Majority would use HSR

[CHamilton]

APTA: Two-thirds of Americans are likely to use high-speed rail if available

According to a 2015 survey released by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), if high-speed rail were available today, two-thirds (63 percent) of Americans are likely to use high-speed trains and this jumps to nearly seventy (67) percent when respondents were informed of the costs and time saving benefits of high-speed rail service.

 

[MARC Rider]

Hmmm. While there are a lot of people who ride the existing high speed rail service in the NEC, more and more people I know are riding the Bolt Bus or similar services because of the cost. My wife and I decided to take a day trip to Philly for the 4th of July. RT fare for the two of us on the Regional (forget the Acela) was over $200! We need up driving. Even with downtown parking rates it was a bargain in comparison. For a jaunt to NY the usual bucket is $80 to $100 one way so its a $300-$400 trip. We usually only go if I Have a companion coupon.

 

[MattW]

Hmmm. While there are a lot of people who ride the existing high speed rail service in the NEC, more and more people I know are riding the Bolt Bus or similar services because of the cost. My wife and I decided to take a day trip to Philly for the 4th of July. RT fare for the two of us on the Regional (forget the Acela) was over $200! We need up driving. Even with downtown parking rates it was a bargain in comparison. For a jaunt to NY the usual bucket is $80 to $100 one way so its a $300-$400 trip. We usually only go if I Have a companion coupon.

Which shows that there is considerable demand if people are still packing the trains at those prices.

 

[Everydaymatters]

Here in Central Illinois, people are getting fed up with the cancellations of the Lincoln Service trains while the HSR rail is being constructed. Right now we have a 12 minute, or maybe it's 12 miles, section finished and it has taken years.

I'm not convinced that the HSR from Chicago to Springfield, along with the increased price, is going to result in increased revenue. Most of the politicians do their work in Chicago and go to Springfield only when absolutely necessary.

 

[leemell]

HSR under construction? To my knowledge there is only one HSR project under construction in the US right now and it is not in Illinois but in California. What is happening there? I couldn't find anything in the IDOT site or other searches.

 

[Eric S]

I imagine the reference is to the CHI-STL HrSR project. Not sure whether "increased price" refers to the project's costs, or speculation that fares will rise, though.

 

[leemell]

I found it. The acccepted basic definition of HSR is trains the go faster then 125 MPH. This project is designed to increase passenger rail speed between Chicago and St Louis to 110 MPH. Siginificalntly faster than current speeds, but not High Speed Rail. A little project sales spin here?

 

[Eric S]

An all-too-common sales spin, I'd say. Many (most?) of the upgraded rail projects and proposals around the country have been portrayed as HSR, even though max speeds have typically not been higher than 110mph. CHI-STL is hardly unique in this regard.

This is why I prefer "HrSR" rather than "HSR" to refer to these projects.

 

[me_little_me]

If a train can, on a regular basis, continuously do 110MPH except when slowing/speeding up at a station, I would be happy to call that HSR.

 

[Eric S]

But why "cheapen the brand" (so to speak) just because we are horrible with passenger rail (and transit) in this country?

 

[jphjaxfl]

But why "cheapen the brand" (so to speak) just because we are horrible with passenger rail (and transit) in this country?

I agree! Many other countries are spending billions on truly HSR. The US once had a rail system that was envy of the world. Unfortunately that was years ago and other countries are much better.