4 ms·

> Regional high speed rail is already in the works. Here's an overview of the Midwest plan, with a map: https://www.chicagoarchitecture.org/2010/01/16/midwest-h

by ardy42 6y ago

> Regional high speed rail is already in the works. Here's an overview of the Midwest plan, with a map: https://www.chicagoarchitecture.org/2010/01/16/midwest-high-speed-rail-part-1-overview/ https://www.chicagoarchitecture.org/2010/01/16/midwest-high-... Those blog posts are from 10 years ago Is that plan still current? What have they actually built in that time?

adventured 6y ago
The only high-speed rail effort I'm aware of that has any reasonable shot at becoming actual and is currently being pursued, is the Dallas-Houston line. From September 21: "High-speed train between Dallas and Houston gets federal approval" "Texas Central expects to start construction in the first half of 2021." https://www.texastribune.org/2020/09/21/dallas-houston-high-speed-train/ https://www.texastribune.org/2020/09/21/dallas-houston-high-...
- goodcanadian 6y ago
  Well, California high speed rail is being built.[1] And there is Brightline which doesn't really qualify as high speed, but it is newly operating, and it fills a useful niche.[2] Ideally, I would like to see many more such projects. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_High-Speed_Rail https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_High-Speed_Rail [2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brightline https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brightline
uxp100 6y ago
I’m not aware of any of that being built in the past ten years, some of the plans were canceled, and I think the momentum has been lost to accomplish most of it. Even just increasing speed on the Hiawatha didn’t happen because it traveled through a town that was able to limit the trains speed due to noise and safety concerns.
- volkl48 6y ago
  Most improvements in Wisconsin didn't happen because Wisconsin's newly elected governor in 2010 decided to quit most projects and was rather hostile towards pursuing any substantial improvements in rail. Michigan has been making steady enough progress on their parts of those plans. The Wolverine (Chicago-Detroit/Pontiac) now runs at 110mph for significant sections of the route. While still not "fast", it does mean the total trip time for Detroit-Chicago is now time-competitive with driving, even if there's no traffic on the drive.
  - jdhn 6y ago
    I just looked at taking the train from Ann Arbor to Chicago, and the times that it leaves are all super early in the morning. It's very much tailored to business travelers instead of people who just want to go to Chicago for pleasure. While going fast is nice, I'm not getting up to take a train at 7:20 AM.
    - volkl48 6y ago
      The current schedules aren't the normal (pre-pandemic) schedules, it would typically be running 3x a day each direction, and that should be resumed in the future. Normally there would be a late morning departure from Ann Arbor towards Chicago. From what I can find, I think that one would have been 10:17AM.

by ardy42 6y ago

adventured 6y ago

The only high-speed rail effort I'm aware of that has any reasonable shot at becoming actual and is currently being pursued, is the Dallas-Houston line. From September 21: "High-speed train between Dallas and Houston gets federal approval" "Texas Central expects to start construction in the first half of 2021." https://www.texastribune.org/2020/09/21/dallas-houston-high-speed-train/ https://www.texastribune.org/2020/09/21/dallas-houston-high-...

goodcanadian 6y ago
Well, California high speed rail is being built.[1] And there is Brightline which doesn't really qualify as high speed, but it is newly operating, and it fills a useful niche.[2] Ideally, I would like to see many more such projects. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_High-Speed_Rail https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_High-Speed_Rail [2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brightline https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brightline

uxp100 6y ago

I’m not aware of any of that being built in the past ten years, some of the plans were canceled, and I think the momentum has been lost to accomplish most of it. Even just increasing speed on the Hiawatha didn’t happen because it traveled through a town that was able to limit the trains speed due to noise and safety concerns.

volkl48 6y ago
Most improvements in Wisconsin didn't happen because Wisconsin's newly elected governor in 2010 decided to quit most projects and was rather hostile towards pursuing any substantial improvements in rail. Michigan has been making steady enough progress on their parts of those plans. The Wolverine (Chicago-Detroit/Pontiac) now runs at 110mph for significant sections of the route. While still not "fast", it does mean the total trip time for Detroit-Chicago is now time-competitive with driving, even if there's no traffic on the drive.
- jdhn 6y ago
  I just looked at taking the train from Ann Arbor to Chicago, and the times that it leaves are all super early in the morning. It's very much tailored to business travelers instead of people who just want to go to Chicago for pleasure. While going fast is nice, I'm not getting up to take a train at 7:20 AM.
  - volkl48 6y ago
    The current schedules aren't the normal (pre-pandemic) schedules, it would typically be running 3x a day each direction, and that should be resumed in the future. Normally there would be a late morning departure from Ann Arbor towards Chicago. From what I can find, I think that one would have been 10:17AM.