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Trains to Detroit will be faster, have more room with high(er) speed rail money Florida rejected
Medill Reports ^ | 5-12-11 | Austin B. Smith

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 ...


TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events; US: Illinois; US: Michigan
KEYWORDS: amtrak; chicago; detroit; trains
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To: Jim Robinson

“who would want to ride into it?”

True that!


41 posted on 05/12/2011 5:31:50 PM PDT by dynachrome ("Our forefathers didn't bury their guns. They buried those that tried to take them.")
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To: dynachrome

$195,500,000 for 30 minutes?

Ray LaHood, you are truly a fool.

Reign in the Dept of Trans NOW!


42 posted on 05/12/2011 5:32:28 PM PDT by upchuck (Think you know hardship? Wait till the dollar is no longer the world's reserve currency.)
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To: cripplecreek

And if somehow we get an NFL season, the Lions should threaten to make the playoffs this year.


43 posted on 05/12/2011 5:34:06 PM PDT by dfwgator
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To: indylindy
The most famous train station in Detroit...


44 posted on 05/12/2011 5:38:09 PM PDT by Neidermeyer
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To: dynachrome

Who in the world wants to get to Detroit faster???

Anyone want to bet on the project costing more than the projected $196 million?


45 posted on 05/12/2011 5:39:56 PM PDT by kittymyrib
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To: WHBates
"This improvement, which will cost $196.5 million, will be paid for by the federal government.

Wrong. It will be paid for by taxpayers who aren't even born yet. The federal government doesn't pay for anything.

46 posted on 05/12/2011 5:39:59 PM PDT by Moonman62 (An illegal alien from Kenya did the job George W Bush didn't want to do.)
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To: dynachrome

Nobody wants to go to Detroit, though. That’s the kicker.


47 posted on 05/12/2011 5:40:26 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (I'd like to tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.)
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To: Neidermeyer

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.


48 posted on 05/12/2011 5:41:06 PM PDT by cripplecreek (Remember the River Raisin! (look it up))
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To: dynachrome
"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. "

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.

49 posted on 05/12/2011 5:44:41 PM PDT by cookcounty (Final Score: Osama bin Laden: 72 Sturgeons. American People: 72 Versions.)
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To: Jim Robinson
I can see people wanting to ride a speedy train OUT of Detroit, but who would want to ride into it?

Willie Green.

50 posted on 05/12/2011 5:45:58 PM PDT by buccaneer81 (ECOMCON)
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To: dynachrome
Get to Deeeeetroit faster! Yeah, that's the ticket!

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.

51 posted on 05/12/2011 5:52:24 PM PDT by MamaDearest
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To: dynachrome

A Detroit bullet train defines a slow moving train carrying passengers with bullets


52 posted on 05/12/2011 5:52:39 PM PDT by chuckee
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To: ml/nj
I'm too late to the thread to chime in with a sarcastic comment!

Yep, me too. All the good ones are gone.

An hour late and a dollar short - story of my life.

53 posted on 05/12/2011 5:53:05 PM PDT by Graybeard58
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To: dynachrome

$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.


54 posted on 05/12/2011 5:54:50 PM PDT by tanknetter
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To: dynachrome

I read a study recently that stated that the adult population of Detroit was 47% functionally illiterate.


55 posted on 05/12/2011 5:55:59 PM PDT by Parmy
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To: dynachrome

LaHood is definitely not connected to reality.


56 posted on 05/12/2011 5:59:02 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: Secret Agent Man
Nobody wants to go to Detroit, though. That’s the kicker.

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.

57 posted on 05/12/2011 6:00:21 PM PDT by MamaDearest
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To: dynachrome

Yahoo maps says its 284 miles, and takes 4 hrs 28 minutes to drive...


58 posted on 05/12/2011 6:01:42 PM PDT by lacrew (Mr. Soetoro, we regret to inform you that your race card is over the credit limit.)
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To: cripplecreek

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


59 posted on 05/12/2011 6:03:40 PM PDT by PLMerite (Shut the Beyotch Down!)
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To: dynachrome
The only people going to Detroit these days are government thieves carrying satchels of our tax money (well, and that borrowed from China) to pay off the political thugs who rule the place and to keep the natives quiet and from burning it to the ground. Oh, wait. My mistake. It already is burned down...

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.

60 posted on 05/12/2011 6:08:20 PM PDT by Gritty (Rather than building bridges, Obama is poisoning wells - Rep. Paul Ryan)
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