80sGeorge said:

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Objectively there are many negatives surrounding this deal from costs, to terminal locations, and eminent domain issues.

But I still think it's cool to have the first one in the US and that there's supposed to be a quasi-close to A&M stop.

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Sure, Plantersville is only thirty to forty minutes from A&M by car. All you need is a car waiting for you.

Technically Roans Prairie, still not IN BCS

This is like the new toy you ask your kid if they want. They say how much they want it, need it and how much they will love you for it. Then after they have it for a short period of time they move on and never touch it again.

Why don't they build it in the middle of i45? There's room for a whole nother i45 in the middle already... maybe make it an tolled high speed highway like the nj turnpike.

This whole thing reminds me of back in the 80's when a couple of Dallas businessmen talked a handful of politicians into supporting the idea of turning the Trinity River into a deep water concrete canal all the way to Dallas so Dallas could have a port. It was going to cost the taxpayers several billion in today's money.

It reeked of Texas sized cronyism. But in the end it became a lightning rod that forced a popular vote. Thankfully the voters saw through the BS and said no.

You can't imagine how close a billion dollar boondoggle came to being a reality.

agdoc2001 said:

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EXACTLY!

Sine poena nulla lex.

Luddites

Need some horse riders for a quick buck.

It looks like a land grab to me. Sell 2-5 acre estates for big money in Grimes County by claiming that you are only 30-40 minutes from both Dallas and Houston. Then the train either fails or never actually gets built.

By the way, from the original proposal, the train should already be built and running.

None of the proposals have made much sense with either construction schedules or costs to be legitimate.

Someone is making money from this at someone else's expense.

C@LAg said:

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Can the Texas voters sue to stop it?

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Probably not since it is a private company proposing the train.

WoMD said:

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Did no one in Texas pay attention to what happened when California tried this...?

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Or North Haverbrook and Ogdenville.

High speed rail. Lol.

I'm still waiting for these ****ers to finish 35 at Waco. How long has that disaster been taking now?

ATMTWS said:

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This will be a ridiculous waste of money.

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Yes it will. But politicians, banks, law firms, engineering firms, etc will make a lot of money from it. Taxpayer money...

I really think a high speed that ran from Dallas to Austin to San A to Houston would be economically feasible and in demand.

I just don't see a high demand between Houston and Dallas.

MSCAg said:

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I really think a high speed that ran from Dallas to Austin to San A to Houston would be economically feasible and in demand.

I just don't see a high demand between Houston and Dallas.

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If it were economically feasible, it would be the first line in the world to do so.

CanyonAg77 said:

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YouBet said:

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Jesus Christ, I had thought this thing was killed. We will be bailing this POS out in no time.

You have the entire airline industry on the ropes and we are going to add a f'ing HSR that is completely unnecessary and will also destroy the landscape between Dallas and Houston?

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And will be obsolete the moment self driving cars become a reality.

Which means, long before completion of HSR.

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I think we are a long way off from critical mass on self driving vehicles. I think they will be a niche for a long time to come. If you notice, even before covid, the tech, money and research seemed to be waning.

Quote:

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May 2020

SAN FRANCISCO Tech companies once promised that fully functional, self-driving cars would be on the road by 2020 and on the path to remaking transportation and transforming the economy.

But a decade after Google unveiled an autonomous car prototype with global fanfare, the technology is still far from ready, and many investors are wary of dumping more money into it just when the world could benefit from cars that ferry people and deliver packages without a human driver.

...

Before the pandemic hit, "there was a broad recognition, within the industry, that this was a much harder problem," said Anand Gopalan, the chief executive of Velodyne.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/12/technology/self-driving-cars-coronavirus.html

Self driving cars need a controlled environment, and that's how I think you'll see them actually employed--on freeways that have been set up for autonomous vehicles. They may make it like aircraft, where you car will be in communication with a central control. Once you leave the freeway, the driver will have to take control. Trying to set up a car to handle streets and intersections is much more difficult. But, to bring it back to the topic at hand, I think we are much closer to seeing autonomous driving technology be employed for a Dallas to Houston trip than we are for a short trip on city streets, and that we could well get there before this train line could be built.

C@LAg said:

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Can the Texas voters sue to stop it?

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Yes, by electing representatives who will pass a bill making it clear that this corporation does not have eminent domain authority in the next legislature.

While I agree with you there's a big difference between 'fully functioning self driving vehicles' and having a car that basically does a large majority of the driving and decision making between say Hutchins and Conroe.

twk said:

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Self driving cars need a controlled environment, and that's how I think you'll see them actually employed--on freeways that have been set up for autonomous vehicles. They may make it like aircraft, where you car will be in communication with a central control. Once you leave the freeway, the driver will have to take control. Trying to set up a car to handle streets and intersections is much more difficult. But, to bring it back to the topic at hand, I think we are much closer to seeing autonomous driving technology be employed for a Dallas to Houston trip than we are for a short trip on city streets, and that we could well get there before this train line could be built.

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Yeah, I absolutely agree with the controlled environment. But no one is talking about it in that context; they are all focused on driving in the current framework, which is proving to be extremely difficult. It would be much smarter to build an autonomous vehicle super-highway with tolls from Dallas to Houston than a train. That's what the politicians should be considering, in conjunction with the tech companies and venture capitalists. Even without the possibility of self driving cars, a train just doesn't make sense, and as others have said, it'll never pay for itself.

Can we get a monorail around college station? Maybe throw in some 5 star hotels? Have stops at the bars, sorority row, Kyle Field? Think of how much carbon we'd prevent and all those boys and girls wouldn't have to drive drunk.

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Self driving cars need a controlled environment, and that's how I think you'll see them actually employed--on freeways that have been set up for autonomous vehicles.

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Makes a lot more sense than high speed rail. Dedicated self-driving car freeways, or lanes on current freeways.

For a day-trip for work, probably doesn't make sense since you have to figure out the final mile commute. If I'm going to Houston for a weekend (say, a wedding?) and the friend I'm staying with can pick me up at the station - I love the idea.

I work with some guys that live in/around OKC and work in DFW. They have condos in the mid-cities area, and ride Amtrak Monday/Thursday (working or sleeping on the train), park their cars at the station on the weekend. Pre-covid, sometimes their kids ride the train down after work/school and spend the weekend doing Rangers/Cowboys/Six Flags with dad. It allows one to live where they want to live, but work where demand is for their job.

mosdefn14 said:

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For a day-trip for work, probably doesn't make sense since you have to figure out the final mile commute. If I'm going to Houston for a weekend (say, a wedding?) and the friend I'm staying with can pick me up at the station - I love the idea.

I work with some guys that live in/around OKC and work in DFW. They have condos in the mid-cities area, and ride Amtrak Monday/Thursday (working or sleeping on the train), park their cars at the station on the weekend. Pre-covid, sometimes their kids ride the train down after work/school and spend the weekend doing Rangers/Cowboys/Six Flags with dad. It allows one to live where they want to live, but work where demand is for their job.

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Who picks up the tab for the train rides (and rental car, condo etc)? Is it the workers or the company? Airlines are currently dying because of a lack of business travel that many dont see returning anytime soon. Its certainly an option for some occupations and situations but it's not longer term sustainable.

thomas20:29 said:

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Can we get a monorail around college station? Maybe throw in some 5 star hotels? Have stops at the bars, sorority row, Kyle Field? Think of how much carbon we'd prevent and all those boys and girls wouldn't have to drive drunk.

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I think you mean high-speed lazy river.

tysker said:

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mosdefn14 said:

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For a day-trip for work, probably doesn't make sense since you have to figure out the final mile commute. If I'm going to Houston for a weekend (say, a wedding?) and the friend I'm staying with can pick me up at the station - I love the idea.

I work with some guys that live in/around OKC and work in DFW. They have condos in the mid-cities area, and ride Amtrak Monday/Thursday (working or sleeping on the train), park their cars at the station on the weekend. Pre-covid, sometimes their kids ride the train down after work/school and spend the weekend doing Rangers/Cowboys/Six Flags with dad. It allows one to live where they want to live, but work where demand is for their job.

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Who picks up the tab for the train rides (and rental car, condo etc)? Is it the workers or the company? Airlines are currently dying because of a lack of business travel that many dont see returning anytime soon. Its certainly an option for some occupations and situations but it's not longer term sustainable.

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That's a good point. With business travel being down, it would seem to make a train even less financially viable than before.

Of course, they are sure to be gambling that it will have returned to normal by the time they actually get it built, if they ever do.

thomas20:29 said:

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Can we get a monorail around college station? Maybe throw in some 5 star hotels? Have stops at the bars, sorority row, Kyle Field? Think of how much carbon we'd prevent and all those boys and girls wouldn't have to drive drunk.

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If we had it in the Panhandle, I might be tempted to take a trip to Aggieland every year or two. Or I might not -- I haven't been more than 200 miles from home in about 20 years now.

SNES Chalmers said:

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Drive to train station: 30 minutes
Loading and depart: 30 minutes
Train ride: 90 minutes (MAYBE if it doesn't stop)
Arrival and getting secondary transportation: 30 minutes
Getting where you need to go: 30 minutes

Total Trip time: 3.5 hours


Driving from where you live Dallas to where you need to go in Houston: Around 3.5 hours.

I'm probably stretching a bit but WTF.

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You forgot the best part - $3BB for the rail vs $50k for the car over existing roads.

$3BB is way more so it must be much better

Texas' $300M bullet train project hits embarrassing snare - Houston Chronicle

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Texas' $300M bullet train project hits embarrassing snare

Abbott has claimed the company had secured every permit required to begin construction. Too bad that wasn't true.

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No ***** And they are at minimum 1 year out from getting an approved USACE permit.

Aggie1 said:

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Texas' $300M bullet train project hits embarrassing snare - Houston Chronicle

Quote:

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Texas' $300M bullet train project hits embarrassing snare

Abbott has claimed the company had secured every permit required to begin construction. Too bad that wasn't true.

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The embarrassing snare was whatever numbnuts that thought this dumb**** train was a good idea in the first place

I could see my self using this once a year for a weekend trip to H-town or CS if it stops there but I just don't see the demand to justify it

lawless89 said:

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I commute between both all the time and would never be interested in taking this. I'd rather commute by myself in my truck and have a vehicle when I'm in both cities. I just don't see a lot of people actually using this.

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You'll have self driving Telsa cars ready to pick you up any in several more years / maybe that would change your mind? And while you are gone you can have your self driving car work for you back home.