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this post was submitted on 07 Jan 2024
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East coast united states has similar population density to most of europe.
It's just out west we have a lot of empty land.
Yeah, Amtrak's most profitable line is the Boston-DC NE corridor. Not that profitability is the end all be all of transit, but it speaks to the value gained vs value spent.
Yes that makes an transcontinental high speed rail very impractical.
I'm not disagreeing with that, but high speed rail from Boston to Miami would be extremely practical. Efficient, fast, convient travel along that corridor reducing dependence on cars for city to city travel. And the area has both the demand and density to support such projects.
And while its impractical now, if it was built to cheapen regional travel in the region it could grow to high use spurning economic development.
I'd love to take a train at a reasonable pace from near to DC to my family in Pittsburgh, or to visit New York.
I might even enjoy a cross country trek to the rockies for skiing on a train, but it's never going to be an option.
With Brightline in Florida and Amtrak upgrades in Virginia and even to Georgia, I’m actually starting to be optimistic Boston to Miami will happen. Eventually. Sadly, not in my lifetime, but eventually.
So far, every place I see even basic rail service, it only builds interest. People want it, and it’s finally getting a little funding. Once people get it, it will be tough to take away. It will grow.
At the current rate, it will take quite a few decades. I can dream of a relaxing ride to Florida in my retirement, but maybe the next generation will be able to actually do it
Hell, we may even get high speed rail centered on Chicago, expanded out to meet east coast rail. Can you imagine the entire eastern half the country connected?
I would love that. I personally love riding high speed rail. The problem is that it's too damn expensive to build in the USA. The cost : benefit ratio just doesn't pencil out.
Even the profitable Acela line barely qualifies as high speed rail because they can't handle upgrading all the rail and dealing with legacy infrastructure issues.
It would be amazing if they could fix that and extend it down the coast to Miami. It would be amazing if they could build a high speed rail line from NY to SF. I would totally ride that. Unfortunately I just don't think it's ever going to happen.
The cost to benefit looks way better if you think long term. Especially with climate change on the horizon to compete with planes but emission free.
One of the major problems for upgrading lines is straitening the route, and people fight the emniment domain way harder than they do for roads.