New rail stations, tunnel to airport eyed for Philadelphia (10 miles, *only* $3 billion)

Philly Inquirer ^ | August 15, 2012 | Paul Nussbaum

[Olog-hai]

If bullet trains someday race up and down the East Coast, they may not stop at 30^th Street Station.

Amtrak and city officials envision a new high-speed rail station on Market Street east of City Hall, linked by a 10-mile tunnel to Philadelphia International Airport, where a second new station would be built.

The neoclassical 30^th Street Station, opened in 1933 by the Pennsylvania Railroad and touted by Trains Magazine last year as "America's Finest Railroad Station," would become a hub for slower intercity trains and commuter service.

Amtrak, which owns the station, says a new high-speed rail alignment beneath Center City would allow bullet trains to avoid speed-killing curves and space limits near 30^th Street Station, helping meet a goal of 37-minute train trips between Philadelphia and New York by 2040. …

[Olog-hai]

Uh, baloney. Not even the big HSR builders overseas engage in building high speed lines under cities. Not even the left-wing Delaware Valley Association of Railroad Passengers supports this. Never mind 30^th Street Station ever becoming a “hub for … commuter (rail) service” what with it being in West Philly.

[Dallas59]

Another 3x20+ billion dollar rat hole????

[Yorlik803]

Here in Pittsburgh they built a tunnel connecting downtown to northside Not like there is three bridges that goes there anyways. Oh did I mention it goes under the river

[llevrok]

Having flown in and out of PHL more times than I can ever count, it seems that simply getting PLANES in and out of there half way on time has to be first done before you start talking “rapid transit”.

And manners/etiquette / literacy lessons for ground employees who work there is close behind.

[BfloGuy]

Amtrak, which owns the station, says a new high-speed rail alignment beneath Center City would allow bullet trains to avoid speed-killing curves and space limits near 30th Street Station, helping meet a goal of 37-minute train trips between Philadelphia and New York by 2040.

37 minutes?! I'm so excited, I could just cr*p myself.

[bill1952]

Wait - hold the presses!

Only a mere 3 BILLION dollars (not including the multi million dollar loss every single year) to move people 10 miles from the local Airport to downtown Philly in 37 minutes.

OMG, Japan move over! This is real “high speed.”
What a CROCK!

[Olog-hai]

The 37-minute plan is to run trains between New York (Penn Station) and Philadelphia (their pipe-dream “Market Street Station”), which is an incredibly-wasteful endeavor (it’s only 90 miles, and nobody’s going to pay through the nose to get there that fast, if you can even get up to a 145-mph average speed in such a short distance).

I don’t even see why any Amtrak, whether on existing lines or imaginary new ones, should bother going into PHL, especially since present-day Amtrak trains already connect to SEPTA trains that go to that airport.

[GOPJ]

The country’s broke. We can’t afford one more ‘public trasportation’ that no one rides. The ONLY high speed rail that’s profitable is in Japan. All the rest of them lose money. This is sooooooo stupid.

[GOPJ]

The country's broke. We can't afford one more ‘public transportation’ that no one rides. The ONLY high speed rail that's profitable is in Japan. All the rest of them lose money. This is sooooooo stupid.

[bill1952]

Good points thank you!