High speed rail in the United States is off to a clumsy start. After the Obama administration announced it would be dolling out billions of dollars to high speed rail projects around the country, states started putting together project proposals and the like to get their cut of the funding. Then the numbers came in; California would get a lion’s share of the money, followed by the MidWest, Florida, Texas, and the Northeast.
Unfortunately it looks like the most “shovel ready” of the HSR projects, the proposed line between Tampa and Orlando, is already running into problems. For one, it wouldn’t make the commute between the two cities all that much shorter… so why bother?
The Tampa-Orlando line has been in the planning stages for years, and most of the land needed for the project has already been purchased. But on a good day, the drive between Orlando and Tampa is about 90 minutes, according to the New York Times. Having never made the journey, I can’t comment on the drive, the traffic, or the roads. But it does seem kind of silly to place a multi-billion dollar rail project between two cities that aren’t all that far apart to begin with. The train between the two cities would have five stops, travelling at a maximum velocity of 168 mph. But because of all the stops, it would only shave about half an hour off of the commute by car, with the added benefit of leaving you at the mercy of the local public transportation system when you get there.
Furthermore, while 168 mph seems fast… it really isn’t compared to the rest of the world’s HSR. China and Europe’s HSR trains regularly top 180 mph. The 600 mile trip between the Chinese cities of Guangzhou and Wuhan takes just three hours… three hours! Now THAT is high speed rail.
The proposed Orlando-Tampa line is supposed to be a showcase for HSR in the US… but we already have that in the Acela in the Northeast Corridor. That train takes 6.5 hours to make a 457 mile journey between Washington D.C. and Boston, and Amtrak estimates it would take $10 billion to shave just an hour off of that trip. Granted, there are a lot of stops along the way. But the Orlando-Tampa line is estimated to draw just 11% of the 4.5 million drivers between the two cities annually off the roads by 2015, when the project is completed. That won’t do much to affect the traffic congestion, and neither city is known for its exceptional public transportation systems.
The money for these projects is spread too thin. I’m starting to get the feeling instead of a world-class high speed rail system, we’ll be left with a bunch of half-finished projects and unfulfilled visions. But maybe this project can still be saved… if we take the money back that we gave to California. It’s not like they can afford to finish the project on their own anyways… so why bother starting it?
Sorry Cali… but I hear you can get electric motorcycles for cheap!
Source: The New York Times | Climate Progress | Image: Department of Transportation
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About Christopher DeMorro
i live in orlando(east orlando) to be specific and have driven the i-4 corridor often. Tampa and Orlando really arent that far away, about 90miles. the proposed route of the rail is going to have a stop in Tampa, in lakeland(40miles),disney and orange county convention center, and end at Orlando International Airport. between tampa and lakeland area it wont save much time, but once you get into the outskirts of Orlando, and up near Disney, Universal, Seaworld, and all the other attractions tourist help clog the roadways. Traffic backs up fueled by out of towners not knowing where to go. this is where the rail will help.Also by connecting to the airport, people flying out often come from around the state. By being able to connect to the airport from tampa or one of the other stops will save on parking fees, and eliminate the need to worry about how the traffic is on i4 that day.
the high speed rail is being built in conjunction of a commuter rail around orlando that pairs with the lynx bus system of central florida.state officials are also planning on connecting Miami/south florida by rail with jacksonville and orlando. allowing people from tampa to travel by highspeed rail to miami.
Although any rail either in Orlando or California may not solve all problems, its a step in the right direction
i live in orlando(east orlando) to be specific and have driven the i-4 corridor often. Tampa and Orlando really arent that far away, about 90miles. the proposed route of the rail is going to have a stop in Tampa, in lakeland(40miles),disney and orange county convention center, and end at Orlando International Airport. between tampa and lakeland area it wont save much time, but once you get into the outskirts of Orlando, and up near Disney, Universal, Seaworld, and all the other attractions tourist help clog the roadways. Traffic backs up fueled by out of towners not knowing where to go. this is where the rail will help.Also by connecting to the airport, people flying out often come from around the state. By being able to connect to the airport from tampa or one of the other stops will save on parking fees, and eliminate the need to worry about how the traffic is on i4 that day.
the high speed rail is being built in conjunction of a commuter rail around orlando that pairs with the lynx bus system of central florida.state officials are also planning on connecting Miami/south florida by rail with jacksonville and orlando. allowing people from tampa to travel by highspeed rail to miami.
Although any rail either in Orlando or California may not solve all problems, its a step in the right direction
What California really needs is a high-speed rail between LA, IE and ‘Vegas. That would cut a huge amount of traffic and save a lot of lives.
What California really needs is a high-speed rail between LA, IE and ‘Vegas. That would cut a huge amount of traffic and save a lot of lives.
what would make sense would be if the high speed rail stopped at the VA hospital in Tampa. Help some of our senior vets and those without transport get the medical care they need. I know Orlando will be getting a VA hospital some time soon, but the medical center in Tampa (as well as the USF med school) really needs to be included on any high rail system.
what would make sense would be if the high speed rail stopped at the VA hospital in Tampa. Help some of our senior vets and those without transport get the medical care they need. I know Orlando will be getting a VA hospital some time soon, but the medical center in Tampa (as well as the USF med school) really needs to be included on any high rail system.
5 stops in such a small area seems completely pointless. It sounds like central florida needs to build an independent rail system. I wonder how many other areas are trying to use this high speed rail system as a means of solving their local transportation issues.
5 stops in such a small area seems completely pointless. It sounds like central florida needs to build an independent rail system. I wonder how many other areas are trying to use this high speed rail system as a means of solving their local transportation issues.
Or we could teach people to drive and use the Interstate Highways art the speed that they were designed to handle.
A high speed train only makes sense if it is started from a new idea. Make the track width at least 8 feet. This would allow the suspension and power components to be located very low and the whole train could be lowered for better aerodynamics, and better safety. If the distance between stops is less than one hundred miles the funds are most likely wasted. The only exception to this would be a dedicated line between two commerce centers.
Or we could teach people to drive and use the Interstate Highways art the speed that they were designed to handle.
A high speed train only makes sense if it is started from a new idea. Make the track width at least 8 feet. This would allow the suspension and power components to be located very low and the whole train could be lowered for better aerodynamics, and better safety. If the distance between stops is less than one hundred miles the funds are most likely wasted. The only exception to this would be a dedicated line between two commerce centers.
I believe that studies show that you cannot build enough lanes on the heavily traveled, south Florida, east coast corridor to accommodate the anticipated traffic. The sooner we start building rail for this, and other, overloaded corridors, the better. We might, also, look at a pneumatic system for moving freight that was developed and initial tested at Georgia Tech in the 60′s.
I believe that studies show that you cannot build enough lanes on the heavily traveled, south Florida, east coast corridor to accommodate the anticipated traffic. The sooner we start building rail for this, and other, overloaded corridors, the better. We might, also, look at a pneumatic system for moving freight that was developed and initial tested at Georgia Tech in the 60′s.
As an American I find it embarrassing to be so far behind the rest of the world in rail transportation. Having said that we are in a position to evaluate all that has been done and devise a system that is better than all that came before us.
I have placed myself in support of American technology Maglev, but that is me. Objectively we must demonstrate and test our systems and let the best available technology prevail. For speed efficiency, comfort, low cost maintenance Maglev will win, but I believe American Maglev has advantages over all the rest. But let’s see. Maglev was invented on Long Island, shouldn’t we know more than anybody else about this modern marvel? see magneticglide.com
As an American I find it embarrassing to be so far behind the rest of the world in rail transportation. Having said that we are in a position to evaluate all that has been done and devise a system that is better than all that came before us.
I have placed myself in support of American technology Maglev, but that is me. Objectively we must demonstrate and test our systems and let the best available technology prevail. For speed efficiency, comfort, low cost maintenance Maglev will win, but I believe American Maglev has advantages over all the rest. But let’s see. Maglev was invented on Long Island, shouldn’t we know more than anybody else about this modern marvel? see magneticglide.com
I’ve driven I-4 between Tampa and Orlando countless times. It doesn’t make too much sense for there to be a high-speed rail line through this corridor. What Tampa certainly does need is a thorough light-rail and, perhaps, street-car system for it’s metro area and city core, respectively.
I’ve driven I-4 between Tampa and Orlando countless times. It doesn’t make too much sense for there to be a high-speed rail line through this corridor. What Tampa certainly does need is a thorough light-rail and, perhaps, street-car system for it’s metro area and city core, respectively.
I’ll bet with all that money flying around, even if the half-assed projects get only half-assed done, there will be plenty of CEO’s being well paid.
I’ll bet with all that money flying around, even if the half-assed projects get only half-assed done, there will be plenty of CEO’s being well paid.
You’d get a lot more bang for the buck if you stick to HPR (High Performance Rail – 110 mph) on such a short route.
@Ernest, agreed. If you really want to go fast in short spurts, maglev is the way go. It accelerates quicker. The construction costs are about the same but the operating and maintenance costs for maglev are far lower.
You’d get a lot more bang for the buck if you stick to HPR (High Performance Rail – 110 mph) on such a short route.
@Ernest, agreed. If you really want to go fast in short spurts, maglev is the way go. It accelerates quicker. The construction costs are about the same but the operating and maintenance costs for maglev are far lower.
we need a test route and that route should be anaheim to las vegas .the feds own most of the desert,cost should be cheaper than any other route.
You could throw billions at any California project – *cough*newBayBridge*cough* and it would still take ten years longer than promised. The state is bottomless pit.
You could throw billions at any California project – *cough*newBayBridge*cough* and it would still take ten years longer than promised. The state is bottomless pit.