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Maps of Potential High Speed Rail between Charlotte and Atlanta

You realize they're not just like, dropping this rail line in overnight, right? Over a period of decades cities will plan and adapt for this. It's also got the potential to be a boon for all these lesser towns and cities along the route.
 
DeaconCav06 said:
I saw japan is trying to develop a high speed train using magnets. We are so far behind in this arena.
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And they're even further behind than the Germans with their MagLev.



eta, I just saw that Germany scrapped the project due to costs in 2012.
 
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So how long are each of these station stops going to take? Way too many stops on some of the routes.
 
AMCDeac said:
So how long are each of these station stops going to take? Way too many stops on some of the routes.
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I would assume there will be local and express routes. So, Atl to Charlotte might be a one-stop in Greenville for the express. The slow train would stop along the way and pick up more bumpkins.
 
BacktoBack said:
Being in DC is different than being in Atl. Unless it's changed a lot, public transportation in Atl is nothing like DC.
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Yeah, but it's developing over decades. Development will continue to coagulate near the rail stops as owning and operating a car in a big city becomes less and less feasible.
 
Do you honestly see CLT ever reaching a point where operating a car is not feasible, or even simply an inconvenience? I don't.
 
2&2 Slider To Leyritz said:
Do you honestly see CLT ever reaching a point where operating a car is not feasible, or even simply an inconvenience? I don't.
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There are plenty of people who live in the apartments and condos along the Lynx Blue Line and ride the light rail uptown to work every single day. Sure, they still have cars, but they use them less and less, and it reduces congestion. The new Publix on South Boulevard will further reduce car trips for those people.

So it's still feasible to operate a car, but often inconvenient. And for those who have chosen to live where they have a choice of operating a car or not, there is great convenience in not doing so.
 
US needs to get faster trains or let them go faster if it wants to call it "high speed". Average here is like 85 mph, while Japan is 135 and other countries are even higher. US has medium speed trains and low speed trains. Granted, the US has sprawled out so it's not like a lot of places in Europe where it's the city then immediately very little outside it so you can kick it up full bore until the next city. But there has to be a way to avoid a lot of these smaller towns/areas in the US to maximize the speed if high speed is truly desired.
 
In all my time visiting atlanta, we've never used our car once we got there.
 
IslandDeac said:
US needs to get faster trains or let them go faster if it wants to call it "high speed". Average here is like 85 mph, while Japan is 135 and other countries are even higher. US has medium speed trains and low speed trains. Granted, the US has sprawled out so it's not like a lot of places in Europe where it's the city then immediately very little outside it so you can kick it up full bore until the next city. But there has to be a way to avoid a lot of these smaller towns/areas in the US to maximize the speed if high speed is truly desired.
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That's the whole point of building the new rail lines. The older lines can't accommodate fast trains. They have to build out completely new lines.
 
bigdoublezero said:
That's the whole point of building the new rail lines. The older lines can't accommodate fast trains. They have to build out completely new lines.
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Exactly. Just look at how winding most of our old rail lines are.
 
I honestly don't get the backlash for this. It's going to be awesome. I'm sure people said the same thing about the interstate system back in the day. "We already have Route 66!"
 
Its going to be a lot tougher without the Freedmen, Chinese immigrants, and those dirty potato eaters.
 
HeavyPetter said:
There are plenty of people who live in the apartments and condos along the Lynx Blue Line and ride the light rail uptown to work every single day. Sure, they still have cars, but they use them less and less, and it reduces congestion. The new Publix on South Boulevard will further reduce car trips for those people.

So it's still feasible to operate a car, but often inconvenient. And for those who have chosen to live where they have a choice of operating a car or not, there is great convenience in not doing so.
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I can see that in certain scenarios, but I don't know if it will ever reach a critical mass point. One of the attractions about Southern cities is the ability to be in the city, and then GTFO within literally a few minutes. I don't think people in CLT want to have that trapped feeling like the one that exists in NYC or Boston.

Plus, I think it is age related. Somebody in their 20s can live without a car relatively easily if they can get public transportation to work and a few hangouts. As people age and have kids, not having a car really isn't feasible (though maybe you go from 2 to 1 in the best-case scenarios).

ETA: I'm not piling on this particular project, just the notion that Charlotte will ever be a "carless" city. I think this project is fine, assuming it is efficiently completed (big assumption).
 
http://www.sehsr.org/reports/hsr/hsr_options_exec_sum.pdf

Routing
• All speed and station alternatives were assumed to have a separate, dedicated
passenger service track. The 90 - 125 mph cases will be single track with long
sidings approximately every 25 miles; the 150 - 200 mph cases will require
double track dedicated to passenger railservice.

• Estimated one-way trip times(Charlotte to Macon) vary from 2 hours 35 minutes
to 5 hours 29 minutes. The minimum time is based on 200 mph trains making the
minimum number of station stops; the maximum time is based on 90 mph trains
making all station stops.

• The corresponding one-way trip times(Atlanta to Charlotte) vary from 1 hour 46
minutes to 3 hours 51 minutes.

• An alternative route following I-75 south of Hartsfield Airport would save 15
miles, and 20 minutes @ 90 mph, between the airportstation and Macon. This
would require the elimination ofthe Griffin stop and save approximately $114 M
in capital costs

• Estimated ridership in 2025 ranges from 660,000 one-way passengers for the
express (7-station) case using 90 mph technology and with existing railservice
north of Charlotte; to 1,190,000 for the all-stop (14-station) case using 200 mph
technology with HSR north of Charlotte.

• System revenues range from $12.7 M to $29.2 M annually

• Annual O&M costsrange from about $30M to $60M

• O&M costs assume a new, independent operating authority with an efficient
organizational and staffing structure

• These estimates are lower than those of other recent studies, mostly due to
reduced track access fees

• Estimated capital construction and vehicle acquisition costs for the entire corridor
range from about $1,800 million for the 90 to 100 mph cases to $3,400 million for
the 150 mph electric and 200 mph cases

• The total amortized annual expenditure for initial capital over a 40-year horizon at
government borrowing rates for the 125 mph technology option would be about
$120 M per year
 
2&2 Slider To Leyritz said:
ETA: I'm not piling on this particular project, just the notion that Charlotte will ever be a "carless" city. I think this project is fine, assuming it is efficiently completed (big assumption).
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NO city is "carless." Every big city has too many cars...that's sort of the point. In a city with too many cars (and the congestion and parking costs that come along with them), it's easier for some folks to not have a car. Obviously it's a different ratio in Charlotte than in NYC, but the population of folks who choose to go carless (or who own a car but rarely use it) still exists and it will only grow as more transportation options are added and the city continues to grow. The number of apartments that have been built along the light rail and in uptown Charlotte is huge. New complexes seem to be opening monthly.

I haven't driven to work in 4+ years now. I love it. I would have a hard time going back to driving daily if I took a job that wasn't in uptown, Southend or any of the other close-in neighborhoods. And I'm someone who loves to drive...hell, I tried to make a career out of driving.
 
Billy Mitchell said:
• System revenues range from $12.7 M to $29.2 M annually

• Annual O&M costsrange from about $30M to $60M

• Estimated capital construction and vehicle acquisition costs for the entire corridor
range from about $1,800 million for the 90 to 100 mph cases to $3,400 million for
the 150 mph electric and 200 mph cases

• The total amortized annual expenditure for initial capital over a 40-year horizon at
government borrowing rates for the 125 mph technology option would be about
$120 M per year
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Uhh, so why is this being considered?
 
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