Article

2021-06-19 Economy

Texas Contract for $16 B High-Speed Train

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by Bobby 2021-06-19 00:00|| E-Mail|| Front Page|| [11131 views ] Top

#1 between Dallas and Houston

My drive, @300 miles door to door, would take about 3 hours on I-45.

Posted by Skidmark 2021-06-19 09:07|| 2021-06-19 09:07|| Front Page Top

#2 Well the fare would have to be less than an airline ticket
The stations more accessible than airports and there has to be intermodal connections with Amtrak airports and public transportation for this to work
Hopefully Texas is smart enough to avoid the Charlie Foxtrot train to nowhere that Californicate is building

Posted by Sock Puppet of Doom 2021-06-19 09:32|| 2021-06-19 09:32|| Front Page Top

#3 Sometime after 9/11 my best friend was thinking of going back to Buffalo (he's in the Boston area like I am). I told him I could drive to Buffalo faster than he could fly there (I once drove it in about 7 1/2 hours). We hashed it out numberswise and figured it would be pretty close.

Posted by Raj 2021-06-19 09:56|| 2021-06-19 09:56|| Front Page Top

#4 3 hours on I-45.
Depending on traffic it can take almost that long to just get across Dallas (or Houston.)

Posted by Glenmore 2021-06-19 12:05|| 2021-06-19 12:05|| Front Page Top

#5 I'm not saying that stretch is a peach, but every time I see High Speed Train...

Posted by swksvolFF 2021-06-19 13:12|| 2021-06-19 13:12|| Front Page Top

#6 Et tu Tex?

Posted by g(r)omgoru PB 2021-06-19 14:34|| 2021-06-19 14:34|| Front Page Top

#7 For # 3
Man, what were driving a bicycle ?
I used to do Boston to Buffalo in 5hrs 45min
in my red 1966 VW Bug 4-cyl. 1285cc/50hp 1bbl with manual transmission. The secret was floor the gas pedal going down the hills and mountains (click click click sound on the 80 mph speedo)
so you could get up the next hill or mountain, speed limit was 70mph back then.
Got stopped by NY State Police 🚨 once ...
I explained my methodology to my driving, he gave me a warning ⚠ and told me to "do the speed limit", then he followed me for about six miles.
I kept to the 70mph down hill and floored it going up hill, my speed kept sinking as my Bug struggled to even maintain 45mph - the minimum for the Interstates at the time.
After two more hills the SPO turned on his lights and motioned for me to pull over as I was going up the hill. I did, he got out of the car, walked up to my car, I rolled down the window and he said,
"Sir, After what I have witnessed I must issue you a warning ⚠ you were doing 39 mph in a 70 mph zone coming up this hill, its a warning not a ticket, but you should not be driving this car on the Interstate if it can not do the minimum 45 mph." He wrote up the warning and handed it to me and told me to affix it to my passenger side windshield. Then he said, "While it is against my better judgement, I believe you should go back to your former way of driving the Interstate to get to your destination. I'm saying this because I don't want to see you run over by a tractor trailer going up and down these hills."

Posted by Clatle Johnson6602 2021-06-19 15:15|| 2021-06-19 15:15|| Front Page Top

#8 Amtrak NorthEast

Posted by Bill the Weasel5085 2021-06-19 16:06|| 2021-06-19 16:06|| Front Page Top

#9 Only politicians would fall for this boondoggle. You can drive it in four hours or fly it in 45 minutes.

This is Texas, for God's sake! We don't need no stinking trains!

Posted by Javiter Dark Lord of the Faith7963 2021-06-19 17:34|| 2021-06-19 17:34|| Front Page Top

#10
And I was soooo looking forward to the re-establishment of a Great Texas Tradition by the Wakandans

Posted by Bill Clunk9066 2021-06-19 18:34|| 2021-06-19 18:34|| Front Page Top

#11

Posted by Bill Clunk9066 2021-06-19 18:43|| 2021-06-19 18:43|| Front Page Top

#12

Posted by Bill Clunk9066 2021-06-19 18:49|| 2021-06-19 18:49|| Front Page Top

#13 Only politicians would fall for this boondoggle.

Unlike California high speed rail, this is private money and the risk is theirs. The money will be spent in TX and taxes collected.

There has been talk, for as long as NAFTA has been in effect, of an I-35 rail corridor to transship Mexican imports. This would follow the general route. Add a spur into Mexico...

Posted by Ebbaimp Phaitle6006 2021-06-19 19:04|| 2021-06-19 19:04|| Front Page Top

#14 Trains are a cheap way to move freight. The only thing cheaper is by ship. (Anyone up for the West Texas Extension to the Intercoastal Waterway?)

For high-speed people moving, you want rocket trains. Or maybe leave off the train part and just rockets. It's the 21st Century, people.
We're talking the 3:10 to LEO!

Posted by SteveS 2021-06-19 19:30|| 2021-06-19 19:30|| Front Page Top

#15 Blew my fuzzy little mind a while back trying to guesstimate what kinda bus setup California could buy with that train money. Came up with something like a bus every thirty seconds between SD and SF, sixteen hours a day. No fare. So... we just solved "homelessness" too.

Posted by Butch Gurly-Brown8928 2021-06-19 20:46|| 2021-06-19 20:46|| Front Page Top

#16 #13 has it - Private $, Private $ Loss

Posted by Frank G 2021-06-19 21:29|| 2021-06-19 21:29|| Front Page Top

#17
$16 Billion divided by 236 miles = $67,796,610/ mile

Approximately 78.8 Miles per hour average speed.

Posted by Clealing Gleater2810 2021-06-19 22:01|| 2021-06-19 22:01|| Front Page Top

#18
118 MPH about 2 hours

Bullet trains vary in speed, although most travel between 150 and 187 miles per hour. The Shinkansen averaged 100 mph to 131 mph (160 kph to 210 kph) in its earlier days. Newer parts of the Japanese network average 163 mph (261 kph) and boast an upper range of 187 mph (300 kph)

Posted by Clealing Gleater2810 2021-06-19 22:08|| 2021-06-19 22:08|| Front Page Top

23:11 crazyhorse
23:05 crazyhorse
22:39 Thraling Black2713
22:39 These Forkbeard7574
22:33 Bugs McGurque1349
22:32 Butch Gurly-Brown8928
22:31 Don Vito Ulush7201
22:26 Glenmore
22:22 Clealing Gleater2810
22:08 Clealing Gleater2810
22:01 Clealing Gleater2810
21:43 Frank G
21:36 Dopey Sleter1391
21:29 Frank G
21:06 Ebbomoger Speaking for Boskone4589
20:53 Ebbomoger Speaking for Boskone4589
20:46 Butch Gurly-Brown8928
20:19 SteveS
20:14 Rob Crawford
19:56 Ebbaimp Phaitle6006
19:49 Gerthudion Whomoper3485
19:39 Ebbaimp Phaitle6006
19:34 Procopius2k
19:30 SteveS
Merry-Go-Blog