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High Speed Rail NOT dead


tampasteve

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For those that did not know, the Florida High Speed Rail Authority (FHSRA) is still around, basically keeping the studies that have been done alive. Well, they are supposedly meeting with our new Gov. Christ. Hopefully Mr. Christ will be more pro-active for rail than his predicesor. As is known, the first leg of the line would run from Tampa to Orlando. Most of the major studies have been done, so it is a matter of actually getting things moving again and then this could really happen.

Steve

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CFLA will be the big winner in this. think about it, if they decide to do the first line and test it to see whether it works before doing the line to Miami, if it doesn't pass muster for whatever reason (ridership; money), CFLA will still have that line running betwee Tampa and Orlando.

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I agree, but I would almost bet my house that if and when they get the first leg open that almost nothing would stop the extension to Miami. Even if the TPA/ORL line did not do great there is every reason to think that the extension to Miami would make the ridership jump exponentially, especially between Orlando and Miami. Miami is a HUGE draw for the USA with people coming in from across the Americas, and having a easy link to Disney would be very usefull.

Steve

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Miami/Orlando would possibly be a more used line in the long run; however, the ORL/TPA line would be greatly used as well, not to mention that the distance is quite shorter. TPA has a very busy airport (as does ORL) with people coming into the area for the beaches, as well as trips to ORL. Likewise, many people traveling to ORL go to the Tampa area for the beaches on day trips. It would be the most mutually benefitial of the routes to start with, again, not to mention the distance. Also, the route (running mostly along I-4) is easier to build than the MIA/ORL route. IMO

Whichever line was started though (and TPA/ORL will be first) it will be great for the state. Any form of transit other than auto is benefitial in the long run. I am greatly envious of the CRT line being built in Orlando.

Steve

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I agree with the Orlando to Miami line. Would be nice if I can hop on a train to Miami at 7 in the morning and sleep my way to Miami at around 9:30am then take the baylink to Miami beach and come home at 7 at nite.

On the other hand, the line between Tampa & Orlando will probably is not really feasible in my opinion. From Orlando to Tampa is only about 50 mins drive. Most people will rather drive because of the cost factor. I am assuming that the HSR rate is not going to be cheap. A family of 5 traveling will cost more than driving. Plus you still have to find a way to go around Tampa once you reach there. You cant even hope on HSR to see a Bucs game. It will be more convinient for people from Tampa to Orlando for a day trip since the train will go to either I drive or Disney.

Orl to Tampa line will be more feasible if Disney hope on line and start a cruise business from port of Tampa. But giving current state of CF politics, I drive hotels will be damned to share their lodging business with Tampa.

Orl to Miami line will be more feasible because of the time it will save and it will benifits tourism on both city. People that visit Orlando or Miami will stay longer to "kill two birds with one stone". Like a smaller extend of London to Paris link.

Ok enough dreaming, i am going back to work.

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On the other hand, the line between Tampa & Orlando will probably is not really feasible in my opinion. From Orlando to Tampa is only about 50 mins drive. Most people will rather drive because of the cost factor. I am assuming that the HSR rate is not going to be cheap. A family of 5 traveling will cost more than driving.
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If people from Tampa come to Orlando with HSR for the attraction, I-drive and disney public transportation is easier than Tampa system since most of the stuff to do is on I drive which are connected by I trolley and other public transportation (a lot of tourist use this to get around). But if u are planning to go to downtown, you can forget about it. But this might change, giving the timeline of our commuter rail.

Idrive politic is way more complicated than anything else, Disney vs everybody and hotels vs local. If the HSR gonna lower the profits of the hotels, you can be assured that Rosen will kill the HSR.

If Disney have to share it customers with other parks, they will just kill the HSR, which was happended back then before the HSR was strucked down by the voters.

Disney want the rail line to go directly from OIA to disney and Idrive business wants it to go to Idrive first.

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As of the most recent proposal (from 2004) Disney is out of the question. The line would follow I-4 and split to the Airport and Intermodal Transportation Plaza planned for near I Drive and the convention center.

Disney was being uncooperative in the short run. I for one am OK with not having the line gping directly to Disney. Also, here is a map with travel times and sample fares (very reasonable if you ask me).

From www.floridabullettrain.com:

vision2.jpg

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I must said I am not very happy with this route even though it hits all the cities.

I think it should just be strictly about the big four. Orlando direct to Miami, Tampa to Orlando, Jax to Orlando. Then the rest can be done by commuter rail till more money are available.

It looks like a greyhound bus route that you have to stop in every place.

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I must said I am not very happy with this route even though it hits all the cities.

I think it should just be strictly about the big four. Orlando direct to Miami, Tampa to Orlando, Jax to Orlando. Then the rest can be done by commuter rail till more money are available.

It looks like a greyhound bus route that you have to stop in every place.

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I am fine with the stops except for the ones in the Greater Miami area. The West Palm, Ft. Lauderdale stops can easily be serviced by Tri-Rail, the HSR is overkill for an area that currently has passenger rail service, IMHO.

You can see that the lines are basically following the Interstate sytem. Tampa South goes on I-75 though to Miami, Tampa to Orlando goes on I-4, Orlando to Miami I-95, and Miami North I-95. When it is thought of that way it kind of makes sense to make stops in areas with more dense populations. With these routes it would be more likely to be used by locals as well as tourists., IMO.

Steve

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How come the HSR is so slow?

Do we define HSR's speed differently from Japan or China?

Ok I am going to answer my own question

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from High speed rail)

High-speed rail is public transport by rail at speeds in excess of 200 km/h (124 mph).

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It is not really that slow, it just depends on the route you are looking at. From Tampa to Ft. Myers it is only 1hr 7min, I know that for me to drive that distance it would be at least 2 hrs. Same thing goes for Tampa to Miami, that is just under 3hrs, I can drive it in about 5, so that is quite a time saver. Orlando to Tampa, well that is not that bad either. Remember, on this route that Orlando station is starting from the airport and goint to DT Tampa, not just the city limits. That ride is at about 1.5 hours depending on traffic.

From ORL International airport to DT Tampa is about 85 miles, that would make the average speed about 150MPH, far faster than a car, and that includes the stop time in Lakeland.

Steve

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Cool map there tampasteve, I've never seen that one before. I do have to call into question extending the line across TPA Bay to St. Pete and also that it shows the line going onto the Cape instead of remaining on the mainland in Brevard like the tracks do now.

I know the Northern leg up here will be the last part built, but w/G'ville and Tally's student populations plus w/all the in state traffic up here b/c of the Capitol, I believe it will be heavily used. It shows a trip from Tally to Jax in 1.5 hours. It takes me 2.5 to do that in a car from downtown to downtown.

Every city and region is gonna want a piece of this action. Limiting the stops and letting regional transit take over the gaps is the key IMHO to success.

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While the map shows the tracks going across Tampa Bay into St. Pete, that is not really part of the inital plan (maybe down the road though). The Tampa station is going to be either in DT Tampa, or at the I-4/I-75 interchange area (it depends if you are looking at the DOT or FHRA plans which have been developed independantly). It is more likely that at some point in the near future Tampa and St. Pete would agree on a transit option across the bay. There has been talk of a commuter rail line that would go from St. Pete up to Clearwater and then back down into DT Tampa, but that would be a long way around to get the the HSR station from St. Pete.

As for the Cape, well, I can only go by the map with my limited knowledge of that area! :) Any input from others around that part of the state would be appreciated though! :)

Steve

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Is that the route used by Amtrak and the freight companies? If so it could not be used, though perhapse the ROW could with some re-working. Regular rail and HSR cannot use the same system.

This does bring up an interseting point though. When the whole system is complete, including the Jacksonville-Orlando, MIA-ORL, and ORL-TPA routes, will Amtrak stop running on those routes? I could see a scenario where Amtrak runs to the border with GA, but stops there. It kind of makes sense, why take a old train when there is a much faster train on dedicated tracking available?

Steve

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Maybe I am reinventing the wheel here, but isn't there a line that runs pretty mush straight from Palm Beach to Lakeland, and doesn't go through much developed area? Sure it's one track, but it's not like it is landlocked by much, and it seems a lot more efficient, logical route from Miami to Orlando, no?
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MARTA is heavy rail transit - the same thing as subways (though, subways can be LRT as well). Actually, MARTA is a subway in some parts of the lines.

The system in Orlando and the current Tri-Rail is Commuter rail, that is , diesel locomotives that pull train sets. Gernerally there is a seperate locomotive, like in Tri-Rail, but they can be locomotive/passenger combined cars as well.

As for using the Talgo train sets...that is a cool idea, but part of the main problem with Amtrak right now is that it share the tracks with freight, and freight always has the ROW. If that were reversed even Amtrak would be OK. Also, most Amtrak trains can (but rarely, if ever, do) exceed speeds of 90 MPH, again, the main problem is not having ROW and not many scheduled stops being as they are only long distance trains and not local to Florida.

Steve

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