Texas poised to get America's first bullet train?

[LocalPlanner]

Originally Posted by Dopo

We can make the same comment ... the fast speed train can be used by everyone

By freight and other commercial carriers?

[Dopo]

If we are going to be concerned about farmers and their land
today we wouldn't have an interstate highway system

[leastprime]

just returned from Europe.
Even the local trains are fast, and smooth.
The problem I found is that Europe had too many trains, arriving and leaving on-time.
YTmV

[blisterpeanuts]

Originally Posted by Dopo

If we are going to be concerned about farmers and their land
today we wouldn't have an interstate highway system

It's a shame Eisenhower didn't push a national high speed rail system back in the '50s, before NIMBY lawsuits blocked every advance.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by LocalPlanner

While they certainly helped kill the original proposal in the 1990s, when they had hourly flights, I'm not sure they view the HOU-DAL corridor the same way now.

No. It doesn't bother them at all. They make more money on longer distance flights.

[bu2]

I think what has made the project dormant is the office market. They were going to profit off commercial office construction at their Houston and Dallas hubs. But the commercial real estate market is reeling from remote work. The remote work also reduces the amount of business travel.

[jetgraphics]

Originally Posted by blisterpeanuts

It's a shame Eisenhower didn't push a national high speed rail system back in the '50s, before NIMBY lawsuits blocked every advance.

You may be surprised to learn that destroying rail passenger service was a national priority.
Ditto, for the prior destruction of urban and interurban passenger service.
The Hegemony of Special Interests actively collaborated with governments, local, state and federal, to eradicate the most efficient form of land transport.
To this day, any "subsidized" rail project is warped by partisan politics to be a pork barrel disaster, that critics can point the finger of blame... Like the HSR in California.

It's no coincidence.

Why, you ask?
By 1882, the Pennsylvania Railroad had become the largest railroad (by traffic and revenue), the largest transportation enterprise, and the largest corporation in the world. Its budget was second only to the U.S. government. (That was just one railroad company!)
It went bankrupt in 1970, thanks to the government’s meddling, taxes, and ridiculous regulations, and was split off into Conrail and Amtrak (wholly owned by the federal government).
Privately owned rail represented a power bloc that rankled (or threatened) partisan politicians... and their competitors.

"What's good for GM is good for America."
GM was once the world's biggest corporation. By sales, it was the largest automaker in the United States in 2022, and was the largest in the world for 77 years before losing the top spot to Toyota in 2008.

SEE: Taken for a Ride (documentary)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-I8GDklsN4


Another example of deliberate destruction was the loss of "mail by rail" contracts in 1967. That one change ended the profitability of passenger trains to smaller markets. And the replacement, the "Zone Improvement Program" (ZIP codes!), wound up costing more, requiring far more energy, and taking longer. That's how we got "snail mail" instead of overnight mail (via Postal Rail cars). Leave it to gubmint to really stick it to the sheeple.

[BMW R1100]

Just hope it's not planned and administered by the same bozos that did the CA train. That was a complete and utter cluster. They'd build a little chunk here, a smidgen there, none of it connected to anything, all of it astronomically expensive and a waste of time, money and resources. I have no doubt that some people get very, very rich over it.

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by bu2

I think what has made the project dormant is the office market. They were going to profit off commercial office construction at their Houston and Dallas hubs. But the commercial real estate market is reeling from remote work. The remote work also reduces the amount of business travel.

Personally I think they should just standardize remote work and convert office space into living space with retail and restaurants. That would help with housing affordability in the rental market atleast.

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

Personally I think they should just standardize remote work and convert office space into living space with retail and restaurants. That would help with housing affordability in the rental market atleast.

Remote work is the future whether people like it or not. There’s going to be years of adjustment. We rushed into it too fast with Covid and are now having a more realistic transition. But that’s where we are headed