So, do you think that this project will ever be completed? I know that some of the steps are currently being implemented, but what are the odds of ever having a real HSR corridor in Upstate New York?
>>916716
> ever
That's too indeterminate.
>>916716
>real HSR
Never
America will get true HSR the day it becomes an colony of Japan, China or France.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypfWSecK63w
The EIS took about four years and came out in 2014, so we probably have a few more before Phase II with the exact plan comes out, especially if they opt to do Option 125.
>Canada and the states will never have a HSR.
>I will never be comfy riding the train from Montreal to Philly too see relatives
FML
>>916720
Okay, within the next 50 years, then.
if by some miracle upstate new york has an economic boom and millions of people move to buffalo, rochester or syracuse, then it will happen.
that is unlikely.
Why are we focused on building regional HSR when so many of our commuter rail and rapid transit systems are using 30-year-old technology?
I think we need the federal government to work with municipal and state transit agencies to improve service (e.g. electrify, grade separate, modernize, etc.) on a local level before we start trying to compete with air travel.
>>917910
>I think we need the federal government
It's within one state, a state that's got plenty of money. Why would the feds care? It's not their problem that the state of NY can't get their shit together.
>>917910
As we speak, this is happening, Caltrain is electrifing and upgrading their oldest diesels, Colorado has brand new electric Silverliner 6s, NJ transit's fleet is the newest its ever been, and once we sell off the last comet 5s, we will have an all dual level modern fleet, Metro North's fleet is now super new, since the M8s are now bug free.. we are sort of in a golden age of public transit since all the 1990s stock is being sold off to new providers or replaced.
>>918410
And Metra rail (one of the largest commuter rail systems in the country) in Chicago is pretty much on the edge of bankruptcy and being completely broken, they have a $25bln backlog and only about $1.5bln of that is actually funded.
>>918434
Metra just pisses me off on so many levels.
>>917910
>We need more over reach and micromanagement of states and cities by the Fed.
No we don't.
>A windy route with many intermediate stops.
No that is not how you do HSR. Also NYP cannot handle 1 more train until the new tunnels are completed. Even then it'll probably still be overcapacity.
trains are a big democrat scam. They never make money, they aren't efficient either.
Busses are far more efficient.
>>918749
> Busses are far more efficient.
Scientifically false.
>>918764
> Standard coach buses have 55 seats.
> Each Amfleet car (which is used in NY, because of height restrictions) has a seating capacity of 72.
> Typically 4 Amfleet cars in a regional consist in NY (plus one dining car, which has business class seating of 18).
> Totaling 306 seats.
> Would need six buses to attain that capacity
> Average highway bus gets
> Amtrak's engines use an average of two gallons per mile.
> Coach buses get an average of seven miles to the gallon.
> Buses are twice as fuel efficient.
> Buses also take up shit tons of space on roads, while trains take up none.
> Buses are also only involved in .14 deaths per billion passenger miles. NOTE: This number is HEAVILY skewed by the fact that school and commuter buses are included. (I couldn't find any other info)
> Amtrak is involved in .47 deaths per billion passenger miles. NOTE: This number is also heavily skewed, because it includes idiots that try to beat the train, or people who get stuck on rails.
> I'll still take the train every time.
> Why?
> Trains end up being faster, more comfortable, and more hospitable than buses.
>>918749
>Trains are a Democrat scam
>>919284
Don't even know what you're trying to go for there, but you do you.
>>919504
>not getting hard over Mossy Oak
I bet you don't even jerk it to the American flag.
>>918410
And none of the commuter systems except Denver are remotely at a stage where they can easily scale up to <20-minute all-day frequent transit, whether archaic labor staffing, fare payments, electrification, or all three. And even for Denver, how do they expect to turn 4+ frequent rail lines at a 3-track terminus under the current FRA regulations? Importing NEC-spec rolling stock for the American West was the stupidest decision in decades.
I know it isn't very populated, but shouldn't a line extend up through the North Country? It seems like a line heading up that way would be a good way to connect smaller upstate towns and cities with a much stronger northern city like Burlington, Vermont
>>919539
As a current resident in the North Country, I would LOVE this, as it stands, I either have to drive to Syracuse or Plattsburgh to get onto Amtrak. That said, it probably will never happen, because the economies up here are such shit, so there would be no profit in it.
>>918749
It seems like you never rode Amtrak in New York, because it's always full.
>>919208
>Would need six buses to attain that capacity
Don't forget the differential in staff costs.
>>919539
I was the one who posted >>919738
I thought about it a little bit more, and realized that it could work, but the only route that would make sense would be a big loop that ran around the Adirondacks, meeting back up with the main corridor, and running Syracuse and Schenectady. The only issue is that there's no track currently connecting between the northern portion of the existing tracks. The existing ones are the ones that the Adirondack rides on, and the CSX tracks to the west of the Adirondacks. The closest they get is about a five mile difference south of Montreal, which I'm pretty sure that New York won't want to pay for track improvements in Canada. If they wanted to keep it in New York borders, then almost 60 miles of new track would have to be laid between Rouses Point and Fort Covington. I'm not saying that it's impossibly, just that it's highly unlikely that it will happen.