In article ,
says...

On Mon, 2 Sep 2013 12:34:21 -0400, iBoaterer wrote:

In article ,
says...

On Mon, 02 Sep 2013 09:38:55 -0400, "F.O.A.D." wrote:

Japan Railway Comp

Once you get away from the Boston - DC corridor, there are not many
places where people would ride a train. Even there, if you are not
spending your visit in the city center, you need a car.
We are not Japan nor Europe.
The only place with a similar population density is the NE megopolis
and they have a train

There certainly is if there was a viable one to ride.

There are plenty of trains in the US and they go off virtually empty.
That is why Amtrak is always on the public dole.
There are some routes that make sense and they succeed. Acela is one.
That does not translate well in most places.

Uh, we are talking about high speed rail, and you are wrong, most trains
have a good amount of people riding, but because they are not high
speed, they aren't to capacity.

Here in Florida they wanted to build a high speed train between Tampa
and Orlando. They problem is, they would really need to have a lot of
stops near both ends to make it attractive ... as a commuter train.
That is not conducive to "high speed".

You end up with the same problem I brought up before. You need a car
to get around Tampa and Orlando. Tourists are unlikely to travel in
between by train anyway. If they have a rental car, you are only
talking about a 1 - 1.5 hour drive. They would be at the other end,
checked into their hotel before you got through the train station on
both ends, if they "beamed" you to Tampa.

I agree wholeheartedly, our infrastructure sucks. Trouble is it sucks
because people like you are afraid of change and innovation.

"iBoaterer" wrote in message
...


I agree wholeheartedly, our infrastructure sucks. Trouble is it sucks
because people like you are afraid of change and innovation.

-----------------------------

The only way it will change in our society is if people (consumers of
products and services) want and demand it.
They are not keen on having things stuffed down their throats by the
government.

So far, nobody really wants or cares about high speed rail except for
some politicians and a handful of lobbyist.

On Mon, 2 Sep 2013 14:20:29 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

So far, nobody really wants or cares about high speed rail except for
some politicians and a handful of lobbyist.

===

There are some routes where high speed rail might make sense. Tampa
to Orlando is not yet one of them however. SanFrancisco to LA and
San Diego might work. Another possibility is Chicago to Florida
and/or NY to Florida. All of those routes see very heavy air travel.
If the Florida routes were planned correctly, you might get Tampa to
Orlando, FTL and MIA as part of the bargain. One of my neighbors is
in the process of driving his wife to Michigan because she hates to
fly. He ends up doing it 4 or 5 times a year.

In article , says...

On Mon, 2 Sep 2013 13:49:37 -0400, iBoaterer wrote:

Here in Florida they wanted to build a high speed train between Tampa
and Orlando. They problem is, they would really need to have a lot of
stops near both ends to make it attractive ... as a commuter train.
That is not conducive to "high speed".

You end up with the same problem I brought up before. You need a car
to get around Tampa and Orlando. Tourists are unlikely to travel in
between by train anyway. If they have a rental car, you are only
talking about a 1 - 1.5 hour drive. They would be at the other end,
checked into their hotel before you got through the train station on
both ends, if they "beamed" you to Tampa.

I agree wholeheartedly, our infrastructure sucks. Trouble is it sucks
because people like you are afraid of change and innovation.


A train offers absolutely NOTHING to "people" like me.
That is the problem.
I am not sure where I would take a train to

I just went to the WAMATA.com web site and plugged in my home address and my work address to
see what it would take to get from home to work. It will take 1 hour and 7 minutes and I get
to ride a bus to the Metro station, take a train a couple of stops and then take another bus
ride. It would take me 1 hour and 7 minutes and cost me $3.20. If I drive it takes 25 minutes
and about 1/4 of a gallon of gas. Even figuring in insurance and maintenance I would pay
about $2 at the most and I would get to work in less than 1/2 the time.

On 9/2/2013 8:07 PM, BAR wrote:
In article , says...

On Mon, 2 Sep 2013 13:49:37 -0400, iBoaterer wrote:

Here in Florida they wanted to build a high speed train between Tampa
and Orlando. They problem is, they would really need to have a lot of
stops near both ends to make it attractive ... as a commuter train.
That is not conducive to "high speed".

You end up with the same problem I brought up before. You need a car
to get around Tampa and Orlando. Tourists are unlikely to travel in
between by train anyway. If they have a rental car, you are only
talking about a 1 - 1.5 hour drive. They would be at the other end,
checked into their hotel before you got through the train station on
both ends, if they "beamed" you to Tampa.

I agree wholeheartedly, our infrastructure sucks. Trouble is it sucks
because people like you are afraid of change and innovation.


A train offers absolutely NOTHING to "people" like me.
That is the problem.
I am not sure where I would take a train to

I just went to the WAMATA.com web site and plugged in my home address and my work address to
see what it would take to get from home to work. It will take 1 hour and 7 minutes and I get
to ride a bus to the Metro station, take a train a couple of stops and then take another bus
ride. It would take me 1 hour and 7 minutes and cost me $3.20. If I drive it takes 25 minutes
and about 1/4 of a gallon of gas. Even figuring in insurance and maintenance I would pay
about $2 at the most and I would get to work in less than 1/2 the time.


And how would you get to work if you had anything to carry for work, or
deliver anything for work... Trains are only good for paperpushers and
vacationers anyway...

On 9/2/13 8:23 PM, JustWaitAFrekinMinute wrote:


And how would you get to work if you had anything to carry for work, or
deliver anything for work... Trains are only good for paperpushers and
vacationers anyway...



How would that impact you? You are unemployed and unemployable. What
would you be carrying or delivering to "work," since you don't work?

On Monday, September 2, 2013 7:26:07 PM UTC-5, F.O.A.D. wrote:
On 9/2/13 8:23 PM, JustWaitAFrekinMinute wrote:





And how would you get to work if you had anything to carry for work, or

deliver anything for work... Trains are only good for paperpushers and

vacationers anyway...







How would that impact you? You are unemployed and unemployable. What

would you be carrying or delivering to "work," since you don't work?

It's nothing novel that many ask that same question of you, Krause.

In article ,
says...

On 9/2/2013 8:07 PM, BAR wrote:
In article , says...

On Mon, 2 Sep 2013 13:49:37 -0400, iBoaterer wrote:

Here in Florida they wanted to build a high speed train between Tampa
and Orlando. They problem is, they would really need to have a lot of
stops near both ends to make it attractive ... as a commuter train.
That is not conducive to "high speed".

You end up with the same problem I brought up before. You need a car
to get around Tampa and Orlando. Tourists are unlikely to travel in
between by train anyway. If they have a rental car, you are only
talking about a 1 - 1.5 hour drive. They would be at the other end,
checked into their hotel before you got through the train station on
both ends, if they "beamed" you to Tampa.

I agree wholeheartedly, our infrastructure sucks. Trouble is it sucks
because people like you are afraid of change and innovation.


A train offers absolutely NOTHING to "people" like me.
That is the problem.
I am not sure where I would take a train to

I just went to the WAMATA.com web site and plugged in my home address and my work address to
see what it would take to get from home to work. It will take 1 hour and 7 minutes and I get
to ride a bus to the Metro station, take a train a couple of stops and then take another bus
ride. It would take me 1 hour and 7 minutes and cost me $3.20. If I drive it takes 25 minutes
and about 1/4 of a gallon of gas. Even figuring in insurance and maintenance I would pay
about $2 at the most and I would get to work in less than 1/2 the time.


And how would you get to work if you had anything to carry for work, or
deliver anything for work... Trains are only good for paperpushers and
vacationers anyway...

Yeah, just take a look at Europe... Oh, wait, high speed trains are
successful there, never mind.

"BAR" wrote in message
. ..


I just went to the WAMATA.com web site and plugged in my home address
and my work address to
see what it would take to get from home to work. It will take 1 hour
and 7 minutes and I get
to ride a bus to the Metro station, take a train a couple of stops and
then take another bus
ride. It would take me 1 hour and 7 minutes and cost me $3.20. If I
drive it takes 25 minutes
and about 1/4 of a gallon of gas. Even figuring in insurance and
maintenance I would pay
about $2 at the most and I would get to work in less than 1/2 the
time.

-----------------------------

Just for kicks, I went to the Amtrak website and priced the
*cheapest* one-way fare from Boston to Charleston, SC.


Train would leave Boston at 9:30 pm and arrive in Wash DC at about 7
am the next morning.
Then a three hour layover in DC with a connection leaving at 9:55 am.
Arrive in Charleston, SC at 7:15 pm.

Total travel time: 22 hours. Cost: $289.00
I can fly there in 2.5 hours for less than that.
I can drive it in about 15-16 hours and not need to rent a car when I
got there.

A high-speed train would have to be non-stop and average almost 400
mph to be competitive with the airlines, time-wise.

On 9/2/13 8:46 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:


"BAR" wrote in message
. ..


I just went to the WAMATA.com web site and plugged in my home address
and my work address to
see what it would take to get from home to work. It will take 1 hour and
7 minutes and I get
to ride a bus to the Metro station, take a train a couple of stops and
then take another bus
ride. It would take me 1 hour and 7 minutes and cost me $3.20. If I
drive it takes 25 minutes
and about 1/4 of a gallon of gas. Even figuring in insurance and
maintenance I would pay
about $2 at the most and I would get to work in less than 1/2 the time.

-----------------------------

Just for kicks, I went to the Amtrak website and priced the *cheapest*
one-way fare from Boston to Charleston, SC.


Train would leave Boston at 9:30 pm and arrive in Wash DC at about 7 am
the next morning.
Then a three hour layover in DC with a connection leaving at 9:55 am.
Arrive in Charleston, SC at 7:15 pm.

Total travel time: 22 hours. Cost: $289.00
I can fly there in 2.5 hours for less than that.
I can drive it in about 15-16 hours and not need to rent a car when I
got there.

A high-speed train would have to be non-stop and average almost 400 mph
to be competitive with the airlines, time-wise.





We can't do it because we can't do it because we can't do it. I get it.
We can't do anything anymore, and that's another example of why
conservatism is killing America, because we can't have nice trains, we
can't keep our interstates in good shape, we can't repair our bridges,
whatever, we can't do it because...we can't do it.

When we take the train to Jax, it usually works out to be a 13 hour
train trip. We leave in the evening and arrive the next morining, after
a good night's sleep aboard the train. No long waits to clear security
at the origin, no long wait for luggage at the termination. Compartment
includes private toilet, two bunk beds and two pretty decent meals.
Takes about the same time as driving, if I felt like driving without an
overnight stop, which I don't like doing. Would take much less time if
trackage and equipment were a lot better, but the trackage south of DC
is mostly CSX, and it doesn't give a **** about high speed passenger rail.

No worries about all the crap that accompanies airline travel.

About $700 round trip for two adults. Much more comfy than even first
class on a plane. Takes longer, sure, but it's overnight and you have to
sleep. Oh, and two first class airline tickets would be about $1000.

But we can't improve passenger rail transportation because this is
America and we can't things like that anymore. I get it.