Chattanooga, Atlanta MagLev High Speed Rail Project Attracts Obama Administration Attention

WDEF ^ | June 4, 2010 | Joe Legge

[narses]

He compares the Obama administration's push for high-speed rail to the creation of the the Interstate system.

And Willie Green supports this! Here on the FReeRepublic!

[KevinDavis]

I hate to say this, but passenger rail in America started to die when the Auto and the Plane was created.

[KevinDavis]

Then it will not be going fast.. So why call it high speed rail, when it is going low speed..

[Willie Green]

And Willie Green supports this! Here on the FReeRepublic!

Yep. And I've been supporting this long before I ever even heard of O'Bummer.

Ever think that maybe BO is a lurker?
And he gets all his GOOD ideas from ME???

[KevinDavis]

Since when is travel a right??

[Dr. Sivana]

This isn't a plane where everybody gets on at one end and gets off at the other. There are people traveling in the other direction as well. PLUS you have to add-in all the people getting on-off at all the stops in between.

I looked at the map. There ain't a whole lot worth stopping at between Chattanooga and Atlanta. I have seen too many El trains in Chicago travelling against traffic nearly empty, during rush hour, to believe that you can balance the load.

Since it's only a 120 mile trip anyway, there just aren't a lot of people who are in between who will take the train rather than their own car. If you DO have numerous stops, there goes your speed advantage with maglev. Here in Northern Illinois, they are talking about reviving the Amtrak line. Every mid-size town on the proposed route wants a stop. If they all got their way, the 80 mile trip to Chicago winds up taking over two hours... and that's for Amtrak, not even a commuter train.

The planes, at least would have the ability to pick any destination within range with a suitable airport for return trips. The Maglev will be forever bound between Atlanta and Chattanooga. Atlanta -- Charlotte would make a bit more sense. In this country the sweet spot for trains is between 200 and 500 miles. But it has to be between cities that have traffic going both ways (e.g. LA and Las Vegas).

[meyer]

For the love of Jove, please avoid importing Detroiters at all costs!

Volkswagen, unfortunately, was up in Michigan a few months ago recruiting workers for the soon-to-be-finished assembly plant in Chattanooga. I don't think that the Germans understand the different culture that exists in the union-infested north.

[Mikey_1962]

Chattanooga? Who would ride it?

The same nobodies who ride the rest of Amtrak. It loses money year after year due to lack of ridership.

This would just lose more money faster.

[meyer]

Since it's only a 120 mile trip anyway, there just aren't a lot of people who are in between who will take the train rather than their own car. If you DO have numerous stops, there goes your speed advantage with maglev. Here in Northern Illinois, they are talking about reviving the Amtrak line. Every mid-size town on the proposed route wants a stop. If they all got their way, the 80 mile trip to Chicago winds up taking over two hours... and that's for Amtrak, not even a commuter train.

I routinely travel through Atlanta from just north of Chattanooga. If I leave early (0430 hrs) to beat the morning rush, I can be at the south end of Atlanta in 2 hours travelling by car.

A high-speed train that would leave from near the Chattanooga airport and travel to the Atlanta airport region might be able to make the trip in 1 hour if it were non-stop and travelling at 120 mph. Add in the time to get from home to the 'nooga airport and get on board, and add in the time to get off the train and travel to a given destination in Atlanta and you're already at at least 2 hours. And, without your car.

This represents a collosal waste of money.

[Michael.SF.]

Those numbers are not adjusted for inflation and go back to the 50's when 25 Billion was a LOT of money.

The main point was the prediction vs. the actuality of the cost.

[Go_Raiders]

Postal clause? Are you saying the Feds should build this to deliver mail? WTF?????

[Thermalseeker]

There is no such dynamic connection between Atlanta and Chattanooga.

Oh, but there is a connection, at least the folks in Atlanta want there to be a connection, but not for a train. This train corridor would be used for a waterline from the Tennessee River to a thirsty Atlanta. This thing has been studied to death over the past 20 odd years. Untold millions of taxpayer dollars have already been flushed down this rat hole. This train is neither needed nor wanted. Willie has this fantasy that the Chattanooga airport will become a major reliever for Atlanta Hartsfield, but that isn't going to happen. It's far more likely that Briscoe Field in Gwinnett County will be the next reliever airport for Hartsfield. As a matter of fact the FAA just approved privatizing Briscoe field and the construction of 10 gates. If you live in Lawrenceville, Lilburn or Snellville, Georgia expect an increase in jet noise in the near future.....

[Robert A Cook PE]

Waste of money. From top to bottom, a complete waste of money.

[Trailerpark Badass]

There are people traveling in the other direction as well. PLUS you have to add-in all the people getting on-off at all the stops in between.

All the "stops in between??!!"

"In between" Chattanooga and Atlanta?!

It's obvious you ain't from around here.

[Recon Dad]

By the time they got done with laying the tracks Detroit will be smaller than Chattannooga.

[Robert A Cook PE]

For a high-speed train (maglev or rails) to be “high speed” over a 120 mile run, you can’t have any stops in between.

Or you need go 600 mph in between every ten minute stop 8>)

This means everybody in Atlanta would need to drive south/east/west/north to downtown Atlanta to connect to the train to go back north to Chattanooga to rent a car in Chattanooga to get wherever in Chattanooga they really wanted to go.

[Willie Green]

The main point was the prediction vs. the actuality of the cost.

Ever think that's because the Interstates became more successful than they predicted...
and we built a much larger Interstate system than they predicted?

[smalltownslick]

Willie,
I’ve always been curious - are you a drummer?

[KevinDavis]

Willie,

The interstate allow us Freedom loving citizens to travel between states at a faster rate then taking the train.

[meyer]

I think that the water connection is a non-starter. Moving water from the Tennessee river watershed to the Chattahoochie river watershed isn’t going to go over well. The water from the Tennessee river feeds through several hydroelectric dams and nagivable locks before eventually reaching the Ohio and Mississippi river. It supplies drinking and service water to several cities downstream as well. I’m pretty sure that the environazis would go nuts over diverting water away from the river as well. I know that the many entities that utilize the Tennessee river would be screaming.

Atlanta can build a desalinization plant and pipe the water in from the Atlantic ocean or the gulf if they want to continue to expand the city.