beautifulplanet
Lead Service Attendant
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2014
- Messages
- 337
This one seems like one of the more difficult ones: When Amtrak is already showing an operating profit in the Northeast, both for its Acela Express as well as for its slower Regional services between Boston, New York, and Washington, why is there so little talk about introducing 220mph high-speed rail between those cities, for even bigger benefits for the people and the economy, while at the same time making an even greater profit?
In case Amtrak's Vision for the Northeast Corridor were not misread by me, then 900$+ million of operating profits could be expected in case the system was improved and expanded as suggested there - that's nearly 1$ billion every year in profits - why wouldn't there be more discussion about it, or more steps taken towards it by the involved stakeholders?
It probably would be easier to get 220mph high-speed rail in the Northeast Corridor in case that corridor wouldn't consist of areas of 8 different states and 1 capital district. If it was all one state, like San Francisco to Los Angeles is, then things might be easier, as this way, 8 state governments have to make agreements, and then all have to push for the same thing, which could make things comparatively difficult. That's maybe why the state of New York rather studied how to get high-speed rail in the corridor between New York City, Albany and Buffalo (which is a good idea of course) but didn't engage in the same way to study in the same detail how to get high-speed rail in the corridor New York City, Washington D.C. and Boston (probably because just little of that is located in New York state).
Here's Amtrak Vision for the Northeast Corridor - 2012 Update Report - PDF:
http://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/453/325/Amtrak-Vision-for-the-Northeast-Corridor.pdf
The federal government's involvement: A rail investment plan for the Northeast Corridor.
http://www.necfuture.com
Preliminary Alternatives Report - April 2013 (PDF)
http://www.necfuture.com/pdfs/prelim_alts_report.pdf
My impression is that it seems like Amtrak's NexGen plan is to some degree represented in Preliminary Alternative 13 of the FRA's Preliminary Alternatives Report.
What I saw was press reports about the cities not served by the NexGen 220mph line unhappy about having no stop on it, like this one:
Amtrak high speed rail could bypass Connecticut shoreline under new plan (documents)
http://www.nhregister.com/general-news/20120910/amtrak-high-speed-rail-could-bypass-connecticut-shoreline-under-new-plan-documents
In the meantime, there were more press reports about a Maglev for (NewYork-)Baltimore-DC, like here:
High-Speed Train in Northeast Corridor Gaining Steam
http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/High-Speed-Train-in-Northeast-Corridor-Gaining-Steam-231209881.html
or here:
Avoid an infrastructure disaster with transportation reforms, former elected officials warn
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2014/02/07/Avoid-an-infrastructure-disaster-with-transportation-reforms-former-elected-officials-warn/4581391725752/
Maglev technology represents a lock-in, as the infrastructure owner as well as the operator stays permanently dependent on the maglev system developer when it comes to trainsets as well as infrastructure, comparatively raising costs and lowering profits. At the same time, the new infrastructure (maglev track) is incompatible with existing rail infrastructure.
Stell-wheel-on-steel-rail in opposition to that represents an open infrastructure that can be used with off-the-shelf trainsets from different manufacturers, creating competitive prices and no dependency, while having the possibility to integrate the new 220mph service with existing infrastructure (f.e. there's no reason a 220mph trainset coming from Boston wouldn't be able in Philadelphia to continue to Harrisburg with 110mph, which Maglev couldn't on existing tracks).
Still it seems sometimes like the Maglev proposal is in the news more than Amtrak's NexGen service proposal.
These are the only organizations I was able to find supporting 220mph high-speed rail between Boston and Washington D.C. - please expand the list if possible:
Northeast Alliance for Rail
http://www.northeastallianceforrail.org/
Not a citizen's initiative, instead a coalition of business and civic leaders.
And of course USHSR and NARP.
US High Speed Rail Association
http://www.ushsr.com/membership.html
Advocate Membership starting at 75$/year (students 35$/year).
NARP
http://www.narprail.org/donate/join
They seem to support high-speed rail, but their main focus seems to be the improvement and expansion of conventional Amtrak services (not high-speed rail).
Indiviual membership starting at 35$/year (senior 25$/year, students 20$/year).
In case Amtrak's Vision for the Northeast Corridor were not misread by me, then 900$+ million of operating profits could be expected in case the system was improved and expanded as suggested there - that's nearly 1$ billion every year in profits - why wouldn't there be more discussion about it, or more steps taken towards it by the involved stakeholders?
It probably would be easier to get 220mph high-speed rail in the Northeast Corridor in case that corridor wouldn't consist of areas of 8 different states and 1 capital district. If it was all one state, like San Francisco to Los Angeles is, then things might be easier, as this way, 8 state governments have to make agreements, and then all have to push for the same thing, which could make things comparatively difficult. That's maybe why the state of New York rather studied how to get high-speed rail in the corridor between New York City, Albany and Buffalo (which is a good idea of course) but didn't engage in the same way to study in the same detail how to get high-speed rail in the corridor New York City, Washington D.C. and Boston (probably because just little of that is located in New York state).
Here's Amtrak Vision for the Northeast Corridor - 2012 Update Report - PDF:
http://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/453/325/Amtrak-Vision-for-the-Northeast-Corridor.pdf
The federal government's involvement: A rail investment plan for the Northeast Corridor.
http://www.necfuture.com
Preliminary Alternatives Report - April 2013 (PDF)
http://www.necfuture.com/pdfs/prelim_alts_report.pdf
My impression is that it seems like Amtrak's NexGen plan is to some degree represented in Preliminary Alternative 13 of the FRA's Preliminary Alternatives Report.
What I saw was press reports about the cities not served by the NexGen 220mph line unhappy about having no stop on it, like this one:
Amtrak high speed rail could bypass Connecticut shoreline under new plan (documents)
http://www.nhregister.com/general-news/20120910/amtrak-high-speed-rail-could-bypass-connecticut-shoreline-under-new-plan-documents
In the meantime, there were more press reports about a Maglev for (NewYork-)Baltimore-DC, like here:
High-Speed Train in Northeast Corridor Gaining Steam
http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/High-Speed-Train-in-Northeast-Corridor-Gaining-Steam-231209881.html
or here:
Avoid an infrastructure disaster with transportation reforms, former elected officials warn
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2014/02/07/Avoid-an-infrastructure-disaster-with-transportation-reforms-former-elected-officials-warn/4581391725752/
Maglev technology represents a lock-in, as the infrastructure owner as well as the operator stays permanently dependent on the maglev system developer when it comes to trainsets as well as infrastructure, comparatively raising costs and lowering profits. At the same time, the new infrastructure (maglev track) is incompatible with existing rail infrastructure.
Stell-wheel-on-steel-rail in opposition to that represents an open infrastructure that can be used with off-the-shelf trainsets from different manufacturers, creating competitive prices and no dependency, while having the possibility to integrate the new 220mph service with existing infrastructure (f.e. there's no reason a 220mph trainset coming from Boston wouldn't be able in Philadelphia to continue to Harrisburg with 110mph, which Maglev couldn't on existing tracks).
Still it seems sometimes like the Maglev proposal is in the news more than Amtrak's NexGen service proposal.
These are the only organizations I was able to find supporting 220mph high-speed rail between Boston and Washington D.C. - please expand the list if possible:
Northeast Alliance for Rail
http://www.northeastallianceforrail.org/
Not a citizen's initiative, instead a coalition of business and civic leaders.
And of course USHSR and NARP.
US High Speed Rail Association
http://www.ushsr.com/membership.html
Advocate Membership starting at 75$/year (students 35$/year).
NARP
http://www.narprail.org/donate/join
They seem to support high-speed rail, but their main focus seems to be the improvement and expansion of conventional Amtrak services (not high-speed rail).
Indiviual membership starting at 35$/year (senior 25$/year, students 20$/year).