Anyone seen/heard any updated on this? I heard the guy in charge of the project and getting the funding speak at a function towards the end of last year that he was willing to stake his career on this thing getting done. Haven't seen any articles about it lately. It's all private funding, so I can imagine with the downturn in O&G that some folks they were counting on might have pulled out.
High speed rail from HTine to Dallas
24,884 Views |
183 Replies |
Last: 6 yr ago by JJxvi
quote:Why in the hell would anyone want to be able to get to Dallas faster? The painful 3.5 hour drive is enough to deter me from going there unless I absolutely have to. That place sucks.
Anyone seen/heard any updated on this? I heard the guy in charge of the project and getting the funding speak at a function towards the end of last year that he was willing to stake his career on this thing getting done. Haven't seen any articles about it lately. It's all private funding, so I can imagine with the downturn in O&G that some folks they were counting on might have pulled out.
quote:
The painful 3.5 hour drive is enough to deter me from going there unless I absolutely have to.
So for those that do, a 40 minute ride would seem a lot less painful, right?
they're still hot and heavy on it and making the public speaking rounds.
i had the guy in charge of the houston office come speak to our Chamber of Commerce a couple weeks ago. they seem optimistic.
i had the guy in charge of the houston office come speak to our Chamber of Commerce a couple weeks ago. they seem optimistic.
quote:Until half way (or all the way) through construction and they run out of money. Guess who will pick up the tab. This will no doubt in my mind eventually be operated by the state.
It's all private funding,
quote:This.quote:
The painful 3.5 hour drive is enough to deter me from going there unless I absolutely have to.
So for those that do, a 40 minute ride would seem a lot less painful, right?
Some of us can't avoid that hellhole.
The Ol' Oak Forest Facebook page has been all up in arms about this a time or two because the thing was or maybe still is slated to tear right through our 'hood.
The soccer moms, SJW's, and little old ladies are none too happy.
The soccer moms, SJW's, and little old ladies are none too happy.
Half of my family is in Dallas and this would be very good for business reasons as well.
It's all wide opened land in between here and there, but this thing absolutely will not happen. It's a huge undertaking.
It's all wide opened land in between here and there, but this thing absolutely will not happen. It's a huge undertaking.
quote:
Half of my family is in Dallas and this would be very good for business reasons as well.
It's all wide opened land in between here and there, but this thing absolutely will not happen. It's a huge undertaking.
Not all of it is wide open land.
quote:Yet.quote:
Half of my family is in Dallas and this would be very good for business reasons as well.
It's all wide opened land in between here and there, but this thing absolutely will not happen. It's a huge undertaking.
Not all of it is wide open land.
quote:Hahaha...
Half of my family is in Dallas and this would be very good for business reasons as well.
It's all wide opened land in between here and there, but this thing absolutely will not happen. It's a huge undertaking.
Oh wait, you were serious with that?
This won't happen. Seems like every 10 years or so someone pops up with a plan to put passenger rail in Texas, and every time it fails. This one will fail very hard. The landowners will fight like hell and so with the counties. They're promising all sorts of property tax money to the counties, but they are trying to stick firm to not doing any infrastructure or other associated work in those areas. The problem them becomes it'll take years for the property tax dollars to roll in sufficiently for those areas to fix everything the railroad will screw up.
Think for a minute how level this track will have to be and therefore how wide many of the hill cuts and valley fills could have to be. Rural emergency service districts are going to be cut in half. School districts will be cut in half. HSR generally has very few crossings, and none of them can be at grade. Landhowner will quickly end up anywhere from 30 minutes to over an hour away from the other side of their property. Then the entire length of the tracks will probably have to be high-fenced.
It just won't happen.
quote:
So for those that do, a 40 minute ride would seem a lot less painful, right?
High speed rail requires a transport to/from the terminals on both ends, so your time estimate is off.
High speed rail will get the TSA treatment, again slowing your time estimate.
High speed rail is 99.7% a financial failure, requiring $billions in government bailout/subsidy.
High speed rail would require taking directly or constructively lots of private land.
High speed rail is completely unnecessary in Texas.
It's 225 miles as the crow flies. Assuming you maintained maximum maglev speed of 268mph for the entirety of the trip, without acceleration/deceleration or commuting, the ride would last at least 50 minutes...something Southwest has been doing for decades, every hour, both directions.
"High speed rail will get the TSA treatment."
This argument I don't understand. There are a multitude of passenger rail lines across the USA, as well as high speed rail abroad. As far as I know, none of these have TSA level security. Trains can't become missiles and take down buildings.
I seriously doubt they would put that level of security on a theoretical high speed rail line. But as I lack a crystal ball, I could be wrong.
This argument I don't understand. There are a multitude of passenger rail lines across the USA, as well as high speed rail abroad. As far as I know, none of these have TSA level security. Trains can't become missiles and take down buildings.
I seriously doubt they would put that level of security on a theoretical high speed rail line. But as I lack a crystal ball, I could be wrong.
The main argument (I agree with) against high speed rail in Texas is the lack of mass transit in our metro areas.
However, this could be chicken/egg scenario. Once high speed rail is in the works maybe it'll force our cities to take mass transit a lot more seriously.
However, this could be chicken/egg scenario. Once high speed rail is in the works maybe it'll force our cities to take mass transit a lot more seriously.
Oh good. More high dollar wasteful multi decade projects.
FW Declerk
Joined:
Apr 2, 2016
Posts:
3,572
How long do you want to ignore this user?
quote:quote:Hahaha...
Half of my family is in Dallas and this would be very good for business reasons as well.
It's all wide opened land in between here and there, but this thing absolutely will not happen. It's a huge undertaking.
Oh wait, you were serious with that?
This won't happen. Seems like every 10 years or so someone pops up with a plan to put passenger rail in Texas, and every time it fails. This one will fail very hard. The landowners will fight like hell and so with the counties. They're promising all sorts of property tax money to the counties, but they are trying to stick firm to not doing any infrastructure or other associated work in those areas. The problem them becomes it'll take years for the property tax dollars to roll in sufficiently for those areas to fix everything the railroad will screw up.
Think for a minute how level this track will have to be and therefore how wide many of the hill cuts and valley fills could have to be. Rural emergency service districts are going to be cut in half. School districts will be cut in half. HSR generally has very few crossings, and none of them can be at grade. Landhowner will quickly end up anywhere from 30 minutes to over an hour away from the other side of their property. Then the entire length of the tracks will probably have to be high-fenced.
It just won't happen.
Duh. It'll never happen.
If we're going to be building a massive boondoggle then why don't we build a hyperloop?
I'm still holding out hope for the supercollider
Every small town between houston and Dallas will want a stop. The most politically connected ones would get their way. Your 45 minute trip will probably be more like 2 hours.
quote:if they serve beverages at a reasonable cost and have tv's everywhere im fine with 2 hours
Every small town between houston and Dallas will want a stop. The most politically connected ones would get their way. Your 45 minute trip will probably be more like 2 hours.
Eh, I don't think high speed rail is the answer we need, but if it's privately funded, why not? I don't understand why people take dogmatic stances against high speed rail, especially if they have no skin in the game. Unless you personally have property in the ROW, seems like it can only be a good thing.
However, serious mass transit is something that needs to happen yesterday. We pi$$ away so much tax payer money on roads it's ridiculous. Crippling gridlock is coming to Texas in our lifetimes unless we get serious about addressing it.
However, serious mass transit is something that needs to happen yesterday. We pi$$ away so much tax payer money on roads it's ridiculous. Crippling gridlock is coming to Texas in our lifetimes unless we get serious about addressing it.
quote:
Eh, I don't think high speed rail is the answer we need, but if it's privately funded, why not? I don't understand why people take dogmatic stances against high speed rail, especially if they have no skin in the game. Unless you personally have property in the ROW, seems like it can only be a good thing.
However, serious mass transit is something that needs to happen yesterday. We pi$$ away so much tax payer money on roads it's ridiculous. Crippling gridlock is coming to Texas in our lifetimes unless we get serious about addressing it.
There is not going to be any ridership approaching break even numbers. This will go bankrupt and require a massive bail out for years to come. Private money or not, this will become tax payer funded eventually.
Read the response above above about there being only one high speed line in the world that makes money.
quote:It's a really neat idea. And I can ignore most of the complaints about "rural Texas" coming from urban cowboys who want to pretend this is the 1880's and we're fighting to keep the West wild.
Eh, I don't think high speed rail is the answer we need, but if it's privately funded, why not? I don't understand why people take dogmatic stances against high speed rail, especially if they have no skin in the game. Unless you personally have property in the ROW, seems like it can only be a good thing.
However, serious mass transit is something that needs to happen yesterday. We pi$$ away so much tax payer money on roads it's ridiculous. Crippling gridlock is coming to Texas in our lifetimes unless we get serious about addressing it.
However, Amtrak can't operate without subsidies in the far more dense Northeast corridor. I've taken the Acela Express from Manhattan to DC during a workday and practically had the thing to to myself the whole way. We just don't have any good examples to point to in the US where rail ridership supports the notion of a private enterprise making a profit. And most people assume that when the private investments fail, taxpayers will be forced into taking over like the Centra toll roads.
quote:
Every small town between houston and Dallas will want a stop. The most politically connected ones would get their way. Your 45 minute trip will probably be more like 2 hours.
The only town I'd recommend is Madisonville. Right at bucees for some mid trip snack action
quote:
The Ol' Oak Forest Facebook page has been all up in arms about this a time or two because the thing was or maybe still is slated to tear right through our 'hood.
The soccer moms, SJW's, and little old ladies are none too happy.
It isnt. Of course, you arent the worst ones. People in Montgomery County are also pissed about it and the route isnt even in their county.
quote:
Crippling gridlock is coming to Texas in our lifetimes unless we get serious about addressing it.
Dude...It's already here. And has been for a while.
quote:Someone doesn't understand economics, at all. NONE of those things work without massive public funding. Look at the rail line in Houston. It's an abject FAILURE at all levels.
Eh, I don't think high speed rail is the answer we need, but if it's privately funded, why not? I don't understand why people take dogmatic stances against high speed rail, especially if they have no skin in the game. Unless you personally have property in the ROW, seems like it can only be a good thing.
However, serious mass transit is something that needs to happen yesterday. We pi$$ away so much tax payer money on roads it's ridiculous. Crippling gridlock is coming to Texas in our lifetimes unless we get serious about addressing it.
I am for it if they slowed down enough for me to jump off at Corsicana
ThunderCougarFalconBird
Joined:
Oct 10, 2006
Posts:
48,647
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
quote:You've obviously never been on the Eurostar. It would absolutely become a TSA hellhole.
"High speed rail will get the TSA treatment."
This argument I don't understand. There are a multitude of passenger rail lines across the USA, as well as high speed rail abroad. As far as I know, none of these have TSA level security. Trains can't become missiles and take down buildings.
I seriously doubt they would put that level of security on a theoretical high speed rail line. But as I lack a crystal ball, I could be wrong.
quote:Dude, economics don't matter to socialists.
Someone doesn't understand economics, at all. NONE of those things work without massive public funding. Look at the rail line in Houston. It's an abject FAILURE at all levels.
I hope the land owners and counties nip this in the bud before it gets going. There's zero need for it. Like someone posted earlier if you want to get to Dallas just hop on SWA it'll be cheaper.
I disagree about it being "an abject failure". I think this is something that has been parrot-ed so many times that people just believe its true.
I just looked up ridership numbers for the Redline (main street line) on Metro's website for the month of July:
2016 Daily Ridership for July - 51,333 riders
2015 Daily Ridership for July - 48,512 riders
Percentage increase - 6%
I didn't bother doing more historical trends, but the I think the idea of getting 50k cars off of main street probably makes a big difference in traffic patterns.
Also, I live in the area and see the train packed every workday. There's a myth that its empty and inhabited by homeless tent camps, and its completely untrue.
I just looked up ridership numbers for the Redline (main street line) on Metro's website for the month of July:
2016 Daily Ridership for July - 51,333 riders
2015 Daily Ridership for July - 48,512 riders
Percentage increase - 6%
I didn't bother doing more historical trends, but the I think the idea of getting 50k cars off of main street probably makes a big difference in traffic patterns.
Also, I live in the area and see the train packed every workday. There's a myth that its empty and inhabited by homeless tent camps, and its completely untrue.
quote:You're assuming every rider has a car and that every reported rider is a unique rider.
I disagree about it being "an abject failure". I think this is something that has been parrot-ed so many times that people just believe its true.
I just looked up ridership numbers for the Redline (main street line) on Metro's website for the month of July:
2016 Daily Ridership for July - 51,333 riders
2015 Daily Ridership for July - 48,512 riders
Percentage increase - 6%
I didn't bother doing more historical trends, but the I think the idea of getting 50k cars off of main street probably makes a big difference in traffic patterns.
Also, I live in the area and see the train packed every workday. There's a myth that its empty and inhabited by homeless tent camps, and its completely untrue.
Featured Stories
See All
14:28
9h ago
6.4k
Comparing metrics from Texas A&M's top teams throughout history
by David Sandhop
13:53
4h ago
1.7k
Reliever Evan Aschenbeck's JUCO path led him to Aggieland success
by Ryan Brauninger
43:16
6h ago
3.8k
Elko encouraged by strides exhibited during A&M's second scrimmage
by Olin Buchanan
12:56
8h ago
6.2k
Rattlin' Boggin' with Aggie sluggers Jace LaViolette & Hayden Schott
by Ryan Brauninger