Comments on: U.S. DOT to Designate Las Vegas-Southern California as HSR Corridor

By: Nathanael

Nathanael — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 10:29:06 +0000

“However, part of the 18 month delay on a new transportation bill or possibly a second stimulus could be an equivalent of the Interstate Highway Defense Act. I think the feds will, through increased general funding and fuel taxes, fund every single corridor.

This will draw much more support in both houses for a transportation bill and could mean that we get real TGV-quality networks.”

Optimist! I really doubt this but I hope you’re right. If something like this happened, *my* area might actually get fast trains. Heck, my city might even get a train!

By: Cameron Slick

Cameron Slick — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:05:09 +0000

With 12 designated “networks” (a corridors would be Minneapolis-Chicago), and $13 billion over five years, the DOT would be stretched too thin, considering the entire California network would cost $45 billion. However, part of the 18 month delay on a new transportation bill or possibly a second stimulus could be an equivalent of the Interstate Highway Defense Act. I think the feds will, through increased general funding and fuel taxes, fund every single corridor.

This will draw much more support in both houses for a transportation bill and could mean that we get real TGV-quality networks.

By: Wad

Wad — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:27:28 +0000

Tourist corridor with heavy weekend traffic. It’s a bone thrown to Sen. Reid. Don’t see it happening.

Tourists are traffic, too. The snarkument that it’s a monument to a senator’s ego does not mean such a service will not be used by the public at large.

California is afraid that everybody will be taking the train and dumping their money in Nevada.

Well, there’s also the likely probability that Nevadans might like to visit Southern California’s attractions, particularly the beaches. It’s likely, because it’s a little known fact that Las Vegas is well … bone-searing unbearably hot.

It’s not like Southern Nevadans say, “Who needs beaches when we could always sneak a swim in the Bellagio fountain?”

By: Ray

Ray — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:45:54 +0000

Tourist corridor with heavy weekend traffic. It’s a bone thrown to Sen. Reid. Don’t see it happening.

By: Loren Petrich

Loren Petrich — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:35:18 +0000

That’s great news. It might seem like the Federal Government might stretch itself too thin, but sponsoring HSR projects in several places would be a good way to get support in Congress. If HSR is only a NEC thing, then non-NEC politicians would ask why it would be worth spending Federal money on.

adirondacker12800, Amtrak still runs a train between San Bernardino and Barstow through the Cajon Pass, its Southwest Chief. The distance is 47 miles, and the time is 1h 14m southward and 1h 11m northward – about 39 mph.

The highway distance is less: 35 mi, so a bus could easily beat a train.

It may be possible to build a tunnel there, but there is a certain problem: the San Andreas Fault goes through Cajon Pass.

By: Alon Levy

Alon Levy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 06:26:35 +0000

Adirondacker, it’s going to take considerably less than 30 minutes to get from Palmdale to Victorville. The route is 50 miles of open space, which even slow HSR can do nonstop in 20 minutes.

By: Jarrett at HumanTransit.org

Jarrett at HumanTransit.org — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:36:41 +0000

Re Maglev, I would only cite the dictum that appears on the right this blog: Le progrès ne vaut que s’il est partagé par tous. Progress counts only if everyone shares in its benefits. It’s a slogan from the French national railway SNCF, as I recall.

Such a dictum could be used to critique any number of transit technologies whose high expense and poor fit with existing urban form means that they will never be any more than boutique services for elite markets.

By: Paz

Paz — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:35:32 +0000

So does this finally mean the death of maglev as a feasible mode of passenger transit? If so, good riddance. The space-age technology has caused way more hassle than it’s worth.

By: adirondacker12800

adirondacker12800 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:40:26 +0000

Jarrett, California High Speed Rail site says it will take 59 minutes to get from Riverside to Palmdale. Throw in a half hour to get from Palmdale to Victorville, it’s an hour and half. Another hour and half to get from VIctorville to Las Vegas …. it’s faster than driving.

Alon, I checked old schedules, March 1956. It took forever and ever to get from Victorville to San Bernadino, UP took an hour and 20 minutes or Santa Fe 1:15 on the fastest train…. just as long as it would take HSR to get there.

By: Alon Levy

Alon Levy — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 23:23:42 +0000

Jarrett, if they go through Palmdale, then they could run diesel legacy rail-style service from the Inland Empire to Victorville.