South Station – Readville, via Fairmount Line (not connected to through-line at SS)

Blue Line
Charles/MGH – Lynn
Charles/MGH – Chelsea

Shuttle Line
South Station to Back Bay (via DMU) – extended to Yawkee for Red Sox home games

Airport Express Shuttle Bus
Serving South Station, BCEC, terminals, and Airport BL
 
I like this plan a lot (still skeptical of all the plans to route both the Green and Orange Lines to Needham though - let's concentrate on real urban areas first!)

No description of that pink line?
 
Thanks!

CZ - pink line is actually two red line branches shown in a differentiated color (as I did also with the GL) -1) Alewife – Readville ,via Mass Ave tunnel and Fairmount Line; 2)South Station – Readville, via Fairmount Line (not connected to through-line at SS)
I suppose you're right about Needham - that's not all that immediately necessary. But I do think OL to WRox is more necessary - and if you're tearing out the Needham line for that purpose, replacement service would be necessary, right?

Van - Honored you like the style! I did this in Sketchup actually, making very heavy use of the offset tool and style window. Here's another view of the same map without the style and angled perspective:

glmap2straight.jpg
 
Shepard, that map is gorgeous. I love how you expanded the Green Line; wouldn't be that hard for the T to do all that. I like how you provide service to Dorchester, Mattapan, Charlestown and Chelsea, all currently without adequate service.

[EDIT: I like how you use the Kenmore loop to shortturn the Needham Branch. Since it seems like the service would mainly be used for village-to-village trips within Needham and between Newton and Needham, no point in making it go all the way into downtown. Customers who want that could take the Orange Line.]

Orange Line to Needham doesn't really bother me, since it will also cover Roslindale and West Roxbury; like you said, in for a penny, in for a pound on that route, I suppose.

If it were me, I would extend that BOS-BOB shuttle to Yawkey full time, but that's just me. Would take some pressure off over the Boylston Street Subway of the Green Line. Maybe peak hour service only?

My big gripe, though, is running Red Line rolling stock over the Midland Branch. Boston has cannibalized enough of the railroads in and out of the city, particularly on the south side, and running rapid transit on that right of way would eliminate another. While I understand the rationale for providing that level/type of service to Dorchester, the relative cost seems too high. Better to electrify it and run EMUs on that corridor, in my view. That would allow freight or even (hypothetical future) late night Amtrak to easily use the corridor at night, and would allow day-time Amtrak and commuter rail some flexibility during the day.

But I do like the Massachusetts Avenue subway. (I have it in just about every single one of my fantasy T maps.) I'd say keep that Red Line, and connect it either to Andrew via Southampton or JFK-UMass via Mass Ave and Columbia Road.

As I said, gorgeous map. :)
 
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