They'd be better off buying a fleet of luxury buses, ala Megabus.
I wouldnt think those two trains are still profitable given covid. And even before covid it was only profitable because of business people and lobbyists were able to write off the travel expenses traveling between NYC and DC. We'll see if that level of T&E comes back anytime soon.Gator92 said:
Huge boondoggle. Taxpayer will be left to pay for when it goes bankrupt. Amtrak is federally subsidized. There are only 2 trains that make a profit. Still gonna have to get strip searched to board. Can I carry my gun?
If they are gonna do it anyway, why can't they use the existing I45 row? Elevate in median and over existing overpasses.
The million dollar question, right there.AgOutsideAustin said:
Will it at least slow down for a Bucees ?
Same thing will happen with rail.O'Doyle Rules said:Are you including TSA and gate waiting time? I think not.CanyonAg77 said:
Ninety minutes?
Doesn't Southwest do the same trip in seventy minutes?
Or buying a million Southwest Airlines tickets a yearLittle Rock Ag said:
They'd be better off buying a fleet of luxury buses, ala Megabus.
Which are those?Quote:
There are only 2 trains that make a profit.
texsn95 said:
Look to California for instructions on how to properly implement high speed rail.
Add on the multiple people you can put in your car vs. buying a ticket for each person. And luggage limits. Pets. "Restricted" items. Nobody is going to ride this.SNES Chalmers said:
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.
PWestAg18 said:
I already thought this was a bad idea before The 'Rona and now it's even worse. No company is going to pay for employees to ride this train when any meeting they would do could just be done via Zoom/Teams/Whatever like it has since March 2020
This would work!!!!TxTarpon said:It would work if it was this way:Quote:
I'm sure they did studies on the demand for something like this, but I just dont believe that people will ride this as much as those studies show.
1. Load car or truck onto train.
2. Ride train.
3. Unload car or truck from train.
4. Drive as needed.
Repeat for home journey.
It would cost $1000 if they even made that an option. Worth it to not have to drive for 90 minutes of your trip?Sgt. Schultz said:This would work!!!!TxTarpon said:It would work if it was this way:Quote:
I'm sure they did studies on the demand for something like this, but I just dont believe that people will ride this as much as those studies show.
1. Load car or truck onto train.
2. Ride train.
3. Unload car or truck from train.
4. Drive as needed.
Repeat for home journey.
This is the only way it would work, much like the ferry system in the Pacific Northwest. You pay something like $30 a car and you get to ride and walk around for an an hour or so. Since it is on its own tracks, custom cars can be developed to make loading/unloading easier and faster. Don't they do something similar in Europe between England and France in the "Chunnel"???? Regardless, if they are just going to rely on normal ridership, this thing doesn't stand a chance.Martin Q. Blank said:It would cost $1000 if they even made that an option. Worth it to not have to drive for 90 minutes of your trip?Sgt. Schultz said:This would work!!!!TxTarpon said:It would work if it was this way:Quote:
I'm sure they did studies on the demand for something like this, but I just dont believe that people will ride this as much as those studies show.
1. Load car or truck onto train.
2. Ride train.
3. Unload car or truck from train.
4. Drive as needed.
Repeat for home journey.
Researched this several yrs ago. Things probably have changed and I'm sure it is only profitable v operation and maintenance costs.CanyonAg77 said:Which are those?Quote:
There are only 2 trains that make a profit.
The only one I'm aware of is in Japan....completely different country, geography, cities, and culture.
And it's only profitable because the Japanese taxpayer built all the infrastructure, then gave it to the rail company.
Sgt. Schultz said:This is the only way it would work, much like the ferry system in the Pacific Northwest. You pay something like $30 a car and you get to ride and walk around for an an hour or so. Since it is on its own tracks, custom cars can be developed to make loading/unloading easier and faster. Don't they do something similar in Europe between England and France in the "Chunnel"???? Regardless, if they are just going to rely on normal ridership, this thing doesn't stand a chance.Martin Q. Blank said:It would cost $1000 if they even made that an option. Worth it to not have to drive for 90 minutes of your trip?Sgt. Schultz said:This would work!!!!TxTarpon said:It would work if it was this way:Quote:
I'm sure they did studies on the demand for something like this, but I just dont believe that people will ride this as much as those studies show.
1. Load car or truck onto train.
2. Ride train.
3. Unload car or truck from train.
4. Drive as needed.
Repeat for home journey.
If I recall correctly, the profitable French high speed line was the one from Paris to Avignon--the first high speed line, and a lot cheaper to build.Gator92 said:Researched this several yrs ago. Things probably have changed and I'm sure it is only profitable v operation and maintenance costs.CanyonAg77 said:Which are those?Quote:
There are only 2 trains that make a profit.
The only one I'm aware of is in Japan....completely different country, geography, cities, and culture.
And it's only profitable because the Japanese taxpayer built all the infrastructure, then gave it to the rail company.
Then it was NY/DC and London/Paris.
The private funding claim has been a lie from the beginning--they were always planning to take advantage of federally backed loans (which, I suspect, is what this federal "approval" is actually about) because the money isn't there to back this thing as a purely private venture. Now, they are going beyond that and looking for federal subsidies claiming Covid losses.halfastros81 said:
I suppose someone that lives in the Houston area and commutes to Dallas weekly or vice versa could leave a car parked near the train station on each end. Doesn't seem like it would make economic sense tho. Uber or Lyft another option.
Isn't this all privately funded? If so the investors are taking the business risk but no public $ should be used. That's been the issue in the past with these type of project I suspect. They fail before they are even in service and then public $ finish them.