Posted on 05/12/2011 4:53:05 PM PDT by dynachrome
One of the projects to be funded with the money Florida rejected will be to transform 135 miles of Amtrak’s Wolverine route, which runs between Chicago and Detroit, into a higher-speed rail line, according to U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
This improvement, which will cost $196.5 million, will be paid for by the federal government. Trains will be able to reach speeds up to 110 mph, compared with their current top speed of 79 mph. The trip, which currently takes more than 5 hours, is expected to be more than 30 minutes shorter.
“This is not true high-speed rail by traditional definition, but it is improved,” said Megan Owens, executive director of Transit Riders United. She said a true high-speed rail, such as the one being proposed on the Los Angeles-San Francisco corridor, is far more costly.
Owens said she views the money as an investment. “Doing this now is worthwhile and will be a very substantial improvement in travel and [true high-speed is] not realistic at this point in the foreseeable future.”
(Excerpt) Read more at news.medill.northwestern.edu ...
“who would want to ride into it?”
True that!
$195,500,000 for 30 minutes?
Ray LaHood, you are truly a fool.
Reign in the Dept of Trans NOW!
And if somehow we get an NFL season, the Lions should threaten to make the playoffs this year.
Who in the world wants to get to Detroit faster???
Anyone want to bet on the project costing more than the projected $196 million?
Wrong. It will be paid for by taxpayers who aren't even born yet. The federal government doesn't pay for anything.
Nobody wants to go to Detroit, though. That’s the kicker.
Have no fear, Matty Maroun the richest democrat slumlord in Detroit owns that building and has suddenly decided that he wants to fix that place up after letting it rot for 30 years.
That math doesn't work, unless it's an attempt to kiss Obama's butt and make him look good in front of the math-impaired.
Willie Green.
Landing in Detroit (cheapest airfares) and getting a rental car out of there is like for-real grand theft auto. Not for the faint hearted for sure.
MARTA chair says transit system "more and more safe"
Snip: It took place just before midnight on a Saturday. The train car doors slid open at Garnett Station. A mob of teens streamed in, chanting the initials of a notorious Atlanta gang.
The doors closed. There was nowhere to run.
"There was blood everywhere. People were hollering and screaming," a rider told Channel 2 Action News.
America's Most Wanted hunting for Detroit rapist
Snip: 01/19/2011 The attacks happened about five miles from downtown Detroit. Most victims were waiting for a bus or walking to or from a bus stop.
Mad hatters gang of middle-aged women blamed door Detroit crime spree
Friday 13 May 2011 The suspects typically steal a woman's wallet or purse, police said in a statement. Shortly afterward, the credit cards and checks are used at stores to buy merchandise or at banks to get cash.
Crime on Portland area MAX trains increases; did TriMet cut too many patrols?
Feeling uneasy about last week's broad-daylight stabbings on MAX? This news probably won't help: After two straight years of double-digit declines, crime on TriMet's light-rail system is on the rise again.
The D Train Murder - why crimes on mass transit scare us so much
In case you don’t check the front page of the New York Post every morning to see the latest on the city’s most heinous crimes (ahem, not that we do) the big story today is about a passenger who was stabbed to death yesterday while riding a Bronx-bound D train, at around two in the morning. The accompanying story is jarring: An altercation between a 36-year-old homeless man and a 37-year-old exterminator resulted in the former’s being stabbed in the jugular and the hand, and then bleeding to death on the train.
A Detroit bullet train defines a slow moving train carrying passengers with bullets
Yep, me too. All the good ones are gone.
An hour late and a dollar short - story of my life.
$6,500,000.00 per minute of saved time per trip. Wonder how many riders will need to ride the train before there’s a positive ROI? I
In terms of time that is - the real ROI should be a factor of how many more people ride the train (because of that saved 30 minutes) instead of using an alternative method of transportation.
I read a study recently that stated that the adult population of Detroit was 47% functionally illiterate.
LaHood is definitely not connected to reality.
Detroit is NOTHING like it was in its heyday in the 60's. Did anyone see the Detroit episode of Top Gear?
Shariah in "Dearbornistan" - no free speech for infidels, anti-Islam pastor jailed
Snip: All that is just a side issue, we still have a very troubling assault on free speech in Arab Detroit.
Yahoo maps says its 284 miles, and takes 4 hrs 28 minutes to drive...
Will there be level crossings on a High(er) Speed Rail line?
I can’t wait until the first time a dump truck gets caught on the tracks by the barriers coming down. /sarc
But no doubt a high speed rail in and out would be a handy thing, except the rail head should be in Washington, DC. That's where the purple unicorn's fountain of money is and where any fool would be who would actually want to go to Detroit.
Any sane American would want to stay away from that 3rd world dump. One would be better off taking your annual vacation to Haiti or Liberia. Either one is safer and more scenic and even has beaches. Besides, you're less likely to get thrown in a stew pot and eaten by the natives.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.