High Speed Rail for Florida?


vato loco

vato loco

Just a Foolish Saint!
OK the O-man is comming to town to hand Florida a 2.5 BILLION dollar check for a $5 billion dollar train set that will go from TIA to OIA! Your opinions, are welcome this is your money!:rolleyes: http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/local/president-obama-bullet-train-announcement-012710 severl More states will be getting some of the 8 billion set a side for high speed rail! Is your state getting a new train set?

I think this is something that will only help the minority and is waisted money!:(:rolleyes:
 
Chris, Do you remember what year we voted to have the HS rail started in Florida? Was it 20 years ago? Back then the feds were going to give Fla. millions which was just about enough to cover a caboose on a freight train. The same here at todays prices will cover the paper work to buy all of the property to lay down the rails. How about all of the overpasses they have to build. I think it will probably take at least 10 years just to get started & in the mean time Florida will use the money to build another Casino.
 
Larry said:
Chris, Do you remember what year we voted to have the HS rail started in Florida? Was it 20 years ago? Back then the feds were going to give Fla. millions which was just about enough to cover a caboose on a freight train. The same here at todays prices will cover the paper work to buy all of the property to lay down the rails. How about all of the overpasses they have to build. I think it will probably take at least 10 years just to get started & in the mean time Florida will use the money to build another Casino.
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Or buy another Swamp!LOL's........ it's all smoke and mirrors.....;)
 
I think there is almost a frantic push to get HSR done. The NY routes mentioned included NYC-Albany-Buffalo(?) and NYC-Montreal were not necessarily HSR but the upgrades to those routes could allow the trains to go 110mph---or more.

The hysteria around the millions of jobs going to be had when HSR becomes 'reality' is what gets me. We are seeing desperate people pulling at heart strings now to garner more support for HSR----:eek::confused: Where are the facts? No one says----:cool:
 
I think we need to wait and see what really happens. Amtrak was supposed to cure a lot of ills and aside from local / shorter routes, Amtrak service is a joke. I mean why no direct service from the Midwest to Florida for example?

Two weeks ago I flew into Tampa, spent a few days, then drove to Orlando, spent a few days and then flew back to Chicago. I-4 eastbound was screwed up due to a pavement subsidence but the drive including a detour through Plant City was not bad and didn't take very long at all. Is HSR a worthwhile alternative to a 90-minute drive?

Illinois is supposed to get HSR between Chicago and St Louis, which makes a little more sense because that's a 5 hour drive. Don't get me wrong though - I love Florida and want to see its economy recover and maybe this HSR thing will be the start of the recovery as well as the first leg in a statewide system: JAX-MCO-TPA-MIA. And I will support HSR; I just don't know if it's going to live up to the hype.
 
The problem w/the Hype is they never start that year or the next. All of the permitting takes forever. people won't get jobs on those rail sites until 2014 or after. maybe on the states that already have a regular rail line will benefit. Florida, in the past has always spent the money on something that's not even related to the original money. I think the feds ought to put a time limit on the project.
 
I don't know anybody that wants this, I don't, other than the politicians who must be starting to believe their own hype.

How many jobs did Amtrack create? And, don't we subsidize it 'till this day???

btw, they've already been notifying home owners of emminent domain seizure in some areas of Tampa ( where the station is to be? ) before it's final approval by the FL gov and before Obama announced any money...
 
Heck, Lakeland and CSX got a battle raging now over noise and traffic tie ups due to the increased train traffic..........what going to happen with this HSR project if and when it gets started and completed. Also right now I-4 has sink hole issues......ain't that where this dream line is going right down the middle? I can just see the mess if a sink hole opens up on that HSR and a 110mph train hits a deformed track!:eek: There's problems with this and I don't think that the politicans are thinking this through. I love to see HSR and light Rail here......But now is not the time for this!JMO

Beach Bum, your right the trip between Tampa and Orlando ain't that bad. Atleast nothing like Calf. roads. and the Distance between the two citys are not far enough apart to draw people away from their cars. Also the ticket price i heard from Tampa to Dizzy world was est. at $50 one way per person!:eek: A round trip ticket is going to have to be less that $20 round trip if it is to draw commuters away from their cars!

I honestly believe this HSR thing is a scam dreamed up by Gov. Anti-Crist and his Goon Sqad to swindle money from the Fed to put to their pet projects around the state! Who remembers the Sugar Plantation and RR. they bought up in south florida. If'n I remember the price tag for that was around 1.25 billion dollars? kinda fun Uncle O is giving us 1.25 billion:confused: I wonder?

Either way I vote No right now on HSR and yes to May be light rail in a few years to connect TIA to OIA. Thats JMO and have a nice day:)
 
well 20 years ago....if we had installed the original plan of high speed mono rail down the center of I-75 it would be done now and hell cheaper now we can only get a segment from Tampa to Olando? that sux! It should been done a long time ago! We would of had it from Miami to Tallahassee and Jacksonville with stops in between! UGH!
 
Alcomotive said:
well 20 years ago....if we had installed the original plan of high speed mono rail down the center of I-75 it would be done now and hell cheaper now we can only get a segment from Tampa to Olando? that sux! It should been done a long time ago! We would of had it from Miami to Tallahassee and Jacksonville with stops in between! UGH!
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I remember that, weren't they to look like the ones used at dizzy world? I remember they were cheap and were going to blanket the state with them...Your right UGHHHHHhhhhhh! O well:rolleyes::);)
 
Years ago, private firms in Texas were going to build some routes linking the major cities.
It was thwarted by a regional airline.
What kind of under-the-table hanky-panky was that?
 
Some questions I have:

Is there really that much of a need for a high speed rail service between Tampa and Orlando?

Will they build their own tracks, or use and improve existing ones?

If building their own tracks, is $8 billion enough?

People talk here locally about building high speed rail between San Antonio and Austin, which is a distance of 75 miles. It is being sold as a commuter service, as well as alleviating traffic on Interstate 35. What I don't understand is that from a consumer standpoint, I don't know anyone who commutes to Austin or to San Antonio by living in the other city. And, as spread out as Austin and San Antonio are (being that most American cities have expanded because of the automobile), once you'd arrive, someone would either have to pick you up or you'd have to take a cab or a bus to get to your final destination.

Realistically, they're talking about more than 5 stops (New Braunfels, San Marcos, Kyle, Buda, Austin). Even at speeds of 100 MPH or better, you can't get going really fast before you have to slow down for the next station. Also, unless they're building new tracks, I wonder if they are eying the old IGN/MP line or the old MKT line, as UP uses them for directional running. Unless UP is building more tracks, these lines are fairly busy with both locals and through freights, not to mention the daily Texas Eagle.

I think that a lot of folks have ridden the Acela, the TGV, the ICE or someone else's high speed rail and think that putting a high speed in their backyard will be just as used, appreciated, and to some point, successful. I think that passenger rail in our country is on life support for a reason.
 
Read it and weap http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/local/president-obama-high-speed-rail-funding-tampa-012810 , we got the 1.25 billion now what? They say it will be up and running by 2015 providing Florida can come up with the rest of the money. California is next with 2.25 million for their HSR project! Am I the only one that thinks this is nuts? Florida and Caifornia together couldn't scrap enough cash to buy a pack of chewing gum, let a lone build a very expensive train set! BTW: didn't Arnold ask the Fed for money to build more prisons for all the illegal thugs in his state?
 
BTW: didn't Arnold ask the Fed for money to build more prisons for all the illegal thugs in his state?
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Well just maybe he'll use chain gangs to build the RR that'll cut the cost a bit :D

Cheers
Willis
 
Here are the facts:

Amtrak has never made money. To the contrary, it costs the US taxpayer almost $100,000 a minute to keep it from going bankrupt. Only the Acela and Metroliners show a "profit", but even that is wiped out when maintenance costs are factored in. Even in the most densely populated area of our country, the northeast corridor, Amtrak cannot even break even.

HSR's in the US invariably are being built with more taxpayer money. If there was a real demand, private companies would have already been building these routes. These are simply make work projects for the short term that will cause huge continuing losses for the long term, since we can never shut one of these lines down once they open.

Airlines sometimes do well and sometimes go bankrupt. There are no subsidies. Every major airport in this country makes money for the agency that built it, since airlines and concessionaires pay substantial fees to the airport authorities. Even being a railfan, I still a taxpayer first. If trains cannot survive on their own profits, they shouldn't be running.
 
Thanks for the link Chris. I have some thoughts, but I won't post them here, since it will fall under the ugly p word. I do know today that Texas won't be getting any money, and I think the reason is obvious.

Jim, I agree. I've never understood the love affair that railfans have over Amtrak, other than it is the last vestige of a long-gone romantic age. The quality of service isn't anything close to what my parents remember of trains like the Southern Crescent, the Texas Eagle, etc. nor is the selection of routes.

I've looked, several times, at taking the Amtrak to visit my family in Mississippi. Unfortunately, a trip that takes 10.5 to 12 hours by car, 4 hours by plane, takes 3 to 5 days by train (the short way is the Sunset Limited to New Orleans in the middle of the night, an overnight stay in New Orleans, and then an early morning boarding of the Crescent north, while the long way is the Eagle to Chicago, the Capitol Limited to Washington D.C., then the Crescent south). $120 by car, $220 by plane, or $600 to $800+ by train (if you go coach the whole way).
 
ICG/SOU said:
I've never understood the love affair that railfans have over Amtrak, other than it is the last vestige of a long-gone romantic age. The quality of service isn't anything close to what my parents remember of trains like the Southern Crescent, the Texas Eagle, etc. nor is the selection of routes.

I've looked, several times, at taking the Amtrak to visit my family in Mississippi. Unfortunately, a trip that takes 10.5 to 12 hours by car, 4 hours by plane, takes 3 to 5 days by train (the short way is the Sunset Limited to New Orleans in the middle of the night, an overnight stay in New Orleans, and then an early morning boarding of the Crescent north, while the long way is the Eagle to Chicago, the Capitol Limited to Washington D.C., then the Crescent south). $120 by car, $220 by plane, or $600 to $800+ by train (if you go coach the whole way).
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My son lives in LA. 4 hours and between $90 and $200 via Southwest. Add on the drive to the airports, clearing security, etc and you're still talking 7-8 hours total. I can take Amtrak - 3 days for about $150 plus getting to Union Station, etc. If I want a room on Amtrak so I can get a decent night's sleep en route (and I took AMTK to Harrisburg, PA once in coach so I know what sleeping in coach is like), add on another $800.

I like to vacation in Florida - basically the same deal but on AMTK I have to go to NO or DC, change trains and then I have to take a bus from Orlando to St Pete.

You can gouge travelers on time or cost or convenience, but not all three unless they have lots of money or lots of time or are scared to death to fly...
 
Beachbum said:
My son lives in LA. 4 hours and between $90 and $200 via Southwest. Add on the drive to the airports, clearing security, etc and you're still talking 7-8 hours total. I can take Amtrak - 3 days for about $150 plus getting to Union Station, etc. If I want a room on Amtrak so I can get a decent night's sleep en route (and I took AMTK to Harrisburg, PA once in coach so I know what sleeping in coach is like), add on another $800.

I like to vacation in Florida - basically the same deal but on AMTK I have to go to NO or DC, change trains and then I have to take a bus from Orlando to St Pete.

You can gouge travelers on time or cost or convenience, but not all three unless they have lots of money or lots of time or are scared to death to fly...
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Beachbum by your name and that you go to St. Pete you must go to Clearwater and indian rocks?:) Both real nice beaches!:D

I been to chicago once a long time ago in 1991. I had a GF whos family only lived two blocks from proviso yard. I watched trains all day and night I got tons of pictures!

Water temps aught to rise in April! My family go to the beach almost every other weekend during the summer!
 
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