Let me leave an Update to this video. It does look like the Texas Central Plan has been shelved, but Amtrak, along with the "now on board" TexDOT railroad division (I kid you not!) has applied to the FRA to get funds for implementing the fabled "Texas Triangle" segmented rail line. Amtrak's plan is to bypass a couple of the major obstacles befalling the Texas Central Plan, namely the "eminent domain" backlash, and the objection of rural communities that this just a "big city" benefit; well, that plus all the federal bucks that could finally be had for rail projects in the state. They plan on doing all this by taking what many view as the most common sense approach, which is to utilize federal right-of-way by putting in track on the medians of four of the Interstate highways that run through the state, namely a section of I-30 that runs between Fort Worth and Dallas, I-35 that runs from Fort Worth (through the population centers of Waco and Austin) down to San Antonio, I-45 that runs from Dallas to Houston (through Corsicana and Bryan/College Station, and finally I-10 that runs from Houston to San Antonio (with a proposed mid-way stop in rural Flatonia, Texas). Texas Central has gone on record saying that the reason they didn't choose the Interstate option for their line was that I-45 was a bit too "curvy" to facilitate trains that ran at 165 m/h, but a slightly slower Amtrak Acela trainset could work there. Because the Amtrak plan includes this and a number of other advantages (like significantly better "last-mile" connectivity at the railheads) to the Texas Central plan, it looks like the Amtrak/TexDOT proposal has a very good shot at receiving approval from the Feds! The big question is whether Amtrak is going to promote this plan as a full-blown "high speed rail" proposal, or just as a "higher speed" rail system, utilizing one of the new Acela Liberty dual-powered train sets. While it wouldn't be technically considered HSR, having a "faster" train that topped out at around 160 m/h on some sections would still be a big deal. Having a sleeker, faster, "cooler looking" train that could make any of the three legs in a little over two hours, as opposed to the eight hours a current Amtrak train takes to make the Fort Worth to San Antonio run. The Texas Central proposal called for a transit time of an hour and a half.

@TohaBgood2

Жыл бұрын

I don't know that I'm fully OK with Texas Central throwing in the towel, but this Amtrak plan actually sounds pretty good and very doable. Also, the new Avelia Liberty TGV-derived trainsets can do 186 mph with the tilting mechanism enabled and up to 220 mph with the tilting feature deleted. So if they have straight enough right of way, Amtrak could potentially do 186 mph or even 220 mph here. It's just a matter of getting the right of way straight enough.

@wendellcoleman1137

Жыл бұрын

@@TohaBgood2 Well, now it appears that the Texas Central project is, to borrow a phrase from the "Princess Bride", only" mostly dead"! They have named a new CEO, who has already appeared before a Texas House Transportation sub-committee to answer some questions and to speak out against a new bill they view as problematic.. They are still trying to keep the project alive apparently! We'll see!

@vasquen

Жыл бұрын

I'm sure that with a bit of engeneering the right of way could be straightened

@edoio.7283

Жыл бұрын

Anynews?

@wendellcoleman1137

Жыл бұрын

@@edoio.7283 Well some. It appears that the Texas Central project isn't completely dead, as was first thought. Recently, a Houston Real Estate company has placed a caretaker in the vacated Texas Central CEO position (there still isn't a sitting board of directors). This guy and his company's participation in this deal is somewhat curious, as the new CEO isn't a "railroad guy" but is a real estate deal restructuring specialist, and his first task was to appear before a Texas Legislature Transportation subcommittee to answer some questions from Central Texas landowners, and to lobby against a bill working its' way through the Legislature that would required Texas Central (or any private railroad company) to publicly list all of their major investors. Also, Amtrak is apparently now looking at putting in a high speed rail line between Dallas and Houston, with a high speed branch line running from Bryan/College Station over to Austin, then down to San Antonio, with the rest of the remaining Texas Triangle to remain the regular lower speed tracks. This Amtrak project is waiting to hear from the FRA in November. And finally, it has come to light that Brightline is also interested in putting in a high speed rout along the entire Texas Triangle, as well. They have named this future project Brightline Texas that will utilize the same process (utilizing the I-30, I-45, I-10, and I-35 median right-of-ways and funding) as they are using on their Brightline West project. It looks like they are waiting until that project is further along before publicly announcing their plans.

Speaking as a Texan, I never got my hopes up about this. We can't have nice things here because vested interests, rural politicians, and conservative fanatics of every stripe want to keep us in the 20th century.

@COMPUTER.SCIENCE.

Жыл бұрын

Rural politicians 😂 on point with that! 😂

@paulsbunions8441

11 ай бұрын

"conservative fanatics" Didn't realize you're a fanatic if you're against a privately owned company using governmental powers to force private landowners to give up their property

@jerryrichardson2799

11 ай бұрын

Exactly and thank you. _If_ it gets built the cost of tickets may doom it.

@auxyray

4 ай бұрын

As a rural Texan, I don't see how this project would benefit me in the least. I know a different approach could benefit rural communities, one that developed a network of regional rail lines connected to local transportation, but this ain't it. Sorry, I'm not in favor of projects that promote urban sprawl and further suburbanization of the state while gutting already hobbled rural communities to the benefit of real estate investors, many of them not even located in the United States. Most Texas farmers and ranchers can't even break even without a secondary activity. At this point, all they're asking for is to keep their land in tact and out of the hands of those who would take it in flights of fancy. Maybe if these projects came with the assurance from cities to limit sprawl and seriously develop multimodal transportation, then maybe I'd be on board.

Brightline should take over and build a commuter/ high speed rail system in Texas. Seems like they know what they are doing in Florida.

@michaeljones7927

Жыл бұрын

Great idea. Brightline's approach to improved passenger service is practical and realistic. If Brightline could work out a deal with BNSF, which has the most direct line, an operation like Miami to Orlando might be feasible.

@spencergraham-thille9896

Жыл бұрын

Well, they are doing something right.

@michelangelobuonarroti4958

Жыл бұрын

@@michaeljones7927 They actually built their own right of way to the Orlando Airport, with service slated to begin this year. Orlando-Miami intercity rail service is actually a reality.

If the high speed rail line between Dallas and Houston is built, it should have a slower commuter rail like train that uses the same rout but makes more stops, this would be a perfect way to get Rual community’s to support the railroad. The way it would work is they would build a 4 track line the 2 middle tracks for the high speed trains that only stop at Dallas and Houston and the 2 outer tracks would be for the slower commuter rail like trains that make more stops along the way.

@nathanwatson01

Жыл бұрын

That is a crap ton of track but not a bad idea. It would make more sense to have occasional sidings to allow the high speed trains right of way while the slower commuter trains would still be able to use the same track.

@Traintrooper

Жыл бұрын

@@nathanwatson01 it’s just 2 more track but the benefits they would offer would be so much more. It would allow the communities the HSR runs through to also get train service, witch would cars off the road and reduce carbon emissions and if ther is a problem on one track, they would have still have 2 or 3 track to work with instead of 1 or 0 other tracks

@RTSRafnex2

Жыл бұрын

@@Traintrooper Yes but Nathan is right, at this route length it is long enough to have a few single sidings. You may never reach max capacity.

@jamalgibson8139

Жыл бұрын

Part of the problem with this idea is that Texas central planned to use Japanese shinkansen trains, which are not legal to operate on US tracks (I believe because they are too light). To get around this, the line was going to be fully segregated from all other rail lines. So in order to do as you propose, they would either need to build and operate a second rail line separate from this one, or get the law changed so they can just operate this system like a normal train line.

@jamalgibson8139

Жыл бұрын

I do agree with your point, though. Too much focus is put on HSR nowadays, when old school regional/commuter rail is just as important for people.

Brightline should come in and pick up the pieces. That being said people should travel to Asia or Europe to see how HSR actually works and what makes profitable.

@TohaBgood2

Жыл бұрын

Brightline is privately owned but publicly funded. They're basically a state backed real estate speculation scheme with a loss-leader rail line. Up to 90% of Brightline's recent projects were government funded. Do you honestly see the current Texas government back a corporate socialism scheme to build a rail line? Come on! We all know that Texas Central ain't getting the same sweetheart deal that Brightline got from the Florida government. It's just not going to happen. Texans actually believe all of this anti-government crap. Florida is just posturing to keep the real estate speculation going.

We need this train, so frustrating!

After living in Germany , Korea and visiting Japan multiple times I will never understand what happen to our own public transportation. They are so far ahead of us in this form of transportation its not even close. I will say this it would have to be above ground raid . here in the us people tend to think parking on RR Crossing is a sport .

@jfruser

Ай бұрын

Diversity and size. USA is too diverse to make public transpo safe and the distances between places folks want to go is too great to make the infrastructure worth building.

@HYDRAdude

Ай бұрын

@@jfruser The diversity issue is easily fixed by pricing out "poor" people and places like China prove your later argument to be baseless.

I live in Houston. I would ride this up to Dallas just for fun.

@Houston123ABC

Ай бұрын

Not if it costs more than a plane ticket, and has parking costs and TSA or other waiting times.

To reach the potential of those HSR projects they need to be integrated and coordinated with local transit networks.

@jerryrichardson2799

11 ай бұрын

Correct, but extremely unlikely to happen.

The infrastructure (tracks) should be public with private and public *operators* (owning trains) competing with different services as it is the case in Europe (France and Spain) where they have full service, premium and low-cost services running all day long and offering a wide variety of fares. Operators paying a kind of toll fare for using the tracks. That way the state could impose a discouraging taxation on point to point flights between the two cities and help reduce GHG emissions. They could also offer a public-private tender for building the tracks to the highest quality and lowest cost with a time limited concession of ownership and maintenance before it reverts to state ownership. The fully private system they went for is the riskiest and least flexible... The fully private infrastructure model poses a real issue about government privileges being given to a private company...

@dmpyron2

Жыл бұрын

Speaking totally sarcastically, do you actually think the lege would fund something that goes against their own vested interests? The same people that fought against eminent domain for Texas Central fought FOR eminent domain for Keystone through Texas.

@KyrilPG

Жыл бұрын

@@dmpyron2 Not sure I understand your message?

@Houston123ABC

Ай бұрын

"discouraging taxation" -- Ah, no.

Please consider making another Texas HSR video soon, Scott.

@ScottDaileyYOUTUBE

10 ай бұрын

On the books - the Amtrak add was big news!!!

Thanks for the update. I also agree that it should include San Antonio and Austin.

@HTV-2_Hypersonic_Glide_Vehicle

Жыл бұрын

It needs to go one step at a time. It wouldn't be smart to include San Antonio and Austin in phase 1 because once the people see the cost, it will greatly discourage any support for the project.

@hockeymaskbob2942

Жыл бұрын

Id rather see it go between Dallas and Austin, no one needs to go to Houston

@AndreBeverly

Жыл бұрын

@Hockeymaskbob People in Houston giving you the side eye right now 😒 But then again some just rather be stuck in traffic and deal with their own city.How foresight just isn't a thing here.

I’ve been waiting to see how this plays out. I’ve been looking forward to the bullet training being a reality as I go to Dallas from Houston one week out the month for work. The 90 minute ride I can do. Especially since when I’m in Dallas I stay with family and it takes me about an hour and 15 min to get to work and 2 hours to get home. The traffic is horrendous. And the amount I pay in tolls and gas just locally in Dallas during my week in town, would make this a great alternative for me. I hope they figure it out soon.

There is definitely more to this story. The CEO just don't quit without an explanation! Maybe someone really big twist his arm hard enough?

@ScottDaileyYOUTUBE

Жыл бұрын

You know I was suspecting it was from lack of funding but I'm not really sure!

@stanley917

Жыл бұрын

Aguilar also sat on the ERCOT BOD. Conflict of interest IMO.

@Redridge07

Жыл бұрын

@qolspony My guess his departure was based on the realization that Texans do what to progress, thus all the fight against the HSR.

Contra many of the comments; 1) HSR needs to be a lot straighter than a freeway needs to be. A greenfield route is dramatically better than following I-45. 2) HSR needs to have minimal stops-only at the largest cities-in order to maximize the time savings, end-to-end ridership, and pay for the very expensive high speed right of way. Having rural stops would cost many more end-to-end riders than would be gained from the rural stops; only the one stop in the middle is really justifiable. 3) HSR needs to have as direct a route as geographically feasible, again to maximize time savings, boost end-to-end ridership, and pay for the high speed right of way. Looping in other Texas Triangle cities would lengthen the route, increasing the cost and trip duration, seriously undermining end-to-end ridership. The other Texas Triangle cities should get their own HSR routes, but they should most definitely be separate routes, not looped into a Houston-Dallas route. 4) HSR requires independent tracks from any local service; otherwise, the fast trains will be constantly stuck behind the slow trains. This means running a local service alongside an express service would require a three or four track mainline, rather than a two track mainline, dramatically increasing the cost of everything. Doable, sure, but expensive and requiring even more eminent domain acquisitions.

@bradwilles5152

Жыл бұрын

Express trains exist for a reason...

@sbeve7445

Жыл бұрын

You can have bypass track at stations and clever scheduling. One of the most used HSR in the world, the Tokaido shinkansen, is able to obtain 3 level of services and using 60 years old infrastructure with 2 tracks. You don't need quad track for express

@manonthetoilet

Жыл бұрын

May be just fly over i45 Most of i 45 is straight. In the case not so straight can go away and back to i 45. As i am seeing here in China all the hsr go with the bridges even in plain land. That way the private land usage can be minimized

@1000rogueleader

10 ай бұрын

@@sbeve7445 The Shinkansen still uses its own tracks; it doesn't run on the same tracks as slower trains. There is only a single tunnel in Japan where bullet trains and slower trains share track.

@sbeve7445

10 ай бұрын

@@1000rogueleader There are the Akita and Yamagata shinkansen that uses shared track. Also, the Tokaido first began service in 1964 so it is over 60 years

Man is a creature of habit and does not like change. He likes progress but change usually goes along with it. So many times he has to be pulled along into progress, eventually comes to like it, and quietly and privately admits to the advantage brought by change. Going from Houston to Dallas via US 45/75 csn be a nightmare. He doesn't care. He wants to go in his car. Even with Amtrak's help Texas Central has an uphill fight. The US is slowly becoming one gargantuan expanse, coast to coast and border to border, of concrete with hotels and motels every quarter mile. Stay tuned.

This is a perfect opportunity to build a couple of new railroad towns 20 to 50 miles outside of Houston and Dallas. Maybe even get Telosa built and connected to the rail line at the same time 🤣

@dmpyron2

Жыл бұрын

Elon has his own idea on how to run passenger rail service. An impractical idea at best.

This project is not economically feasible. The original cost estimate was way to low. Current estimates are almost three times the original. With more delay and current high inflation soon the estimated cost will be four times the original.

We need a comprehensive update, Scott. What is Texas Central planning to do, now that it has Amtrak as a partner. Will they abandon the present plan and select a new route. What will be the role of Amtrak...beyond planning and possibly providing some of the needed funding? Will it be the operaror also? 0:01 0:01

@ScottDaileyYOUTUBE

7 ай бұрын

Agreed I need to do an Amtrak update!

really hope the high speed rail line happens 🚄🚋🚃

(Texas high-speed rail)If some sections are not going well because of the opposition of land expropriation by polar landowners (forces opposed to high-speed rail), it would be better to build high-speed rails as underground routes in those sections. 50m to 60m deep. There is no reason why high-speed trains should be delayed because of some sections. S.korea(seoul-Busan Gyeongbu and Suseo-dongtan Suseo High-speed Railway), China, and even some other countries in Europe have high-speed trains made underground in some sections, but there is no need to build them only above ground or overpass. You can take a high-speed train in another country or look up an encyclopedia and actively deal with it. Because there is nothing wrong.

Oh noooo 😢😢😢😢😢

I love living in Texas. Love the history, the culture, the pride, the cost of living, the anti-wokeness. But this is just stupid. This is clearly needed, as is better mass transit within the cities. All this stubbornness against change only delays something that is inevitable. Some of the greatest structures in our history came during FDR's New Deal projects with infrastructure that lasted decades and helped make us into a global leader, but that was 90 years ago. Time to re-invest in our aging infrastructure with new ideas.

IMO any useful rail going to the coast down from DFW would need to pass through the other major metros Austin and San Antonio. Otherwise it won't see the usage to be worth it.

@MelGibsonFan

Жыл бұрын

Should at Fort Hood/Killeen to that too with all the DUI’s soldiers get out there.

@Gamerad360

Жыл бұрын

That was the plan. The Houston to Dallas would be the first segment, it's the most profitable route in the whole nation.

@ilikehardplay

Жыл бұрын

@gamerad360 "it's the most profitable route in the whole nation." ROTFLMAO Not even close. The most profitable rail route in the nation would be the Northeast Corridor (Boston-NYC-Washington)... Largely because of the high population density along the line, and robust local transit connections. Between Houston and Dallas is a lot of nothing.....and neither end-point city has much to recommend its local transit connections.

@ManagedPan1k

Жыл бұрын

@@ilikehardplay dont forget how big texas is, half their population aren’t even on the census

@1000rogueleader

10 ай бұрын

@@ilikehardplay The Northeast Corridor already has plenty of rail service and there is little to no right of way to build a high speed train due to development. Houston and DFW are two of the largest metro areas in America and just the right distance to make train travel feasible. So yes, it would be one of the most profitable routes in the country, due to the rural nature of the route making land acquisition cheap and the potential customer base being rather large.

I know I'm late to the debate. However, I am a well-traveled Houstonian. Texas, like the rest of the U.S., is so far behind the times. The rest of the world is so far advanced as they embrace change, new technology and understand the impact of global warming. That being said, I also understand the impact of the people in rural areas who are impacted by this train. I can not imagine someone coming around and saying, "Sorry, yal, we're taking your land. Please accept $2000.00." I don't think anyone would appreciate this "compensation". Why can't we all benefit? Here is an idea. Just throwing something out there. Look, we need a train. Period. We can not continue expanding highways. Eventually, those too will end up in your backyards. Either trains with very little emissions or cars polluting your air? Pick your evil. I am very empathetic to the farmers who feel attacked and feel they need to defend their stance. They are taking a stand much like the Native Americans stood against pipelines running through their sacred land. Get it. So what can be done to where the farmers "benefit" from the expansion? The solution (IMHO): Why doesn't the train company (whoever owns it) give profit sharing to the folks who gave up a part of their land. Since Amtrak is owned by the government then let a government subsidy be allocated to those who gave up their land? For example, 1% of ticket sales should be given to land owners who gave up their land. This could be given over 10 years. This is not a new concept. This would be similar to Alaskans receiving money from the oil companies through the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD). I am going to coin it, the "Texas Fast Rail Dividend (TFD)" which would be far more $ than the PFD. Put plaques up in the stations honoring those who gave up land. This way we can all be reminded of those who sacrificed their land for the expansion of technology/transportation. Now THAT's true Texas pride--should be anyway. That's my two cents.

@whiteknightcat

3 күн бұрын

You know, that actually sounds like a reasonable idea.

They should negotiate periodic local service with the state to add intermediate stops between Houston and Dallas in exchange the state or federal government would fund a portion of the stations construction that way local communities are served too and it opens the door to expanded service in general if both rural and urban feel they benefit it will be easier in general for these projects. they could also look at connecting up the 2 international or even all 4 airports in both cities with the train. That opens the door to codeshareing with United, southwest and AA like they tried with Amtrak in the north east and are now doing with busses in some cities. There are just a lot of possibilities especially after seeing brightlines success. I see this new ceo not as a hurdle but as an opportunity for someone more motivated after a decade of bull Shit to come in and move things along with a refresh. Remember that was why Virgin was a part of brightline it added hype at a lull in their development when people like now with Texas central were saying oh i don’t know maybe it won’t happen it’s been so long ect. I think this ruling means it’s happening even more now that the biggest issue was just eliminated and it also opens the door to more rail in Texas maybe even an Amtrak expansion if they give up on Georgia or get new funding.

@1000rogueleader

10 ай бұрын

Serving local communities is infeasible with a Bullet Train. Those things get their best usage traveling at high speeds over long distances. They can't stop too often, and as of now, Texas Central is only planning one stop between Dallas and Houston, mostly as a sop to rural land owners.

@damnimloomin

10 ай бұрын

@@1000rogueleader they don’t need to exclusively use bullet trains but it does feel pretty ridiculous to watch 90% of the route pass by potential riders especially when you look at how bullet trains in Japan have a massive route network of local trains feeding it people. I feel the same way with the brightline train there are so many markets it is just passing by, partly due to local governments, but still we need investment in local rail too.

Your video is very good, Scott, and many of the comments are insightful and valid. I think it's time for you to do a follow up video, addressing the issues raised by your more sophisticated commenters. Let me address several issues that might be helpful to you as you explore this topic in greater depth. 1. The Republican controlled U.S. House of Representatives will never fund Texas or California high-speed rail projects, nor will it fund an expansion of Amtrak. 2. The Republican controlled Texas Legislature will never fund Texas high-speed rail, nor will it fund Amtrak service in the Texas Triangle. 3. Union Pacific and BNSF will never agree to the operation of Amtrak trains on their lines in Texas, most especially if we're talking about daily multiple schedules. 4. Use of medians on Texas Interstates and other main highways is impractical because of the track geometry required by high train speeds. Moreover, towns along those high speed/high capacity/grade separated highways have grown since the highways were built in the 70s and 80s, making by-passes circuitous, and therefore technically and economically unfeasible. These problems greatly complicate any attempt to bring high performance trains to Texas. They can be overcome by imaginative, innovative thinking, but it won't be easy or cheap.

@ScottDaileyYOUTUBE

Жыл бұрын

I agree with your points, unfortunately the Cali project having so many problems makes a state supported option even less likely. I still think the most viable path is a partially federally funded project with most of the $ coming from private investors. Also I'm sure these purchase options they put on a portion of the route will continue to expire with TXC being essentially inactive right now.

@michaeljones7927

Жыл бұрын

@@ScottDaileyKZread Your totally right Scott about funding. I was involved, as a state employee, in the first Texas HSR project. I met with Texas TGV's President at the end of the project and he told me they needed 50% government funding for the project to be economically feasible as a "private sector" undertaking. Unfortunately, there was no public funding for HSR available at that time, nor is there any today. It's a low priority for Democrats and a non starter for Republicans. Hopefully, Brightline's Tampa-Miami operation will be a success, and thereby demonstrate that there is a way forward for improved rail passenger service.

Hello, wondering if there are any updates as of April 23

@ScottDaileyYOUTUBE

Жыл бұрын

I haven't heard anything lately

Once Texas had passenger rail to envy the world. The Marx brothers made their debut in Nacogdoches because of rail. They were upstaged by an ass that broke out outside the theatre. They also smoked cigars, drank beer and were caught having a shave on there way to Shreveport by a guard while their mother paid only juvenile tickets. Dont mess!

Instead of inspiration from 19th century transpo technology, we need to take our inspiration from 4000 years before the birth of Christ: HIGH SPEED CANALS! Just iamgine a hydrofoil boat trip from Dallas to Houston in a pestilential ditch cut across the prairie. Or maybe a high-speed tug & barge system for the poorer folks. Doubling the current mean speed for barges from 8mph to 16mph is just the ticket.

Brightline is now planning to build a true "High Speed" rail line from the LA area to Las Vegas. I'm sure this will get done and they continue to expand their operations in Florida. So, maybe a;; Texas has to do is wait a few more years and Brightline may want to build high speed rail from Houston to Dallas. Why not, as fast as those cities are growing, it could make sense...and a profit.

Brightline is not the only private innercity train in the US THAT title goes to Amtrak.

@whiteknightcat

3 күн бұрын

Actually, no. Brightline is completely privately funded, owned, and operated. Amtrak is a quasi-private entity, created by the federal government and run as a private entity, with active DOT secretaries as members of the board, and receiving federal and state funding.

1:45 Mr. Paxton is not smiling these days.

why not build it in the median of I-45? no emminent domain necessary, just lane shifting

@ScottDaileyYOUTUBE

Жыл бұрын

Gotta get TXDOT to agree but I think that would be easier!

@spencergraham-thille9896

Жыл бұрын

I'm no engineer, but I assume that there are different route geometry requirements for rail vs cars.

@ClementinesmWTF

Жыл бұрын

@@ScottDaileyKZreadone of the biggest reasons for not using that ROW was the geometry, plus the fact that they could put a halfway stop more “convenient” for CStat as well as keeping Huntsville sorta close. Honestly, they should’ve just gone all in and made the stop in CStat and maybe they could’ve gotten more support for it-what student wants to take a shuttle to the train station in the middle of nowhere?

@compdude100

Жыл бұрын

Unfortunately, the curves on the freeway often are too sharp for HSR. Since it's at least 3 times faster than a freeway, HSR needs to have wider curve radii than on a freeway.

nahh, that ‘Texans against HSR’ seems astroturfed

Still hoping to this day

A private company should not be able to seize/Eminent Domain land. It may be convenient sometimes, but it opens a terrible can of corruption worms.

I never understood this project Right away they pee off about 200 land owners Why the heck instead run it down Interstate 45 which is about 20 miles east of this route and on land already owned by TexDot??? ❤

@whiteknightcat

3 күн бұрын

Because TxDOT would still have to acquire additional ROW along IH45, plus to follow the route of a highway, you lose any HSR capability, thus negating the whole reason for building the thing.

Leaving out the rural areas was one of the biggest mistakes from the beginning. Looks like California's detour through the "hinterland" wasn't such a wrong approach after all...

@TohaBgood2

Жыл бұрын

This! But in all fairness, Fresno and Bakersfield have metro areas of 1 million people. They might be small by California standards, but they are massive cities in their own right. I'd hardly call Fresno "nowhere." If Fresno is nowhere then what about Miami, or Vegas?

@RTSRafnex2

Жыл бұрын

@@TohaBgood2 Oh for sure! And if they were in my country, they would all have their own local public transit networks (heck, even my 6500 town has a bigger train station and more connections than Fresno currently has). I already wrote this under another video: the biggest problem in America is that most people don't understand how trains work - economically. Trains are economic drivers, you build them in _anticipation_ of an economic boom, not _afterwards_ when it's already booming. Trains are really a must for sustainable growth.

@Pvemaster2

Жыл бұрын

@@RTSRafnex2 I agree with you but it just isn't how the US works. If you need to privately fund the speculation/anticipation of an economic boom, nobody is going to invest (well that's why nothing is happening). That why almost everywhere else (especially HSR) rail is publicly financed (or a public-private partnership) because your case can be made that the (central/local) government would benefit from an area booming, so they should invest. If things have to happen after the boom, it's too expensive/difficult to get a rail line built. I'm amazed they managed to get brightline built, although a large part of it was already existing rail (in the Miami area) that was bought plus a long right-of-way from Cocoa to the airport next to a highway (relatively simple) without much local pop to complain about it.

@1000rogueleader

10 ай бұрын

This is a high speed Bullet Train. Having it stop in rural towns was completely unfeasible, because these trains only work if they run at very high speeds with minimal stops. This train was never for rural areas, but for the major urban areas.

Coming Soon🤠🚄

Everybody just runs their mouth and only California is actually building real HSR in this country. The opposition might have succeeded in engineering cascading delays and cost increases with their lawsuits, but they have utterly failed to stop CAHSR. That being said, CAHSR was a popular voter approved project. There was literally a referendum to approve the funding for CAHS and the project's popularity has actually increased since 2008. Texas Central is in a very vulnerable position. I still wish them well and hope that they can pull through. But they are at a marked disadvantage compared to state-backed projects like CAHSR and Brightline.

@1000rogueleader

10 ай бұрын

Brightline is a private project, not state-owned. And while CAHSR is being built, its running a much shorter distance than planned, is MILLIONS well over budget, and probably won't even be that high speed. Government graft in action.

@TohaBgood2

10 ай бұрын

@@1000rogueleader CAHSR was in trouble earlier on because a few well-monied right wing groups were filing thousands of lawsuits and delaying actions with the explicit goal of quote "bleed the project dry and kill it". They have failed. The project is being built, but they did succeed in engineering cascading delays and cost overruns before all the lawsuits were defeated. And _were_ all defeated, because they were frivolous. You are forgetting that Brightline West was bought "ready to build" according to Brightline in 2018. They promised to start building in 2020 and start running trains by 2024. Today, Brightline is almost 2x delayed according to their own timeline that literally no one forced them to adopt. Yet here we are. The cost of the project has also increased more than 2x. For a pretty short project that doesn't even remotely touch the city centers of either of the destinations, that is a disastrous scorecard. Oh, and have I mentioned that they went from a fully "private" project, to a project that is not only 100% on leased state land, but also that wants more than 50% of the cost to be covered by the government. So isn't Brightline West even more of a failure by your own metrics? It's more delayed. It's more over budget. And it's about as government-owned as you hate. Correct?

Hyperloop is a better idea than High speed rail, imo. It’s way faster.

There are a lot of issues with the path that they chose to take. Going right through the middle medium of I-45 and elevated would make total sense. It has already displaced a lot of farms. Many people have already sold or forced into the lease of the land making their land unusable and unsellable. Some instances of someone owning 2 hundred acres that has been passed down over multiple generation of farmers goes right over the ponds used by cattle for water or over buildings that they have their houses built. Selling the land is impossible once you have a train going right through the middle of it. If the train is on your land there are new zoning laws such as can't fire a gun and your cattle can't cross the train line along with a lot of other zoning laws. All farms and agriculture for will be lost within this path effecting thousands of hard working individuals. These people didn't have a choice and are losing their generational heritage, and livelihood because of immanent domain should be unlawful. There is nothing convenient for the people doing it, which will have a charge for each trip that would make driving more desirable. When you arrive at the other location you still have to find a car to get around etc... Then using federal tax funds for the project that the local companies will take all the profits on doesn't make sense either.

@whiteknightcat

3 күн бұрын

You can't run a HSR system down the middle of a highway. With the curvatures involved, it wouldn't be able to be high speed, thus negating the whole reason for the project. HSR systems need perfectly straight routes and very shallow curves extending a mile or more.

It was always a pretty dumb route, should've directly served College Station if not the San Antonio to Dallas string of cities.

@ilikehardplay

Жыл бұрын

Certainly building the first TX HSR line as Dallas - Hillsboro - Waco - Temple - Austin - San Antonio would make a heck of a lot more sense in terms of intermediate ridership.... ...of course, you are still left with the problem that most of those intermediate towns and cities have poor local transit, requiring passengers to drive to a station to travel.

@OBSMProductions

Жыл бұрын

@@ilikehardplay maybe if it was developed with transit oriented development and housing was built around the stations.

Just asking. Why can't they build the rail line directly next to the freeways? They keep enlarging the freeways so why not instal a rail line instead of expanding the freeway? They would have to rework the freeway ramps, or put the train in the middle and widen the freeway a bit, but neither would require imminent domain and the cost of reworking the freeways should be balanced out by not having to pay for land.

@ScottDaileyYOUTUBE

Жыл бұрын

Good question - Many places have done this, if TXDOT was behind the rail line I think this strategy would be more viable. As it is Texas Central would have to acquire TXDOT's right of way.

@Metal0sopher

Жыл бұрын

@@ScottDaileyKZread Ah, thank you that makes sense. But, I would add, wouldn't it make sense for rail to also be part of TxDot since it's all transportations. Too bad they don't do that.

@AndreBeverly

Жыл бұрын

The reason why certain cities and states hate having trains is because that cuts into the tolls they collect from car travel and they aren't trying to lose out.

@deeremeyer1749

Жыл бұрын

You're clueless.

@deeremeyer1749

Жыл бұрын

@@ScottDaileyKZread Where?

In Europe, if would be though that a railway, especitally a high-speed one, is a public interest and it would be financed by the government. That way there would be no dispute and no question about the finances. It would eventually take longer, but it would be build....

@OBSMProductions

Жыл бұрын

CAHSR is kinda the same as that as it's state/federally financed. But it's huge megaproject using a technology not really built in the U.S., has well as there being dark money against it happening it's still been very challenging to get going.

Don't worry. It will get here sooner or later. Lobbyist and big government are good when it comes to strong arming the little people! Also, The US has a bad habit of doing it big, but can't afford to maintain. With that said, taxpayers will eventually be in trouble with this project just like many other projects completed, but not everyone can take advantage of.

Any news?

@ScottDaileyYOUTUBE

Жыл бұрын

This is the most recent I've seen: www.kxxv.com/brazos/debate-over-high-speed-rail-in-texas-speeds-up-as-legislation-seeks-transparency

@tylerkriesel8590

Жыл бұрын

@@ScottDaileyKZreadthe article has it sounding like TCR are a scam company trying to embezzle money from the government.

@bitcoinzoomer9994

Жыл бұрын

@@tylerkriesel8590 seems like a hit piece. Big Oil and car companies don't want rail infrastructure to cut their profits

Interesting to see NIMBYism lives in US as well asvUK

@williamshelton4150

Жыл бұрын

It quite literally IS my back yard they want, and TCR can pound sand as far as I am concerned.

You used a lot of the Winkelmann video in this post.

@ScottDaileyYOUTUBE

8 ай бұрын

guilty!

They literally won that long lawsuit and STILL no ground has been broken. SMH, America will never get it right for hsr.

@LucidFL

Жыл бұрын

The case was determined by the Texas Supreme Court and of course only allowed them to begin operating as a railroad company. Combined with the reat of the opposition, this must’ve demonstrated to them how institutionalized the anti-rail lobby is in Texas. Constant court battles, even if they won every single one, would be timely and expensive.

@TheLIRRFrenchie...

Жыл бұрын

@@LucidFL agreed. I mean how many times did we hear "groundbreaking to start next year" over like the past 10 years lol. I think America just won't ever get it right.

@spencergraham-thille9896

Жыл бұрын

CA will once they figure out how to tunnel through the Tehachapi mountains in 2046. 😏

@hummerskickass

Жыл бұрын

@@LucidFL I high doubt its a anti rail lobby, more people people who don’t want to sell land in one of the most valuable real estate areas in the state. They wouldn’t get as much for it from the gov and some who just don’t want to give up family land in the first place.

@TohaBgood2

Жыл бұрын

The first high speed section of CAHSR, CP4, is about to be completed in June-July this year. Despite all the propaganda that the oil lobby trolls are trying to push, CAHSR is actually building their HSR line. The Caltrain section in the Bay Area will start running the first electric trains in 2024. They're already testing on the track. Don't believe everything you hear online. Most of it is just trolling.

This is what happens when a country does not have a good intercity rail network, and jump the horse by building high speed rail first. The rural areas would not have opposed the project If there was already a reliable train connection in their places.

@ClementinesmWTF

Жыл бұрын

Those same rural areas helped kill that reliable rail and love the highways that feed them their income (from stops, both the police kind and the rest kind). They wouldn’t care for a local stop, so they insist on screwing the urban areas.

@chessiesystem613

Жыл бұрын

@@ClementinesmWTF the rural areas were forced to lose their Intercity rail. They were not the cause of death, just another victim. The true cause was the private railroads sabotaging the passenger trains because they always hated them. The fact that the USPS stopped shipping by rail being a cause for passenger train unprofitability is only a half truth. The railroads begged the USPS to stop shipping, and some were granted, and the ones who were denied just purposefully made their service worse: slower and less reliable, to force the USPS to pull out. Don't lose sight of the true enemy of the passenger train. Rural folk would benefit from stopping traind as well, and at least some of us know it. But can you really blame them when they're left high and dry while the city folk get a brand new train that they can't reasonably use?

@AnirbanDas21989

Жыл бұрын

@@chessiesystem613 hm..that's interesting. Did not know that. I thought automobile lobbyists also played a major role in killing the trains.

America is so predictable and disappointing. Why don't you build 6 more lanes. That'll do it!

@joscallinet6260

Жыл бұрын

AMEN to that, Ognjen Šijak! The U.S. is ENORMOUSLY disappointing in this respect - our entire country has aged into a state of advanced senility, to where it should now be put under end-of-life hospice care. Our society has deteriorated past the time when it could STILL manage to summon the courage, energy and will to get its act together and actually BUILD worthwhile things - it has become thoroughly sclerotic and set in its ways.

I am not against high speed rail, I'm concerned with the limited use, how it would basically leave much of the in-between with concern, a better idea would be perhaps to upgrade the existing rail in Texas. Perhaps the state of Texas and Oklahoma can buy out the Texas Eagle Amtrak line and turn it into a proper commuter rail like that uses rolling stock.

@michelangelobuonarroti4958

Жыл бұрын

Honestly your concerns are very misplaced though. The railway has to be that fast in order to cut travel times enough to be competitive with flying, that's exactly what maximises its utility. You have to keep the potential station locations in mind. Dallas is reasonably fine but especially Houston is quite a ways out from downtown, meaning that the HSR would be a better plain trip. Most likely people would drive to the Houston station, take the HSR and then get to Dallas downtown from union station via light rail. Simply improving existing rail infrastructurte doesn't cut it because the rail line on its own can't replace a car on a door to door trip, Texas cities just suck too much in terms of urban planning and public transport for that. Not only that but the conventional rail would also not offer benefits over a car to rural communities, again because of the bad urban planning requiring a car once you're in the cities. There's also the time saving aspect. If you invest billions into a slower rail line which results in everyone in the big cities still flying and everyone in the suburbs and rural communities still driving you might as well spend triple that and actually see a change in travel patterns. By contrast some rural communities would actually benefit from HSR via the Brazos Valley station, even if it's primarily designed to serve students. Also a frequency of half an hour and maybe 15 minutes in the future is not exactly much noise pollution, especially when compared to a highway which in rural areas doesn't have sound barriers. More importantly though, if done well the HSR might actually result in taking cars off I-45, for example people from Houston who live closer to the station than to the airport(s) and who might want to visit a spot in Dallas accesible via LRT might drive to the station and take the train instead of clogging the highway or flying. This way the rural communities would benefit by having better highway access to the big cities, or at least the line would prevent the highway from going over capacity even faster.

@VulcanLogic

Жыл бұрын

Texas Eagle carries a massive amount of freight, and we need freight rail just as much as passenger rail. Maybe there's some efficiency in just a right of way expansion along those lines, but in any case it's going to require a whole new line of track.

I don’t know enough about it but if there is currently a like between Dallas and Houston why not just upgrade and do what Brightline is doing or electrify it ? Is there a need for 250 mph trains ?

@ScottDaileyYOUTUBE

Жыл бұрын

There is - I think this comes to track control, Amtrak does not have a direct Houston > Dallas route so I'm assuming whoever controls that line isn't interested, but I don't know for sure!

Land owners who don't want to sell the land or land owners want a million dollar above what the project offered to buy their land?

@ScottDaileyYOUTUBE

Жыл бұрын

Don't want to sell at all is how they're presenting it. I would think they could already get more than it's worth as long as it's less than the cost going through the eminent domain process!

@williamshelton4150

Жыл бұрын

@@ScottDaileyKZread I am one of those land owners. For 3 acres of land, my house, and the family cemetery they offered me $1,700. Would you sell??

@ScottDaileyYOUTUBE

Жыл бұрын

@@williamshelton4150 Definitely not. Could you give us more details on when/how it all went down?

@williamshelton4150

Жыл бұрын

@@ScottDaileyKZread A letter in the mail, followed by a phone conversation letting them know that the land they wanted contained a 160 year old house and a family cemetery which included slave burials. Texas Central Partners got the house and cemetery declared "not of historical value" by the National Archives (BTW they declared NO historical site along the path as of historical value, kind of fishy to me) and TCP based their offer from that portion of their Environmental Impact report. Never mind that the house has gone through a million dollar restoration just a couple of years prior to their offer.

@ScottDaileyYOUTUBE

Жыл бұрын

@@williamshelton4150 if you're interested in talking more about this please shoot me an email at scottdailey3@gmail.com i'd love to profile it

What happened to nationalism texas? Rails created this country!

@editoron

Жыл бұрын

These people are the same people which are shouting aMeRiCa FiRsT!

@SeedemFeedemRobots

Жыл бұрын

@@editoron and?

@williamshelton4150

Жыл бұрын

When my family came to Texas in 1819 it was by wagon. There were no railroads. But I am supposed to let a railroad take my land now for pennies on the dollar? No thank you.

The Texas Central Project is dead. It was unfeasible from the beginning, just like the Texas TGV project in the early 1990s. Both projects cost too much to build, maintain, and operate relative to ridership and revenue. High-Speed rail is economically feasible only if it is funded by the federal government, with assistance from states and cities.

@hockeymaskbob2942

Жыл бұрын

Private rail would be feasible, if it didn't have to compete with subsidized services (roads, airlines)

@michaeljones7927

Жыл бұрын

The direct route between Dallas and Houston chosen by Texas Central is not desirable because it avoids Bryan/College Station and Waco, and more importantly, it does not include Ft. Worth. The Dallas-Houston and Dallas-Austin-San Antonio routes should share trackage between Dallas and Waco in order to reduce infrastructure cost. Operating speeds of 200+ miles per hour allow a slightly circtuitous route through Waco without a negative impact on ridership. Texas Central demonstrated no interest in serving Ft. Worth, Waco, Temple, Austin, and San Antonio. Neither did the Japanese corporations supposedly backing the project. In contrast, the French recognized the importance of serving the entire Texas Triangle.

@billwilson6670

Жыл бұрын

Early 90s project failed thanks to Herb Kelleher and Southwest Airlines. He bough off all the politicians and shut down the Texas High Speed Rail Authority.

@michaeljones7927

Жыл бұрын

@@billwilson6670 I worked for the Texas Railroad Commission in the 1990s and had a staff role in oversight of the high-speed rail project. Southwest Airlines opposed the project, but was not the reason the project failed. David Rece, President of Texas TGV, and I had lunch the last day of the company's existence. He told me candidly that the project was unfeasible because it required public funding for half of total project capital costs, and no such funding was available.

@billwilson6670

Жыл бұрын

@@michaeljones7927 Thanks for that insight. I still hold Southwest as the main culprit since they stirred up a lot of the public opposition (and thus public funding).

Give it to brightline. They already proven that it can happen!

@TohaBgood2

Жыл бұрын

Brightline runs a slick marketing propaganda team, but they are far from batting 1000. They committed to starting construction on Brightline West in 2020 and running trains by 2024. They haven't even finished the engineering at this point. Also, Brightline just lies way too much to be taken seriously. Their "HSR" trains are limited to 79 mph with an average speed of 54 mph right now. You should be more careful in believing what you hear about Brightline. A lot of people were fooled by them.

@qolspony

Жыл бұрын

@@TohaBgood2 The communities that they run through complained of noise that a high speed train would make coming through their neighborhood. So concessions were made to limit the train speed. And in one particular section, no more than 15 miles per hour is warranted. This is how Democracy works in America. But at the end, at least they were allowed to build the line. And if it becomes successful, maybe the community that they run through might reconsider their proposal.

@TohaBgood2

Жыл бұрын

@@qolspony Dude, what did Brightline "build" in Florida? What are you even talking about? They simply reballasted and retracked the existing freight right of way. That's it. And they did it on the government's dime! Their last three construction projects were 90% or more taxpayer money! Look it up! Your view of Brightline is borderline cultish! You have no idea who you are shilling for!

@qolspony

Жыл бұрын

@@TohaBgood2 🖐️ This conversation is going no where! You are debating with someone who supports Brightline. I don't know what else to say at this point. Have a good day sir. 😔

@TohaBgood2

Жыл бұрын

@@qolspony Say that you believe useless corporate propaganda over the truth and you're free to go.

Texas, like most proposed US HSR projects outside the NE Corridor, does not make real economic sense. How so? The history of HSR. The only two HSR lines in the world that have actually made money when all costs are accounted for are Japan's Tokaido Shinkansen (Tokyo-Nagoya-Kyoto) and France's TGV Sud-Est (Paris-Lyon). They both hit the sweet spot for HSR: low-grade (

@michaeljones7927

Жыл бұрын

You are absolutely right in everything you said. Moreover, the TGV Southeast line and the Tolyo-Osaka line were constructed by SNCF and JNR, respectively, not private entities, like Texas Central Railway. Brightline may prove to be an exception, but it's too soon to judge. Once the Orlando extension is completed, we'll find out if profitability is possible. Brightline is a realistic, practical approach to drastically improved passenger rail service. Such an approach might work between Dallas and Houston, if BNSF were to cooperate. UP will never consider passenger operations over its Dallas-Houston line.

@alaindumas1824

Жыл бұрын

I agree with your last paragraph. Regarding the NEC, the potential is there but costs and obstacles would be very high. Your European numbers are wrong. TGV Sud-Est is a high grade route with plenty of 3.5% up and down and is not the only profitable French HSR. On LN2 Atlantique, LN3 Nord, LN4 Rhone-Alpes, LN5 Mediterranee, and Ile-de-France Bypass, ridership income covered the construction costs in less than thirty years. SNCF wanted to complement and finance LN5 with LN Cote d'Azur which had an expected return on investment over 8% but there was political opposition to the only logical route. SNCF/RFF could only finance between 23 and 63% of construction costs for LN6 to LN11 with the remainder shouldered by the State and local communities. You are right about the importance of robust local transit networks. Spain and Italy have relatively low access-fees, about 1/3rd of French ones. They do cover the operations and maintenance costs but, unlike SNCF/RFF, Spain's ADIF and Italy's RFI did not contribute to construction costs.

It is completely inappropriate to use I government privilege as a power for a private company

@klang426

Жыл бұрын

Railroads have long been allowed to use eminent domain because there is a recognition that railroads, even if privately owned, serve the common good.

@TohaBgood2

Жыл бұрын

Dude, how do you think all the infrastructure that you use every day was built? Do you think that highways and bridges just grow out of the ground naturally, like trees? Come on!

Jaoan: kzread.info/dash/bejne/ZHersMqThZDFqNY.html

IMHO either another private company takes over (Like Brightline) or they get grants and subsidies from the Federal level. Otherwise the project is dead, though the State Supreme Court ruling should continue with the company or whomever succeeds it!

@TohaBgood2

Жыл бұрын

Brightline is extremely subsidy hungry. Their last three projects were 90% funded by various government grants. Not sure I'd want to see more railroads built on the public dime but gifted to a private company. Florida might be A-OK with corporate socialism, but most other parts of the country won't be.

A passenger only service will never happen and the proposed rail service can't get passengers to day out trip locations.

If airplane travel didn't exist then this might be a fair idea, but still not a good one in my opinion.

@IBeforeAExceptAfterK

Жыл бұрын

Flying is faster in isolation, but you have to factor in the hour or more spent going through airport security. That's a constant time overhead that you don't have with high speed rail, which gives it an advantage over short-haul distances. Taking the train from Houston to Dallas would be faster than flying.

@TohaBgood2

Жыл бұрын

Flying is slower on sub 500 mile journeys because of the airport time. If the airport is at all busy, then you're not getting to your gate in less than 1.5 hours and still consistently making your flight. I assure you, I've tried running through DFW in 1.5 hours. You make it only 50% of the time.

I am going to be contrarian here and say that Amtrak should take it over. The state of texas would be another option but theyre too republican to run a good rail system.

@OBSMProductions

Жыл бұрын

A private company seems better for that since Amtrak has been underfunded for 50 years only until Biden administration. Depending on whoever takes office next it could be cut off just like that.

How are they ever expecting to turn a profit with $30Billion construction costs + whatever yearly maintenance costs they’d have after that?

@IBeforeAExceptAfterK

Жыл бұрын

Funny how this always gets asked when it comes to rail infrastructure, but nobody ever stops to ask how the interstate highway system turns a profit.

@VulcanLogic

Жыл бұрын

Yearly maintenance for high speed rail is about $80k per mile (true cost with invested replacement reserves), about the same as three lanes or one side of the highway. For the 240 mile route, that's about $20 million a year in maintenance. But rail line users pay fares, freeway drivers don't.

@jfruser

Ай бұрын

@@VulcanLogic Every freeway driver pays fees in the form of state & fed fuel taxes.

I hope this can be done but the worst time to build a railroad is when you have a unionized workforce, minimum wage, NIMBYs who are wealthy and organized enough to oppose you, a population wedded to their cars, suburban sprawl and bureaucracy that slows everything down to a crawl. Recent environmental concerns can be weighed against these factors but I'm not sure it's enough and their ability to persuade are already beginning to drop off as people are fatigued and starting to notice that China/India are more than offsetting the benefit of thier sol-powered egg whisks and toothbrushes.

@adipocere1066

Жыл бұрын

Move to North Korea, comrade.

@SirKenchalot

Жыл бұрын

@@adipocere1066 Bro, not saying this is good or bad, it just is. It's best if you build your major infrastructure before people get rich and the US opted for highways, roads and suburbs. Enjoy!

One day they're going to invent these incredible flying machines that can travel much faster than trains with frequency and reliability and don't require surface based real estate. Until that day happens, we're stuck hoping these train tracks get built.

@music4thedeaf

Жыл бұрын

Trains will always be the most energy efficient way

@stangcaptain4532

Жыл бұрын

I can't imagine what it's like wanting to regress in technology.

@IBeforeAExceptAfterK

Жыл бұрын

You're forgetting the hour plus of wasted time going through airport security, and the discomfort and indignity of sitting in a cramped plane for however long the flight lasts. For a short haul flight like Houston to Dallas, high speed rail would be faster and more comfortable than flying.

@MarioYoshi4723

Жыл бұрын

@@stangcaptain4532My guy, literally every first world country (and some third world) have high speed trains and love them, “regressing in technology” my butt.

@VulcanLogic

Жыл бұрын

@@IBeforeAExceptAfterK They also forget airplane and airport egress times. It does not get enough stress. It's 5-15 minutes to get off the plane, and that's if you're not sitting on the tarmac waiting for a terminal. Then it's a 15-30 minute walk and/or tram ride to get out of the airport and to baggage claim, then on to the Uber/Lyft pickup area. Then it's a 10-30 minute wait there and a 30-60 minute drive downtown depending on traffic. Meanwhile with the train you are off in 3 minutes and already downtown. It's significantly faster on the front AND back end.

Ha, you call it drama, but Houstonians call it trauma.

As the USA is stuck in the mudd and Hamburgs China has been very busy focusing on the world by connecting it with high speed train and 5G network and Chinese food.

@TheGhostOf2020

Жыл бұрын

You mean the 5g towers using American microchips, that are banned in much of the world for security concerns? And what do you mean about Chinese food? China doesn’t export much food at all, and in fact has only increased its imports of most of it’s supply of grains and meats (much from the US).

@covid19deltaextrarewardspr88

Жыл бұрын

@@TheGhostOf2020 the technology just doesn't belong to the USA alone. If China can do it better so be it.

@editoron

Жыл бұрын

US politicians dont want any HSR. Thats a problem.

@covid19deltaextrarewardspr88

Жыл бұрын

@@editoron keep them poor uneducated hungry and give them football.

@TohaBgood2

Жыл бұрын

China's network is $2 trillion in debt and falling apart after only a few years in operation. There are much better examples of actually sustainable HSR. China's network can only be saved by a massive bailout and it's not even clear if the CCP can afford it. They'll probably figure something out, but the debt is truly staggering and the ridership on most of the lines is still only a fraction of the built capacity. Japan, Spain, France, Korea pick any of the successful HSR networks. China is a joke in this department.

I'm sorry, while I think this project is a sound concept, you cannot force someone to sell there land.

@TohaBgood2

Жыл бұрын

You literally can and we have a law for it - eminent domain. We do this for highways, viaducts, and other infrastructure all the time. Without this law most of the public infrastructure you use every day wouldn't be possible.

Dead on arrival?

just accept the fact that hsr will never happen in the US.

@yappofloyd1905

Жыл бұрын

CHSR says hello....rolling stock will be ordered in the next 12mths and tenders for track laying & electrification are scheduled to be issued this year. In about 4-5yrs the first test runs will be conducted on the first section.

@MarioYoshi4723

Жыл бұрын

Brightline: “OH HELLO THERE”

Elon's Boring Project is the most practical concept. People in America will NEVER depart from their wanting their individual vehicles. The Boring delivers that. Plus, the Right Of Way issues and land acquisitions become a non-issue.

@renaes2807

Жыл бұрын

You still get a ton of NIMBYism even with tunneling. Just look at Beverly Hills HS for the Purple Line Extension and the Bel-Air HOA throwing a fit over a tunnel under them for the Sepulveda line.

@expletivedeleted7853

Жыл бұрын

Everything you said is incredibly wrong. Spoiler, you have the exact same if not greater acquisitions issues, if you don’t believe me, try digging under your neighbor’s house. And the rest of it… You realize it’s another Elon scam, right? Tunnels? Really?

@spencergraham-thille9896

Жыл бұрын

I think it's a good idea.

@IBeforeAExceptAfterK

Жыл бұрын

It's 2023 and you still think any of idea Elon's ideas are good and practical? If that's the case, I have a bridge to sell you.

@sneeki8082

Жыл бұрын

Elon's idea is just idiotic, basically adding more lanes underground but more dangerous too.

I have no idea who the target demographic for this rail is? Businesses? They can fly the short hop cheaply enough and quicker. Day tourists? Is there enough interest to justify billions in spending? Day workers? not likely or sensical. Who is this rail even for? Who is it intended to serve and how will it recoup its costs?

@wendellcoleman1137

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Well, there are several train constituencies in Texas. There's a group collectively known here as "Super Commuters" that travel back and forth on I-45 from Houston to Dallas, along with an estimated 450,00 drivers each year, three times a week. Additionally, many airlines are cutting back on the number of regional flights they run out of the hubs in Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston, due to a pilot shortage. Also, there's the number of airline and car passengers that get stranded due to icy weather that impact a number of Texas airports and Interstate highways here in Texas. How many times have you seen reports of numerous stranded airline passengers forced to sleep on the floor of some airport terminal somewhere because of flight cancellations due to weather or computer glitches or power outtages in the control tower? Then of course, there's always all the rail nerds that put out all these train related videos reviewing the newest train set, or long distance train trip! Not to mention all the people that ride the less glamorous Amtrak trains, just because it would be a "cool afternoon trip"! You could actually eat lunch at home, make the entire Texas Triangle trip in an afternoon and be back home to eat out at a late supper!

@canadadelendaest8687

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@@wendellcoleman1137 That's crazy! I honestly had no idea there was that much demand for such a commuter route! Thanks for the serious answer

@wendellcoleman1137

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@@canadadelendaest8687 Well, I wasn't being completely serious. I was being somewhat factitious about the numerous "Train Nerds" and their numerous KZread videos! But their really is a "good enough" market for an upgraded train service between those three/four cities if the conditions are right. And by the "right conditions" I mean the obvious things like more than one train a day, no more 1:00 a.m. departures or arrivals, significantly shorter trip times, a more reliable/on-time train schedule, a reasonable ticket price, and more "upscale" trainsets. There have been several positive articles that have made the rounds down here that have named the Dallas/FW to Houston leg as having one of routes with the most economic potential for a HSR line in the U.S., and finally getting the TexDOT people behind the Amtrak plan is a game changer. I have read that the local passenger rail support groups that are working with Amtrak and the Texas Department of Transportation are pushing the idea of a Texas Acela version of the Northeast Corridor setup (catering to the business traveller and actually makes money) in the Northeast. We'll see!

It'll never happen. They said the same about California, Missouri, Florida...and nothing ever came of it. This is just wishful thinking on the millionaires' parts.