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Southern High-Speed Rail


richyb83

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Will the stimulus $$money$$ make this possible?? And speed up this project?? Can this really happen??

Legislature gets up to speed on rapid rail

High-speed rail along the corridor is suddenly clipping along. On Monday morning, the Southern High-Speed Rail Commission

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People can always take cars on these routes however it is possible to start train service that will be adopted by people. The NCDOT about 12 year ago decided to purchase its own trains and setup daily train service between Charlotte and Raleigh. (about 180 miles) The trains also stop at many of the smaller towns between them which would not have train service otherwise. This is standard speed train service, but this route will eventually become part of the SEHSR line. The service has become popular with people who don't want to drive, or can't afford alternatives and as a result, carries 100s of people/day. It's been good for the elderly and students going to the many colleges on this route.

Most importantly, it has been operating with a profit for much of its history. It also has the other advantage of helping to bring a downtown revival to many of these towns which have built new train stations to accommodate the service.

toppiedmont.jpg

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Monsoon...Thanks for the visit to the BR Forums with the info/sites :thumbsup:

The irony with the Piedmont track map you posted above... our LSU Tigers face the powerful UNC Tar Heels in Greensboro in only an hour 1/2 for some MARCH MADNESS!!!

Yes indeed!! Love BR's Southern location between Mighty Houston, NOLA, Biloxi/Mobile (Gulf Shores Beaches); then hook it up to Atlanta/Charlotte, East Coast Greenway up to DC/Baltimore, Philly and NYC!!!

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This is not the Southern High-Speed Rail; but the BR-NOLA Connection; can't blame most of the people (64%) for not thinking this happens in the next 10 years; but we do need to try to get rid of that old way of thinking.

Poll: Few see high-speed rail running by 2019

The majority of people who responded to a Daily Report survey say they don't expect to see a high-speed rail connection between Baton Rouge and New Orleans anytime soon. 64 % percent of people who responded to the online poll say they don't think the rail line will be operating by 2019. 16 % percent say work will have started on the rail connection in the next 10 years, while 13% say the service will be operating. More than 1,750 people participated in the survey. Officials are trying to tap into $8 billion in federal stimulus money to build a high-speed rail connection between the two cities.

http://www.businessreport.com/archives/daily-report/latest/

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I hate to say it, but that "old way of thinking" has held BR down for a long time now. I really like Kip Holden for his aggressive approach to trying to get the city to be just what it's supposed to be "It's own City". I talk with people all the time who say "we don't need that", and I think, we need everything good we can get! From the Loop to Highrise residential Downtown, we need that! I'm sick of people saying BR is an overgrown Hammond! With Audubon Alive and other projects Downtown, we could finally be established!

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The problem with the entire railroad industry is the railroad industry itself.

The public owns the roadways in this country, but most of the railroad tracks are owned by the freight companies, who leases them out to Amtrak and other freight carriers. There is absolutely no drive to improve the tracks, since they are perfect for the freight industry.

The most successful passenger rails are on an entirely new set of tracks. The only inter-city transits that are on time in this country is when neighboring cities develop their passenger rail towards each other and inter-connect them.

And you have to convince people that a passenger rail is the answer, or they won't vote for a tax....and good luck getting anyone to vote for a gas tax (which we desperately need despite higher fuel prices), especially one that funds passenger rail.

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  • 3 months later...

This poll was in BusinessReport today...over 1,300 responses

What should the state do with its share of federal money for high-speed rail?

21% * Use it to tie into plans for a national rail network

49% * Use it to build high-speed service between Baton Rouge and New Orleans

16% *Use it to upgrade railroad crossings across the state

7% *Reject the money

4% *Don't know

Here's the article from BusinessReport...

Economist: Louisiana should reject high-speed rail

A report being circulated by a New Orleans-based public policy group says the state should use its share of federal stimulus money earmarked for high-speed rail construction to upgrade existing railroad crossings. The Pelican Institute for Public Policy, a free market, small government think tank, says the high-speed rail construction being pushed by President Barack Obama won't reduce greenhouse gas emissions, relieve traffic congestion or benefit the average Louisiana resident.

Randal O'Toole, an economist with the libertarian leaning Cato Institute, says it would cost nearly $1 billion to upgrade 280 miles of Louisiana railroads in order to build a national high-speed rail network. "Louisiana can do many things to cost-effectively improve transportation networks in ways that save energy, reduce accidents, and cut toxic and greenhouse gas emissions," says O'Toole. "High-speed rail is not one of those things."

http://www.businessreport.com/archives/dai...09/jul/28/1105/

http://www.pelicaninstitute.org/files/pdf/...peed%20Rail.pdf

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I think the obvious choices for a station in Baton Rouge would be at or near where the North Blvd overpass has been built and near the Mall of Louisiana/Perkins Rowe.

The New Orleans/Baton Rouge rail has a lot more support than most think.

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I think the station would go a little further north near the DOTD Bldg; North Blvd overpass and Perkins Rd Overpass/Acadian Village could make for some nice transit-oriented villages on thru the Medical Corridor/Mall of La...connecting to Louie Armstrong Int'l and the CBD/Superdome in NOLA.

More studies?? Forget studies...let's get the ball rolling! I guess $money$ will always be the issue...

State studies BR-N.O. passenger rail

The state is working on plans to seek about $300 million from the federal government to launch passenger railroad service between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Similar proposals have failed, including two tries since Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005.

This plan faces major hurdles too. One is how the state would come up with $18 million per year to operate the rail service. However, top state officials contend that, in a best-case scenario, rail service between Baton Rouge and New Orleans could begin by 2013.

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I'm ready for this rail service to get going. Tired of all the studies. Only thing I don't like in the most recent article is the location on the BR Stops. I like to see the main station be downtown. I don't mind one @ the Mall of LA and Tanger, but I'm not happy with the line ending in the Perkins/Acadian area.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm tired of all the studies too Bryde...let's get this thing moving!!! Building a Gulf South High-Speed Rail(BR/NOLA/Houston/Mobile) could connect us to the rest of the country!!!

800pxhighspeedrail07092.jpg

Looks like it bypasses Baton Rouge on your map.....especially since they want to add the high speed hardware along existing lines, which also bypasses town in favor of Lafayette.

There needs to be a South East Louisiana rail authority or something to link downtown Baton Rouge with downtown New Orleans, the suburbs in between, and LSU. I can't count how many times we ended up leaving Pat O's in the quarter at 3AM and being WAY too drunk to drive home or to a friend's house in NOLA. New Orleans folks could attend LSU games not have to worry about parking.

The route planned (proposed) would include a stop at Acadian Thruway/Perkins (which in no way is a walkable neighborhood), Mall of LA/Perkins Rowe, Gonzales, and Downtown New Orleans. I don't know what's stopping them from going up to the North Blvd/Spanish Town Road area for another station or even out there by the Governor's Mansion.

Baton Rouge and New Orleans are already intertwined economically...much like San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose or Baltimore-DC

Over half of Louisiana is in this area, and it just seems logical to me to offer some kind of rail based transit (it can have it's own tracks and routes for all I care). After they figure that out, they should add an east-west line from Slidel to Baton Rouge with stops at Denham, Hammond, and Covington.

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Well, that stinks, it looks like they're trying to jip us again.

It's not personal, and I'm sure they realize the size of the market they are avoiding.....but there's three things at play here:

1. rail ways are not owned by the taxpayers unless it's a taxpayer funded transit system. Most of it is governed and maintained by the freight industry, which not only (unfairly) requires passenger rail to weigh as much as the freight trains, but also governs Amtrack's schedule and routes.

2. It cost $300,000,000 to cross this geological barrier we have in town called the Mississippi River, so it's doubtful that we'll see a "double up" on existing tracks. Also should point out that railways, unlike roadways, have to be more rigid. All the new bridges proposed in Louisiana (Audubon, both new Loop bridges in BR, etc) are cable stay systems similar to the one over Tampa Bay, so they would be incompatible with a rail system unless it's a smaller, lighter, passenger only system similar to the Houston Metro.

3. Louisiana is trying to get funding for a south east Louisiana rail system, starting with existing tracks btw Baton Rouge and New Orleans. It too, will have to share rail with the freight traffic (unless they double up). Given the amount of bridges and crossings btw BR and NOLA, it's unlikely that the proposed route will reach anywhere near the 110 mph "high speed" classification for most of the trip. This system could spawn other rail links in the area.

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I think I see what you are talking about cajun...I'm trying to bust my eye-balls to see this map...it's really not all that detailed...it looks like it could skip BR; but another look sees it making it to BR; then dropping down to NOLA. Barriers like the Mighty Mississip & Atchafaylaya Basin could cause reason??...Good point with the new Tampa-style bridges

I like the idea tying BR-Line to Denham Springs/Hammond/Covington/Slidell...and hope we get at least a BR to NOLA line...if the "main" line would skip BR..a trip West would have to back track to NOLA just to get to Houston; that would not be cool... <_<

800pxhighspeedrail07092.jpg

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