electricron wrote:It's about time to add to the discussion changing it slightly.
Let's assume there are no existing long distance trains, and Amtrak had to start providing the service this year. Let's also assume Amtrak can access any train corridor. Let's also assume the existing regional trains receiving subsidies exist. Where would you run long distance trains today, and the logic behind your ideas.
I had mentioned I wanted to redo the Amtrak LD map so here goes:
Models:
California Rail Map:
https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~atwu/maps ... -02-03.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
America 2050:
http://www.america2050.org/pdf/2050_Map ... etwork.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
US High Speed Rail Association:
http://www.ushsr.com/ushsrmap.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Main Lines:
Stage 1:
Blue Line: Boston - Providence - New Haven - New York - Newark - Trenton - Philadelphia - Wilmington - Baltimore - Washington - Richmond - Raleigh - Greensboro - Charlotte - Greenville - Atlanta - Savannah - Jacksonville - Orlando - Kissimmee - Tampa - West Palm Beach - Miami (Through Cars Newport News - Williamsburg - Richmond to Washington/New York, Through Cars Raleigh - Fayetteville - Charleston - Savannah, can go either north or south)
Red Line: New York - Newark - Trenton - Philadelphia - Lancaster - Harrisburg - Pittsburgh - Cleveland - Toledo - Detroit - Ann Arbor - Kalamazoo - Chicago (Through Cars Washington - Baltimore - Philadelphia to Chicago)
This gives Northeast-Florida/Southeast and Northeast-Chicago/Midwest and hopefully uses Amtrak owned routes along the NEC, Keystone, and Michigan.
Stage 2:
Green Line: Seattle - Portland - Eugene - Sacramento - San Jose - San Luis Obispo - Santa Barbara - Los Angeles - Anaheim - San Diego (Through Cars Reno - Sacramento to Los Angeles/San Diego)
Yellow Line: Chicago - Springfield - St. Louis - Kansas City - Tulsa - Oklahoma City - Dallas - Austin - San Antonio (Through Cars Houston - Dallas to Chicago)
Orange Line: Chicago - Des Moines - Omaha - Denver - Salt Lake City - Las Vegas - Los Angeles
This fills out the western side of the country.
Stage 3:
Pink Line: Boston - Springfield - Albany - Syracuse - Rochester - Buffalo - Cleveland - Columbus - Dayton - Cincinnati - Indianapolis - Chicago (Through Cars New York - Albany to Chicago)
Gold Line: San Francisco - San Jose - San Luis Obispo - Santa Barbara - Los Angeles - Phoenix - Tucson - El Paso - San Antonio - Dallas
Silver Line: Miami - Orlando - Tallahassee - Mobile - New Orleans - Houston - San Antonio (Through Cars Atlanta - Birmingham - New Orleans to Texas)
Purple Line: Minneapolis - Milwaukee - Chicago - Indianapolis - Louisville - Nashville - Chattanooga - Atlanta
Brown Line: Chicago - Champaign - Memphis - Jackson - New Orleans (Through Cars Dallas - Little Rock - Memphis to Chicago)
This fills in a lot of the missing major markets.
A few cities would gain Amtrak LD service (in some cases, service period). The Gold and Silver lines would improve travel in the South. California and Texas would be linked as would Texas and Florida (California to Florida would require one transfer in San Antonio between the Gold and Silver). The Gold Line would originate in San Francisco so the city can be served without detouring the Green Line. It also allows two separate trains from Northern California to Southern California.