U.S. OKs $150M for Chicago-Detroit high-speed rail

[thelakelander]

Kalamazooâ€" U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says he's awarded $150 million to Michigan to buy a rail line for high-speed passenger service between Chicago and Detroit.

LaHood said in a news release Tuesday the project "will increase the safety and reliability of Amtrak's Wolverine and Blue Water services" and create 800 jobs this spring.

The money enables the Michigan Department of Transportation to buy much of the Chicago-Detroit rail corridor.
On Oct. 5, Michigan said it had agreed to buy the tracks between Kalamazoo and Dearborn in suburban Detroit. The U.S. said then that it was giving Michigan $196 million for signal and track improvements.

The project allows speeds of up to 110 mph on 77 percent of the Detroit-Chicago line, cutting travel time by 30 minutes.

http://detnews.com/article/20111122/METRO05/111220430/1016/rss05

[JeffreyS]

nice.

[thelakelander]

This is the approach Florida should have taken with their HSR plan. The infrastructure will be used by freight, HSR, and commuter rail for a fraction of the Florida plan's cost.

[buckethead]

for fraction of the Florida plan's cost.

The first thing I noticed. Was ours was a case of too many hands in the cookie jar?

[thelakelander]

^Ours was a case in getting wrapped up in technology instead of planning for what we actually needed.  The Midwest HSR plan is a basic upgrade in infrastructure to increase the travel times of existing rolling stock.  Florida's plan was 100% new infrastructure for a bullet train that would travel in a corridor more suitable for traditional commuter rail.

[Ocklawaha]

^Ours was a case in getting wrapped up in technology instead of planning for what we actually needed.  The Midwest HSR plan is a basic upgrade in infrastructure to increase the travel times of existing rolling stock.  Florida's plan was 100% new infrastructure for a bullet train that would travel in a corridor more suitable for traditional commuter rail.

BINGO!

My impression of Tampa-Miami DONE RIGHT!

Lets not forget the fact that by rebuilding a short section of the old Seaboard Air Line/CSX track from West Lake Wales to Bartow and upgrading the remaining tracks, we would have a HrSR route from Tampa-Miami in which a conventional Amtrak train could beat the ill fated bullet train from end point to end point.

Jumping from virtually NO RAIL to HSR in one giant leap is the railroad equivalent of putting a theme park downtown to jump start our downtown... a guaranteed failure. Until Florida builds a demand for passenger rail by creating a statewide network of fast, convenient, comfortable, conventional trains, any thinking about billions of dollars spent on a short, unconnected, bullet train is a fools errand.

Equally STUPID, is the current State Rail Plan which basically REDUCES any future network to 3 lines: The Florida East Coast from Jacksonville to Miami, The CSX from Jacksonville to Tampa via Orlando, and CSX from Auburndale to Miami. Nowhere in the plan for the rapidly growing Central Florida ridge from Jacksonville to Tampa via Ocala-Gainesville, no plan for Jacksonville-Pensacola, no plan for Sarasota/Venice, Ft. Myers/Naples, no plan to enhance Jacksonville Terminal to handle additional NY-Florida service, no plan for Chicago/Cincinnati-Florida service, no plan to serve Atlanta from Jacksonville a bi-state service that falls under Amtrak Section 403-C...

As usual, California has written the book on how it's done, having created a large statewide system of fast, frequent trains that run from city center to city center. Florida is about 50 years behind the curve and shows no sign of improving.

CALIFORNIA WENT FROM THIS...




TO THIS...


MEANWHILE...




Florida went from this...





To this...
(...and yes it's the same location...but not to worry, we spent several million dollars to up grade the station building.)