3 possible routes for Houston-Dallas high speed rail, one to be selected in 90 days

Why don't they just build all three lines?

 

But... then it wouldn't be a high speed train from Dallas to Houston.

 

Modern airships can carry huge loads. I mean huge like Fatty Fat b*stard after a TexMex meal huge. They are clearly more energy efficient and have less impact on the environment. If da1 doesn't support that he is clearly just a rail geek.

 

I would pick blue. Seems like the quickest way, but not sure how it would interfere with i-45 traffic if any.

 

Oh, you don't have to convince me: I'm in agreement with you. But the simple fact is that airship travel has been and will, most likely, be forever tied in many people's minds with the Hindenburg disaster. It's just never gotten past that, which is why it never took off (pun intended) in the US. I'd be surprised if it did now.

 

where has it taken off?

 

As Heypartner said, there is no point to make a senseless detour to College Station. It needs to be a straight shot from Houston to Dallas, and it needs to be very high speed.

 

College Station is only 20 extra miles if they route it correctly. If they're going to spend the money to build the BLUE line, they should just route it correctly through CS, then use the existing RED rail north to Dallas. Should save over 50% cost.

 

Use the Blue Line, and then quickly build lines from Dallas to Austin and SA, with lines from Austin to Houston, down 71 and connecting at Columbus to a track from SA to Houston going down I-10. Why the hell not? I'd sure as hell use it.

 

will this connect to the greyhound track in LaMarque?

let me know

 

They might want it to make a stop at IAH. Is that the "correct" route to CS. It is to Dallas.

Is the savings really that much? I doubt the existing rail can be used for high speed trains, so they'd have to rip it all out. The savings would be on a corridor already existing, but when you go in country, high speed needs to go over or under farm roads, or you simply close those road crossings down, which would piss off the farmers.

imo, I-45 will have less crossing roads to navigate. And we could have a stop at Woody's Smokehouse in Centerville. :grin:

But my main point is, don't consider this as one and only one choice of rail. Consider this the first step to a network of rail. Make the first one as fast as possible to serve the business class and tourist, so it makes money. It needs to be a success, and not about local politics to get stops in their town.

It's not so much that a detour to CS would be an extra 30-40 miles; it's that the train shouldn't make frequent stops.

 

I wonder if Texas A&M has any pull in deciding this. Regardless, I wouldn't underestimate the University nor the city of College Station. Both are growing rapidly.

 

What a brilliant idea!!!!!

 

"Correct" meaning the given route in the OP was somewhat ridiculous. Looks like it added 50-60 miles.

Savings went with the premise pre-existing rail would work, someone had mentioned it earlier. If it doesn't, of course using it would be mute. The route I suggested used about 60% of existing rail. Crossing county roads might be similar to the light rail in HOU... just make the cars wait (yeah I don't particularly like that either). To avoid the extra stops CS would cause, maybe have express trains that bypass them. The raw miles added by CS aren't significant at all. People forget that DAL isn't just north, it's north and west... just like CS.

Just my thoughts

 

Eh, I think the inherently low-speed airship fails to meet a certain requirement of high-speed transit...

 

Having it go through the woodlands makes a lot more sense than college station

He'll, have it go through houston all the way to galveston. Those dumb dumbs up north will be flocking to a "beach" if a day trip can be made out of it

 

BOTH can be done. Only an extra 25 miles.

Texas Rail says DAL-HOU will take 90 minutes.

245 miles = 90 minutes

extra 25 miles = 9.2 minutes

There's nothing but a Statue between Conroe and Corsicana.

 

Light rail in HOU going 20 mph and beeping it's horn, is a whole lot different than a 150mp train screaming through the country-side. A car/train crash with the former will only hurt the car driver; the later will derail the train into a major disaster, and people will stop taking it.

You can't be relying on crossing signs and gates.

 

Only if you don't intend to stop. Add another 10 minutes to that if you stop. And then, Hemsptead is going to want a stop, too.