One Proposal For Amtrak Bullet Train Route: Under Long Island Sound

Hartford Courant ^ | 5:01 p.m. EDT, September 3, 2012 | Don Stacom

[Olog-hai]

As Amtrak studies how to bring bullet trains to its frantically busy Northeast Corridor, one design team is suggesting a radically new route requiring a roughly 18-mile-long tunnel beneath Long Island Sound.

Trains speeding from Washington to Boston would run through the heart of Long Island, cross into Connecticut through a tunnel emerging in Milford, head to Hartford and then race east toward Worcester on new tracks running alongside I-84.

The segment between Manhattan and Hartford would cost about $20 billion, according to the University of Pennsylvania's high-speed rail design studio, which first put forward the idea in 2010. Overall, the full 450-mile route from Washington to Boston would cost about $100 billion, PennDesign said. …

[BobL]

I actually like busways, since they can shift routes when demand changes, and use existing concrete, at least on some of the routes. And they’re much cheaper.

Having said that, they still MUST be funded locally, just to keep the crap you’re talking about from getting out of control.

[Daffynition]

This busway is between Hartford [the Capital] and New Britain. *Back in the day when New Britain was the *Hardware Capital of the World....people came from everywhere to work in the factories. Presently, poor old New Britain is a wasteland of crime and drugs. No one would go there for any reason [except maybe the Museum of American Art]. Hartford in a ghost town too....sadly companies are leaving there in droves. So since there are no jobs/industry, I see no reason for anyone to commute to either destination.

It’s such a waste....especially since our state and nation is in such debt.

[Daffynition]

[BobL]

Of course...that’s why they had to go to Washington. Like I said, I like busways (versus other ideas), but not when they have to run to DC to get their money.

[Chode]

and that's just for starters...

[Robe]

The NE Corridor.... How about doing something about the 8-10 hour trip on Amtrak from Charlotte to Washington????.. Crap they were doing that route in the ‘40’s at 90 mph WITH STEAM LOCO’s

[puppypusher]

Hey!what the hell.If Massachussets can waste billions of dollars on the big dig,Why can’t Connecticut?

Seriously though.They claim they need high speed rail because the population of the Northeast corridor is growing.

I just read a report yesterday that the population in the northeast is dropping because people are fleeing to the south where there is a much better economy.

Which is not now?

[Gay State Conservative]

Hey!what the hell.If Massachusetts can waste billions of dollars on the big dig,Why can’t Connecticut?

You've got a lot of nerve criticizing our wonderful Big Dig.As Mike Dukakis would say...."good jobs at good wages".Why,those billions of dollars now allow folks driving from Boston's western suburbs to get to Logan Airport 3 minutes faster than before!

On a *good* day.

[Olog-hai]

What are busways much cheaper than . . . ? The New Britain–Hartford one is costing $63 million per mile, which is way more than a lot of equivalent rail projects. Would you feel safe going at 80-90 mph on a roadway, even a dedicated roadway, in a bus? Then there’s winter cleanup to worry about; with railroads, that’s somewhat less of a problem since trains can push a light-enough covering of snow off the tracks, but on a busway you’re going to need snow plows and salt trucks.

[Olog-hai]

Well, since those rails are privately owned, the federal government has to regulate the owners to death. 90 mph with semaphore signals (as in the past) won’t cut it by the FRA; they require Class 5 track, cab signaling systems and automatic train stop systems to even allow a passenger train to run at 90 mph. (See why private companies have no incentive to run passenger service anymore? and that’s aside from the taxation they once had to face, which even back in the early 20^th century when railroads were more dominant ate into their bottom line to a huge degree.)

[4Liberty]

I’m voting for Ryan, NOT ROMNEY.

[BobL]

The New Britain–Hartford one is costing $63 million per mile, which is way more than a lot of equivalent rail projects.”

Name one...within the past decade.

[Daffynition]

[Olog-hai]

Now just what do you mean by that question?

NJ Transit’s River Line (diesel light rail) is 34 miles long on one of the country’s oldest railroads (the Camden and Amboy), and it cost $32 million per mile, which is itself a lot of dough for rebuilding an existing railroad—but it is half the cost per unit length of this BRT corridor.

I don’t know if you’re trying to justify spending on BRT, but I suggest that we all avoid playing politicians’ games ourselves.

[BobL]

“NJ Transit’s River Line (diesel light rail) is 34 miles long on one of the country’s oldest railroads”

“the Camden and Amboy”

Yea, I’m sure there are a whole hell of a lot of commuters on that route. Yea, if you into connecting RUST BELT cities and places, you can do that very cheaply, simply because the ROWs are there and no one wants to get near them.

The idea isn’t to build a transit system in a location because it happens to be cheap there (like Camden, LOL), it’s to build it where there is DEMAND. Sorry if that confuses you.

[Olog-hai]

You are not making sense, WADR. Camden is right across the river from Philadelphia, which is a significantly larger city than Hartford UIGM (over ten times the population); a significant chunk of the ridership transfers to/from PATCO, which goes to Center City.

And this is the first time I have heard of Philadelphia (and New Jersey) as being part of the “Rust Belt”.

Since CTfasttrak (the new name for the busway being discussed here) is being built on an old railroad right of way, the capital costs are incredibly high. And since there are eleven stations planned on the approximately 9½-mile route, expect average speeds to be remarkably low.

[BobL]

Oakland is right across the bay from San Francisco. Haiti is right across the border from the Dominican Republic. Juarez is right across the border from El Paso.

You’re welcome to dump people off in Camden in the hope that they will find their way to Phili, just PAY FOR THAT CRAP YOURSELF.

[Olog-hai]

The River Line received no federal funding, as bad as I believe the spending and execution to be. Nor did it get any funds from Pennsylvania. By contrast, CTfastrak is getting two thirds of its funds from the federal government, which means you ain’t paying for it yourself, to use a turn of a phrase.