I think 150 mph would require electrification and grade separation. $$$$
^Agreed. During the financial crisis there should have been a larger fiscal stimulus that focused on true HSR in various regions of the country. We could be reaping some of those benefits now.
A look at the Lincoln Service Wikipedia page...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Service
A look at the Lincoln Service Wikipedia page...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Service
The trains run slower than they did 90 years ago.In March, 2013 the travel time from Chicago to St. Louis was 5 hours 30 minutes which was a full 35 minutes slower than the Illinois Central Railroad operated its express trains over the same route during the 1930s.[5]
^ Even in Italy, the poorest of the Western European countries, 190 MPH (300 km/h) - 220 MPH (360 km/h) is standard.
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Croatia has 124-155mph...CROATIA! (also Zagreb has a streetcar system that makes our transit look like kids play) and the city/country was in a war 20 years agoRandy wrote:^ Even in Italy, the poorest of the Western European countries, 190 MPH (300 km/h) - 220 MPH (360 km/h) is standard.
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The alternative under consideration is 220mph, 2hrs StL - Springfield - Chicago, but that would be much more expensive and need dedicated track and so on, so probably won't happen anytime soon. It is being discussed, though.
http://railtec.illinois.edu/IDOT220/IDOT220.htm
http://railtec.illinois.edu/IDOT220/IDOT220.htm
Even if the trains were going 200 MPH across Illinois, it's still gonna take 45 minutes to get from STL to Alton. That's where the real problem is.
It's 45 mins from Paris to Reims, same distance as STL to Springfield.
Indeed it's frustratingly slow Alton to STL sometimes. There is built in padding to make up for delays earlier in the trip so they do arrive early sometimes. Part of the reason I oppose and ESTL station!
Indeed it's frustratingly slow Alton to STL sometimes. There is built in padding to make up for delays earlier in the trip so they do arrive early sometimes. Part of the reason I oppose and ESTL station!
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^thats the play, drive to Alton and go from there. Takes off about an hour of the trip
I think you could argue that the play doesn't even help Metro East. More about ChicagodbInSouthCity wrote:^thats the play, drive to Alton and go from there. Takes off about an hour of the trip
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Multi-billion dollar bullet train connecting Houston to Dallas expected to break ground next year
Texas does big things. Texas Central Partners, LLC (Texas Central), a private company that is leading the bullet train project coming to Texas, is developing a new high-speed passenger rail system that will connect Houston and Dallas/Fort Worth. Texas Central held a railroad update Tuesday, June 7 at the Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce. The bullet train will be the first high-speed rail the country has ever seen. Travel time on the train will be 90 minutes between Houston and Dallas with one stop in between in the Brazos Valley area.
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The bullet train is Japanese technology that Texas Central will be purchasing. The technology is one of the safest in the world. The train has never had a crash or fatality due to operations and has been running for over 50 years in Japan. The train has moved tens of billions of people every year, and the average annual delay is less than one minute.
“The train never crosses a road, and there are no cars waiting on trains. Also there are no trains intersecting the cars, and no whistles or horn on the train,” said Holly Reed, managing director of external affairs at Texas Central. “That’s how you get reliability and safety. There’s one track going north and one track going south, so you never have trains going opposite directions.”
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The first full year of operations is projected to be in 2022.
http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/cypressc ... 7d3a3.html
Texas does big things. Texas Central Partners, LLC (Texas Central), a private company that is leading the bullet train project coming to Texas, is developing a new high-speed passenger rail system that will connect Houston and Dallas/Fort Worth. Texas Central held a railroad update Tuesday, June 7 at the Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce. The bullet train will be the first high-speed rail the country has ever seen. Travel time on the train will be 90 minutes between Houston and Dallas with one stop in between in the Brazos Valley area.
...
The bullet train is Japanese technology that Texas Central will be purchasing. The technology is one of the safest in the world. The train has never had a crash or fatality due to operations and has been running for over 50 years in Japan. The train has moved tens of billions of people every year, and the average annual delay is less than one minute.
“The train never crosses a road, and there are no cars waiting on trains. Also there are no trains intersecting the cars, and no whistles or horn on the train,” said Holly Reed, managing director of external affairs at Texas Central. “That’s how you get reliability and safety. There’s one track going north and one track going south, so you never have trains going opposite directions.”
...
The first full year of operations is projected to be in 2022.
http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/cypressc ... 7d3a3.html
^ Understand that their is still a lot of litigation going on before that happens. Believe the route picked for most of the mileage is a utility corridor/easement. However, instead of pipe in the ground or power lines above the Texas Central Partners is planning a mostly raised earthen structure through what is mostly pasture land with intermittent bridges for cattle and ranchers to go between pastures. A lot of unhappy property owners.
Don't understand why they didn't go with the interstate RoW but sure that had a lot of state issues, politics involved where as utility easement is essentially between two private properties in favor of the utility. In other words, negotiate with the Utility companies instead of the Texas DOT
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What is disappointing to me was the Chinese pulling out of the HSR between outer LA and Las Vegas. Supposedly over requirement for us built high speed trainsets in order to meet Federal regulations. But probably more as disappointing is the utter failure to get the double decker/trainsets approved for production - built for Illinois, California and Missouri River Runner corridor service under the HSR grant. I believe the original time line called for Missouri River Runner to have updated cars, increased capacity by 2017 if not mistaken.
Don't understand why they didn't go with the interstate RoW but sure that had a lot of state issues, politics involved where as utility easement is essentially between two private properties in favor of the utility. In other words, negotiate with the Utility companies instead of the Texas DOT
.
What is disappointing to me was the Chinese pulling out of the HSR between outer LA and Las Vegas. Supposedly over requirement for us built high speed trainsets in order to meet Federal regulations. But probably more as disappointing is the utter failure to get the double decker/trainsets approved for production - built for Illinois, California and Missouri River Runner corridor service under the HSR grant. I believe the original time line called for Missouri River Runner to have updated cars, increased capacity by 2017 if not mistaken.
^Didn't know about the double decker/trainsets for River Runner. Wow, that is disappointing.
I remember years ago MoDot was testing a Swedish push/pull trainset. And maybe even looking at Talgo. Obviously nothing came of those.
I remember years ago MoDot was testing a Swedish push/pull trainset. And maybe even looking at Talgo. Obviously nothing came of those.
^ some more info. Believe the $500 million or so HSR grant is threatened as it had spending requirement dates subject to further federal legislation to extend.
http://www.midwesthsr.org/amtrak-railcars-delayed
New railcars, meant for Missouri, Illinois, Michigan and California have been delayed and could lose important federal funding if the project is not completed on time. In 2012 Caltrans and IDOT awarded a contract for up to 430 bi-level passenger railcars to be built by Nippon Sharyo in Rochelle, IL. The first railcars, similar to the California Surfliners pictured to the right, were supposed to begin replacing Amtrak's Midwestern fleet by late 2015.
Initial designs did not meet the federal standards for absorbing compression force generated in a crash. Now engineers have to redesign the car’s body and undergo testing again which will delay production for about another two years. The cars were funded with American Recovery and Reinvestment Funds that must be spent by September 2017, making it likely that the states will lose federal funding.
http://www.midwesthsr.org/amtrak-railcars-delayed
New railcars, meant for Missouri, Illinois, Michigan and California have been delayed and could lose important federal funding if the project is not completed on time. In 2012 Caltrans and IDOT awarded a contract for up to 430 bi-level passenger railcars to be built by Nippon Sharyo in Rochelle, IL. The first railcars, similar to the California Surfliners pictured to the right, were supposed to begin replacing Amtrak's Midwestern fleet by late 2015.
Initial designs did not meet the federal standards for absorbing compression force generated in a crash. Now engineers have to redesign the car’s body and undergo testing again which will delay production for about another two years. The cars were funded with American Recovery and Reinvestment Funds that must be spent by September 2017, making it likely that the states will lose federal funding.
Thought it would be 4 hrs. Sheesh
BND - IDOT plans more upgrades as part of high-speed rail prep
BND - IDOT plans more upgrades as part of high-speed rail prep
http://www.bnd.com/news/local/article82918242.htmlSpeegle added the improvements would help with reliability, and reduced the trip between Chicago and St. Louis to 4.5 hours from 5.5 hours.
Anytime I go to Chicago currently I take the train (unless plane tickets are on a deep discount). It is cheaper than driving and just less of a hassle, unless you are going somewhere out in the burbs. Usually, I am staying downtown or somewhere parking is an issue. By the time I pay to park and include gas/etc, it makes more sense to take the train even if it takes a little longer. One way is $24 on the train and I can relax and not worry about driving the whole time. I am not sure how the ticket cost will change once the 110 is implemented all the way, but I am looking forward to it. Once they can knock that time off the trip I doubt I ever drive up there again.
I did see they want to make it under 4 hours with other improvements but who knows how long that will take.
I did see they want to make it under 4 hours with other improvements but who knows how long that will take.
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Isn't there also a bottleneck in the Chicago area as well that slows things down? it would be good if they could work out the issues on either end that could allow a start for any 220 speed down the road line. One of the issues with the slowdown as well is the issue with the rail bridges here, which is also an issue for freight transportation in the area.
It will be interesting to see if the ridership numbers this year rises more in part due to the TSA issues at airports particually the Chicago airports since that was where the worst lines have been.
It will be interesting to see if the ridership numbers this year rises more in part due to the TSA issues at airports particually the Chicago airports since that was where the worst lines have been.
^ Believe IDOT has focused primarily between Joliet and Alton. Joliet to Chicago maybe being part of the bigger CREATE plan that has stalled due to lack of funding. Alton to St. Louis that I would argue is part local politics and river crossing capacity issue.
I thought I had heard that once speeds are increased, one more departure time would be added in each direction between St. Louis and Chicago.
Right now, the departure times are a bit too clustered together, limiting the utility of the train. Spreading them out throughout the day would be helpful.
Right now, the departure times are a bit too clustered together, limiting the utility of the train. Spreading them out throughout the day would be helpful.
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The MO River Runner was anything but high speed yesterday. The 311 was way late getting into KCY. Was on time to at least Warrensburg. The 316 was two hours late leaving KCY and then two women walking on the tracks got hit and killed at Kingshighway. The train arrived 4 hr 20 mins late at 2 am.
KMOX (AP) - 2 Women Dead After Being Struck by Amtrak Train
http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2016/07/05/ ... rak-train/
KMOX (AP) - 2 Women Dead After Being Struck by Amtrak Train
http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2016/07/05/ ... rak-train/