High Speed Rail (Boston to... Texas?)

360? panoramic aerial view of 380km/h Wuhan-Guangzhou High-Speed Rail:

Qingyuan Station (Google Maps)
http://www.nddaily.com/multimedianews/360/200912/t20091222_1102418.shtml
http://umedia.nddaily.com/pano360/20091222qingyuan.swf

Shaoguan Station (Google Maps)
http://www.nddaily.com/multimedianews/360/200912/t20091222_1102417.shtml
http://umedia.nddaily.com/pano360/20091222jingzhujiaohui.swf

Dawoshan Tunnel (Google Maps)
http://www.nddaily.com/multimedianews/360/200912/t20091222_1102416.shtml
http://umedia.nddaily.com/pano360/20091222qingyuanduan.swf

North River (Google Maps)
http://www.nddaily.com/multimedianews/360/200912/t20091222_1102415.shtml
http://umedia.nddaily.com/pano360/20091222beijing.swf

Guangzhou South Station (Google Maps)
http://www.nddaily.com/multimedianews/360/200912/t20091222_1102409.shtml
http://umedia.nddaily.com/pano360/20091222guangzhounanzhan.swf

Simply amazing.
 
One thing people overlook when comparing Europe/Asian HSR to America is that because land use patterns are different there is must more space to build new ROWs. The last time America had that much free space we used it for highways and now how suburban sprawl to contend with. This is the major reason upgrading the Northeast Corridor to full HSR is so expensive.

Look at those European/Asian lines and they go through a lot of country side. In the cities it is easy to use older rail ROWs or along new highways.
 
Highway expansion cut right through cities and neighborhoods, some never recovered.
 
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A local comparison to this speed would be traveling between Boston and NYC in one hour. 3.5x as fast as Acela. 2x as fast as European HSR. So the lower limit to travel time is near-limitless, we just need the political willpower to actually get this done (and not confuse top speed with average speed, we need a service between Boston and NYC without stopping). I know, its very expensive, but it sure as hell will be worth it. 2.5 hours between Boston and DC, I would not want to miss that train :)
 
political willpower to actually get this done
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I'm just not sure laying track on a straighter route optimized for trains of that speed is possible in the crowded NEC. Try as we might, I don't think we're going to be able to summon the same political willpower of an authoritarian country where the concept of private property is shaky.
 
But as Yonah Freemark observed in July, the price of Florida's high-speed rail victory may be paid over time by residents of the Tampa-Orlando area. Without a link to downtown Orlando, the rail network's potential to promote dense, mixed-use development near its various stations could be significantly diminished.
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How true.
 
At least it appears there is a connection to the orlando airport.
 
The route is Orlando International Airport --> International Drive (convention center area) --> Disney/Celebration --> Lakeland --> Tampa/Ybor City
 
Moscow to St. Petersburg is a 404-mile ride. The route?s been busy since Czarist times, linking Russia?s versions of New York and Chicago (which --at 810 miles?lie twice as far apart).

Last December, to considerable fanfare, the Moscow-St. Petersburg run acquired its first ?true? high-speed service (?Sapsan?), courtesy of Siemens rolling stock and extensive track upgrades. This cut the route?s fastest time from 4h30m (89.7 mph avg.) to 3h45m (107.7 mph avg.).

As on a plane, there are no intermediate stops on two out of the three Sapsan runs. The new train operates at 125 mph on the better stretches of track, but mostly it doesn?t. It?s like Acela --almost high speed. But no matter: on this route, the trains cream the planes in passenger volume.

But not for the reason you think.

If you consult a train schedule, you?ll find a paltry handful of these fast daytime trains, with service gaps of three hours or more. Where are the trains?

As you scroll down, the answer unfolds: the great majority of the trains on this busy route leave in the evening, and they take an unhurried eight hours or more to make the non-stop trip. That?s because the capitalists who own these trains want you to have a good night?s sleep.

And they want you to spend plenty on blinis and vodka ?to say nothing of a great breakfast.

The latest of these trains is hyperbolically named the Grand Express; it may be grand, but it?s no express; it takes its time (8h55m) to waft you between the two cities at a languid average of 45.3 mph. Folks who have also taken the hour-shorter Red Arrow prefer the slower Grand Express for the additional hour of sleep.

Actually, the perfect length of an overnight train trip for business purposes is not nine hours, but thirteen. If you depart at 6pm, you can have a couple of drinks in the club car, a laid-back three-course meal heavy on the comfort food, a couple more drinks in the club car, and a nice little nightcap while you enjoy the flat screen TV in your cabin ?or the free WiFi.

(In Russia, a lady of negotiable virtue may even offer to join you for an hour.)

Your scheduled time of arrival is 7am, though most trains arrive about a half-hour early. Plenty of time for a relaxed, cholesterol-laden breakfast before the big meeting ?and anyway, they don?t actually kick you off the train until 9am.

At an average speed of 64.8mph, the new Twenty-First Century Limited could get you reliably from New York to Chicago in exactly 12-1/2 hours. The reason? The freight lines have agreed to give it track priority. No more ridiculous eight-hour delays.

But that?s not all! 12-1/2 hour non-stop trips can also be taken linking Chicago with Philadelphia (790 miles @ 63.2mph), Washington 710 miles @56.8mph), while thirteen-hour travel times would take you from Chicago to Boston (984 miles @ 75.7mph), New Orleans (920 miles @ 70.8mph), and Montreal (850 miles @ 65.4mph).

It?s not high speed, so guess how much money has been spent on upgrading track or locomotion?

We can buy the sleeping, dining and club cars from Russia.

(The ladies are optional.)

.
 
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Amtrak (and Penn Central before that) used to offer an overnight 'Executive Sleeper' train between Washington DC and NYC. This was done not by running an extra-slow train, but rather by having a sleeper car sit on a siding ready for boarding in the evening. In the middle of the night, a train would pick up the sleeper car and deliver it to the other endpoint in time for morning coffee.
 
^ Interesting story, but a largely pointless train. New York and Washington are too close for any kind of sleeper to make sense.
 
Not so much a 'train' as an extra car that was added to or dropped from an already-existing train (the 'Night Owl' Boston-Washington sleeper).

Now that I'm remembering it better: the southbound Night Owl picked up this sleeper car at NY Penn Station in the wee hours of the early morning. The northbound train dropped off the sleeper car during the same wee hours (and its occupants could remain in it until 8:30 am or so).
 
ablarc said:
(In Russia, a lady of negotiable virtue may even offer to join you for an hour.)

We can buy the sleeping, dining and club cars from Russia.

(The ladies are optional.)
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Iam asking OLD unkle. He saying DIFFERENt guage so it not fit good.
 
Ablarc, your (or the Russians') idea certainly seems splendid. Take the executive club out of the airport and put it on the plane. How much do you supposed a 12-13 hour overnight trip like this would cost? Of course, it would vary depending on the luxury, but if I can fly from CHI to NYC in 2-3 hours, for a similar amount of money, why wouldn't I do it?

Your solution brings back the romantic idea of rail travel (it still exists, up in B.C. you can ride around for days with a bunch of old people, or so I hear). I like that a lot. The evening you described seems awfully pleasant, especially compared to the hassle airports present.

The airline industry could learn a lot from railroads, and vice versa.
 
bostonbred said:
Iam asking OLD unkle. He saying DIFFERENt guage so it not fit good.
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Different gauge is correct (almost a foot wider in Russia). A rolling stock manufacturer can build to any gauge; wouldn't last long in the marketplace if he couldn't.
 
kennedy said:
How much do you suppose a 12-13 hour overnight trip like this would cost?
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Russia?s capitalists have set the price at about $200. It seems wildly successful. And think how much additional revenue the dining and club cars bring in. The airlines are all but dead in the water on this route ?but for exactly the opposite reason why they?re dead on the Madrid-Barcelona route, where the trains are lightning-fast. Whether Spain or Russia, you can be sure that the train operators will not examine your anus for explosives ?though both countries have big Muslim populations.

kennedy said:
Of course, it would vary depending on the luxury, but if I can fly from CHI to NYC in 2-3 hours, for a similar amount of money, why wouldn't I do it?
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Not certain what your question is here, but if it?s ?why take the train??, the answer is you save the cost of at least one and maybe two nights in a hotel, you?re refreshed, you?ve had a pleasant adventure, and no one has made you get to the airport 90 minutes early to have your underwear inspected. Finally, you saved on taxi fare, had one or two good meals and still have your nail clippers. Did I mention that your suitcase never left your side?

.
 
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If rail travel really took off, wouldn't the TSA find a way to add ridiculously invasive security measures?

I didn't think of the hotel, that's a good point.

I have a feeling it would be very difficult to convince the American people of this system, whether it be the Russia model or the Spain model. And far more difficult to implement this system without some sort of concession due to bureaucratic bullshit.

Is the Russian system state owned, or by Russia's capitalists, do you mean it's actually a private corporation?
 
ablarc said:
Different gauge is correct (almost a foot wider in Russia). A rolling stock manufacturer can build to any gauge; wouldn't last long in the marketplace if he couldn't.
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I hear that during the cold winters the gauge contracts until the wheels start turning and the steel hardens.
 
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