New Kalamazoo, Michigan to Chicago high speed rail, which I call KalamaZOOM (coined here first 2.21.2012).
Kalamazoo to Chicago High Speed Rail, Kalamazoom
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Category Archives: high speed rail
Take the Fast Train to Vegas
DesertXpress High Speed Rail Service
Yes, the DesertXpress train from Victorville to Las Vegas is going to happen!
The federal government has issues final environmental clearance that will allow the project to proceed. This is on a path to be the first bullet train in the US.
One remaining hurdle is federal clearance for financing the $6 billion private project. DesertXpress is confident that finances will come through.
Luxury trains will transport passengers for $50 fares by 2015 along a 190 mile route that should take 80 minutes with speeds reaching 150 mph.
Link to DesertXpress.
Where there’s a will, there’s a way
India continues high speed rail
“Going ahead with its ambitious high-speed train proposal, Railways have joined hands with Japan to begin the ground work to reduce travel time by half on the Delhi-Mumbai corridor.” – see link.
Italo – Italy’s High Speed Private Train Service
New private train line in Italy Ferrari-like trains
Ferrari Red Italian Train Line
The private line also includes many upgrades and high end customer service. Read more here.
California high speed rail hurdles
High Speed Rail Back to the Future
California price tag for their Anaheim to San Francisco proposed bullet train is 98 billion. This, combined with dissent from wealthy and poor communities in the path of the bullet train, plus problems from Union Pacific, make this reality discouraging. Union Pacific’scomplaints appear to mainly affect the politics of things rather than true issues with the route. But the bottom line is that the plans are really under major attack. Take this:
Backers on Tuesday announced a major strategy shift, unveiling a reworked blueprint for the first leg that would delay completion 13 years to 2033.
OK, 2033, are you serious? 22 years ago was 1989, just a few years after the first Back to the Future movie was released and it was the year Back to the Future II was released. When they traveled to 2015 we had flying cars! Yet in reality we can’t even get a high speed train by 2033???
Perhaps California simply is too difficult of a state to get this done. However, the desire does not seem to be there in other states, where land costs could perhaps help achieve a reality with high speed train service before our futuristic flying cars take over.
If I had to bet which we’ll see first, a high speed rail in California or flying cars, that is a bet I would have to really take time to think about.
Shangai PVG Maglev
The Train to Nowhere
Train to Nowhere
As if a bridge to nowhere is not enough, politics in the US leads us to trains to nowhere. Now, I can argue much of this article away with the value of trains in Ohio and Wisconsin, regardless of their speed, but let me focus on the merits of the argument. Continue reading
Japanese Bullet Train Crossing a Bridge
Chicago High Speed Rail Hub
My kind of town, Chicago. It has historically been a hub of all sorts, particularly for trains and 2011 has seen nothing but continued activity in the plans for high speed rail for the city. Wisconsin’s refusal to accept federal funds for high speed rail, citing “ongoing operating subsidy costs” for their taxpayers as the reason, affects Chicago in that the proposed Chicago to Minnesota’s twin cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis is unlikely to happen. It is still an amazing refusal of funds that would boost jobs and economic activity in the state and region, not to mention continued economic thriving from the existence of a high speed corridor. But, as it is, Chicago is still to benefit from a high speed route to St. Louis and I expect that would simply mean more economic benefits to these two cities at the expense of the state of Wisconsin.