house.govsenate .govThis summer the Japanese retired their first bullet train after 44 yrs. of service. Have you seen their 500 series rapid transit? When I look at our meager Acela, I'm embarrassed.As long as we're building a new power grid, (I hope) why not add mag-lev tracks for 21st century energy-efficient transit?
Maglev is outrageously expensive. At least that's what everybody always say.
Why build a maglev when you can build a high speed system like the Shinkansen for a fraction of the price a maglev system would be?Hell...I would settle for a Super Rapid system, just please give us some trains in America, this is pathetic
>>73216whose bright idea was maglev, anyhow? Someone who wanted to charge a lot of money for magnets?
>>73216Why take a train when you can drive your Hummer? ...America is becoming very classist....
>>73231maglev looked like a better idea in the 60s and 70s when people weren't convinced conventional rail could support really high speeds, you couldn't just buy a high-speed train set off the shelf and nobody had the infrastructure you need to take advantage of them. People figured they may as well go for broke and build a new network instead of bothering with improving what they had.
>>73236what a ugly piece of shit.look at the cage over the front wndows. LOLZ WTF?
>>73239Presumably it's there for the same reason the T has them on its cab windows, to stop rocks.
>>73239Fuck you. TurboTrain is awesome.
Rebuilding the American infrastructure is like saving a sinking ship with a dixy cup. There's too much and we have too little to work with. Look at the nations that have advanced rail networks, they all have A) Much smaller size than the United States B) Much less rail freight movement, and C) They had their old infrastructures destroyed by war so its mostly new.And just to remind you, even if the government did pull their heads out of their asses and get our transportation industry back up where it belongs, you can thank the banks, investors, and retards who took out non-fixed rate mortgages so they could buy a 5 bedroom house and 2 Escalades for ruining any chance of that ever happening in the next couple decades.
>>73253the nations that have 'advanced rail networks' also don't have the most efficient freight rail network in the world, talking about freight like it's just an obstacle to real railroading is kind of missing the reason why we still even have a national network.
>>73257Well it's pretty easy to have the 'most efficient' freight network when there aren't any passenger trains to share the rails with.
>>73253Rebuilding American railroad infrastructure makes perfect sense. Most of the track and rights of way are still in place, which makes it much easier to repair it or lay new track. Here's how this would go down:1) Upgrade existing railways in the US--make them double tracked, add electric overhead wires, switch to EMU trains, and increase service.2) Begin building new lines or renovating abandoned ones in well-populated areas across the country. Build the new lines to the same standards as the upgraded lines from step 1.3) As ridership increases, take time to renovate stations across the system. Build them with fare gates to reduce fare-dodging. Expand station capacity, build shops, houses, and businesses around stations (ala Japan), and ensure that parking is provided out of the way of the public (underground or in a parking garage, for instance).4) As demand increases, it becomes more practical to expand rail service to small towns and villages. Rural lines can be built and operated at a loss, since the more urban lines should be running a profit by now. Lines which are unprofitable but popular should be run with tax money from the areas they serve, and lines which turn a decent profit can be privatized to reduce the burden on the taxpayer and to promote competitive service on the railroads.
>>73253A) European nations are smaller than the US, but Europe on the whole is about the same size, and many nations are larger than individual US states. If reconstruction and operation was done on a state-by-state level, it might work more smoothly. Furthermore, countries like Russia, Brazil, China, and Australia all have great railroad networks which are far-reaching and well-used. It's hardly impossible for the US to have a good system, since it's smaller than Russia, and more densely populated than Australia.B) Freight rail can work fine with passenger rail--it just can't be given the priority. In Japan, freight trains often get their own dedicated tracks or even entire lines. This is a ridiculously easy problem to solve in the US, it just requires intelligent scheduling.C) Their old infrastructure wasn't destroyed by war--it was damaged, and wrecked in one or two places, but on the whole European and Japanese railways came out from WWII exactly as they went into it. What happened afterwards (which DIDN'T happen here) was that they continued to fund their railways and promote smart growth--for agricultural reasons, not environmental ones--instead of abandoning all forms of transit except for the car and airplane. Since the railway network was never abandoned, people never stopped using it. If the US had done the same thing, we'd still have the world's largest railway network, like we did right up until the 1940s or 50s.
Rebuilding American railroad milkshake stands makes perfect sense. Most of the stands and rights of way are still in place, which makes it much easier to repair or lay a new stand. Here's how this would go down:1) Upgrade existing railways in the US--make them double tracked, add electric overhead wires, switch to EMU trains, and increase milkshake stand service.2) Begin building new lines or renovating abandoned ones in well-populated areas across the country. Build the new lines to the same standards as the upgraded lines from step 13) As ridership increases, take time to renovate stations across the system. Build them with fare gates to reduce refill-dodging. Expand station capacity, build shake machines, houses, and stands around stations (ala Japan), and ensure that parking is provided out of the way of the public (underground or in a parking garage, for instance with a/c).4) As demand increases, it becomes more practical to expand milkshake service to small towns and villages. Rural lines can be built and operated at a loss, since the more urban lines should be running a profit by now. Lines which are unprofitable but popular should be run with tax money from the areas they serve milkshakes, and lines which turn a decent profit can be privatized to reduce the burden on the taxpayer and to promote competitive service on exotic flavors.
A) European nations are smaller than the US, but Europe on the whole is about the same size, and many nations are larger than individual US states. Some have better taste in books and tv, others do not. If reconstruction and operation was done on a state-by-state level, it might work more smoothly if Ron Paul was president. Furthermore, countries like Russia, Brazil, China, and Australia all have great railroad networks which are far-reaching and well-used. It's hardly impossible for the US to have a good milkshake railway system, since it's smaller than Russia, and more densely populated than Australia (less crazy as well)B) Freight rail can work fine with passenger rail--it just can't be given the priority. Ever. In Japan, freight trains often get their own dedicated tracks or even entire milkshake rivers. This is a ridiculously easy problem to solve in the US, it just requires intelligent scheduling and bombing land.C) Their old infrastructure wasn't destroyed by war--it was damaged, and wrecked in one or two places, but on the whole European and Japanese railways came out from WWII exactly as they went into it. What happened afterwards (which DIDN'T happen here) was that they continued to fund their railways and promote smart growth--for liquid refreshment reasons, not environmental ones--instead of abandoning all forms of transit except for the car and airplane. Since the railway network was never abandoned, people never stopped using it or drinking milkshakes. If the US had done the same thing, we'd still have the world's largest railway network, like we did right up until the 1940s or 50s when milkshake sales boomed.
>>73270America didn't pull up the railroads, they pulled themselves up when the Penn Central happened.watch this video, be sad:http://vodpod.com/watch/1222140-penn-central-1974-movie-used-to-convince-congress-to-provide-loans-to-bankrupt-railroadthen be happy the Staggers act happened and railroading stabilized.
I think the problem with long haul high speed rail in the U.S. is that there is no public transport infrastructure in our cities. Its all well and good for me to go from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh (or vice versa)on a high speed rail line, it's too short for air and too long for auto.. the problem is, once i get there, how do i get around? i might as well have driven in the first place, so thats what i do (hypothetically). Hell even regional networks would be great. I do go to cape cod every summer, and acela on the north east corridor to Boston would be fast as hell. the problem is, how do I get to the cape from there? So i drive the 7 hours.About the only time I take rail is to go to DC or NY because you can actually get around those cities by subway.
they were going to build a high speed rail network in Texas in the early 1990s connecting the 'texas triangle' of three major cities, Airlines killed it
>>73284Absolutely true--rebuilding railroads would also rebuild the old regional networks. Virtually every town in the country, however small, used to have a train station, if not several. Also, every city and many towns had streetcars to get around. Bringing all of this back would be a lengthy and expensive procedure, but would last decades when completed and would remove hundreds of millions of cars from the road--all in all, worth it.Large cities would also want to start building heavy rail metro systems, since streetcars are hampered by high demand.
>>73284If you don't mind Ptown, it's actually way faster to go carless.1. Acela to South Station.2. Red Line to Downtown Crossing.3. Orange Line to State.4. Blue Line to Aquarium.5. Fast Ferry (<1.5 hours) to Provincetown.6. Decent bus service around Provincetown.
>>73300thanks anon. my aunt (reason i go to the cape) lives in sandwich though, ptown is a hike. ill see about a ferry there though, i had never thought of taking a ferry.
>>73314sandwichfine... then go to Boston and take the commuter rail to Plymouth (then bus/walk/take you bike) OR just take the bus to Sandwich... it runs about 12 times a day between South Station and Hyannis with several stops in between, and Sandwich is the 2/3 point!! quitcherbitchin'
>>73300>>73334Erm, yeah Acela to South Station then BUs to Cape...P & B bus FTWhttp://www.p-b.com/Sched-Provtwn.html
>>73253Maglev's overrated and expensive, but I wish we could get something like Spain's AVE network here in the states. They're building a network where 90% of the people are going to be within 30 miles of a station(supposedly). As far as the size of America is concerned, and as far as land area, Spain and France combined are about the same in areas as all the states from Massachusetts west to Illinois, and south to Virginia/Kentucky. I'll take that for now, and worry about expanding through the empty parts of the country later.
It was a mistake to dismantle the great American railways.
