Red State Redemption; TEXAS' New 250 mile Bullet Train to built by 2021
31 replies, posted
[IMG]http://transportationblog.dallasnews.com/files/2014/11/TCR_Routes-300x207.png[/IMG]
90 minute train ride vs a 4 hour drive, or a one hour flight.
Texas Central officials say that they believe trains could begin running in 2021. Between now and then it must secure all the land needed, get federal approval and secure private investments of about $10 billion if not more.
Kirk said the line will help the state’s economy, create jobs and free up gate capacity at Love Field. He said:
“For the business traveler in particular, high-speed rail is a more efficient means of transport for those of us who travel regularly between these two dynamic communities. A high-speed rail corridor would allow us to conduct our business better and do so in an environment that has proven to be safe, efficient, reliable and much more accommodating to getting work done while you are being transported.
Recognizing that the benefits are vast, I want to make this dream of high-speed rail in Texas and the United States a reality. I will be devoting my time and attention to helping that happen in every way I can.”
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[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Kirk"]Learn More About Texas Democrat Ron Kirk[/URL]
As a train enthusiast riding on a bullet train across the Texan Plains and through it's forest sounds like a very pleasant journey. Seeing the wild flowers and wild horses march amongst the tall green aquifers certainly does paint a most beautiful image. It's like Red Dead Redemption but way way fast, RDR below:
Can't wait to do this irl :dance:
[video=youtube;wBONVvSY7ts]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBONVvSY7ts[/video]
Holy shit I actually just made this drive two days ago.
And it sucked. Man they better pull through with this.
Maybe Elon Musk will get on the train and build hyper loop here, a boy can only dream. Also Garry get your shit together and fix the fucking edit button. Quotes break that shit lil turkey man.
We need bullet trains everywhere.
[QUOTE=A B.A. Survivor;46563348]We need bullet trains everywhere.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]As the 20th century began, railroads dominated interstate transportation, whether freight or passengers. The automobile was of little value as a substitute, and the airplane had yet to take its first flight at Kitty Hawk.
The Good Roads Movement that had begun in the 1880s to promote improved roads for bicycles, took hold as the automobile began to gain power and speed. When Henry Ford introduced the low priced Model T in 1908, he transformed the landscape. Soon, the automobile would be a staple of the American family, with roads gradually improved to expand the scope of travel.
Early trucks, which could not compete in cost or speed with railroads, were most efficient in cities and transporting farm goods to rail or cities. World War I changed that. With the American entry into the European war in April 1917, the railroads were stretched beyond their capacity. For the first time, interstate transportation of freight by truck became not only possible but essential. Interstate roads were still largely dirt, and the trucks tore them up, but trucks demonstrated their value.
Recognizing the symbiotic relationship between roads and trucks, the roadbuilders and truck manufacturers agreed to limit the capacity of trucks to 7½ tons. Looking back on this period, Thomas H. MacDonald, Chief of the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) from 1919 to 1953, explained that the compromise reflected recognition that the cost of highway transportation "is made up of the cost of the highways and the cost of operating the vehicles over the highways." The goal, he said, of road builders, vehicle manufacturers, and operators "should be to reduce the total cost of transportation rather than one or the other of the elemental costs."
[/QUOTE]
Really interesting stuff:
[url]https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstate/freight.htm[/url]
Also looking for the documentary about how our country was supposed to be mostly trains but automobile lobbyist swayed the construction of our infrastructure.
[editline]24th November 2014[/editline]
quotes break everything!!!!!!!
I plan on eventually writing up a ballot resolution for North Dakota in order to convince the bank to go about building a massive bullet train system in order to connect all the cities. Having such a system here in North Dakota would be a massive aid to cutdown traffic around the oil fields, and would also ensure that we are not wasting as much fuel and resources on driving workers from the fields to the cities.
[QUOTE=LoLWaT?;46563399]-snip-
doh--just realized what you were saying.
It is a nice image, but it's the only image people get to see out in those areas almost constantly.
This area of Texas is just super super flat and empty when you get away from the cities and suburbs I doubt any travellers will be riding the train to enjoy the outside view for a while.
I wonder if how flat the land is played into their decision to put the line here. Because when I say it's flat, I really do mean it's [I]flat. [/I] There are literally no interesting features in this area.[/QUOTE]
Certainly does sound like they are working with geologist not artist.
[QUOTE=Hollosoulja;46563387]
quotes break everything!!!!!!![/QUOTE]
Its actually the content of the quotes that is breaking stuff. IIRC its the italicized apostrophes and quotation marks that fucks it up
[QUOTE=LoLWaT?;46563518]Well it's defintiely more cost efficient. I'm curious if that'll always be a limitation for these though.
[editline]24th November 2014[/editline]
Unless they're building this train on a raised path above the ground or something.
Just realized that I've always expected the train to be on the ground up to this point.
Probably because it'd actually work for the area it's going in.[/QUOTE]
I agree, unless this get's massive support then it'll probably be a cost effective solution.
[QUOTE=LoLWaT?;46563399]-snip-
doh--just realized what you were saying.
It is a nice image, but it's the only image people get to see out in those areas almost constantly.
This area of Texas is just super super flat and empty when you get away from the cities and suburbs I doubt any travellers will be riding the train to enjoy the outside view for a while.
I wonder if how flat the land is played into their decision to put the line here. Because when I say it's flat, I really do mean it's [I]flat. [/I] There are literally no interesting features in this area.[/QUOTE]
It's not super flat for all of that route. Though my definition of flat changed when I visited North Dakota.
The article is great and the premise is brilliant and all, but am I the only person worried by the fact the OP wants to put a dozen people on the tracks "IRL" and have the train turn them into mist?
We really need a bullet train that goes Toronto-Kingston-Ottawa-Montreal. Too bad it's never going to happen.
If they build I am going to go ride it for no real reason other than I want to.
Now complete the Texas triangle, I would love to take a bullet train to Houston or Dallas from Austin/San-Antonio.
Damn, not to Austin? I used to live on the 35 corridor and I'd kill to be able to hop on a bullet train to Austin instead of getting caught in traffic and making a 30-minute drive take an hour and a half.
That said, a Dallas-Houston connection makes more sense, considering there's less infrastructure between the two and I-35 connects Dallas and Austin well enough.
[QUOTE=Hollosoulja;46563166][video=youtube;wBONVvSY7ts]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBONVvSY7ts[/video][/QUOTE]
when can I get this game on the PC?
[editline]24th November 2014[/editline]
why don't Rockstar want my money
[editline]24th November 2014[/editline]
Oh and, right on Texas! 'Guess you could say it's [i]State[/i] of the art. The [i]Bullet[/i] train.
[QUOTE=BANNED USER;46563651]The article is great and the premise is brilliant and all, but am I the only person worried by the fact the OP wants to put a dozen people on the tracks "IRL" and have the train turn them into mist?[/QUOTE]
Yeah I wish sarcasm was available as a font, I thought the :dance: guy insinuated humor.
Best of luck to the company that ends up running this thing. American passenger rail died off in the 1950s for good reason. It's gonna take some doing to compete with the interstates.
[QUOTE=TestECull;46565169]Best of luck to the company that ends up running this thing. American passenger rail died off in the 1950s for good reason. It's gonna take some doing to compete with the interstates.[/QUOTE]
Please inform us why sir.
[QUOTE=BANNED USER;46563651]The article is great and the premise is brilliant and all, but am I the only person worried by the fact the OP wants to put a dozen people on the tracks "IRL" and have the train turn them into mist?[/QUOTE]
No no, he wants to develop indestructible carriages to maintain the safety of people! That carriage took that train like a champ!
Goddam rockstar, why the hell has red dead redemption never came out on pc..
[QUOTE=TestECull;46565169]Best of luck to the company that ends up running this thing. American passenger rail died off in the 1950s for good reason. It's gonna take some doing to compete with the interstates.[/QUOTE]
Passenger rail is normally slow and expensive. If a train can rival the speed of airlines for short trips like this, then the absolute bullshit you have to put up with to fly will seem unbearable.
"One hour flight" makes flying from Dallas to Houston sound so much nicer than it really is.
Getting from DFW to George Bush International is an all day affair when you add in security checks, boarding, taxiing, etc
[editline]25th November 2014[/editline]
[QUOTE=TestECull;46565169]Best of luck to the company that ends up running this thing. American passenger rail died off in the 1950s for good reason. It's gonna take some doing to compete with the interstates.[/QUOTE]
Don't worry we're trying our hardest to make I-45 as poor competition as possible.
Being a resident Texan in Dallas, I can already tell you people would immediately use a train to avoid the hell that is I:35 south. That 85 mph highway they made is utterly useless cause it goes off the side of Austin. So the travel time to cut back into Austin makes the time about the same as the normal route.
Trains are socialist, texas is gerrymandered red, there by Texas is a red socialist state
My god does this make Texas communists?
I hope the best for this though there are so many people that can benefit from cheaper travel than flying
[QUOTE=Sableye;46566465]Trains are socialist, texas is gerrymandered red, there by Texas is a red socialist state
My god does this make Texas communists?
I hope the best for this though there are so many people that can benefit from cheaper travel than flying[/QUOTE]
Texas is incredibly progressive when it comes to clean energy and shit - this isn't really too surprising, especially considering they've been sinking money into renovating a couple major highways.
[QUOTE=Zeke129;46566291]Passenger rail is normally slow and expensive. If a train can rival the speed of airlines for short trips like this, then the absolute bullshit you have to put up with to fly will seem unbearable.[/QUOTE]
It's a 23 hour train ride I think, and the flights can be about an hour longer due to the security checks and lines. The question is will the train be as easy as boarding a bus?
[QUOTE=Hollosoulja;46565218]Please inform us why sir.[/QUOTE]
Interstate Highway System > Trains pretty much, especially when cars tend to go just as fast as the trains used.
The only cost of using the interstate is gas and owning a car, and it is a network of literally tens of thousands of miles of road across the entire country. It's construction in the 50's pretty much single handedly was responsible for the development of suburbs and the heavy car-culture the US has.
Its hard to compete against the ability to just get in a car and have the freedom to drive to anywhere in the country as long as you can afford the gas. Granted, while this is possible (and is done) planes are so much faster. A 4 hour drive still sucks, especially if thats a semi-regular drive you have to do. Driving 24 hours straight to get to denver from dayton is also a pain, unless you can afford that much driving and don't mind it.
A bullet train like this would be great, because its basically a cheaper and more practical flying. Flying is still going to be necessary to cross large distances in the country, but for stuff like this where the distance is almost *too* short to fly but still long to drive, something that gets there almost as quick as a plane for a fraction of the cost is ideal. It's a restricted one-destination shot, but for routes that are very often traveled by the masses in that region it is ideal.
High speed rail is the coolest shit, we should build high speed rail lines to every house
[QUOTE=Code3Response;46563511]Its actually the content of the quotes that is breaking stuff. IIRC its the italicized apostrophes and quotation marks that fucks it up[/QUOTE]
It appears to be because somewhere along the line FP uses ASCII instead of Unicode. Any character that isn't [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASCII#ASCII_printable_code_chart]one of these[/url] will break it.
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