U.S. DOT High-Speed Rail Strategic Plan

Here's a link to the just released U.S. Department of Transportation strategic plan for high-speed rail:
http://www.fra.dot.gov/us/content/31

Looks like great news!

Thanks for that linkage.

I printed the pdf documents for a friend who doesn't have a computer.

I should note; when printing the route map, I had to reduce the size to 25% (in the print setup menu) to make it fit the sheet of paper.

I had an idea this was coming. This morning on the radio, the term "Railfan" was used. As in "....America's number one railfan, Joe Biden...".

110mph is 'high speed'?

Everywhere else, that's 'conventional speed, circa 1985'

Nasadowsk wrote:110mph is 'high speed'?

Everywhere else, that's 'conventional speed, circa 1985'

I agree, look at what other countries have come up with. 200mph+ is about the norm. I do have to give the government some credit though. It's about time the US came up with some kind of high speed transportation system, I just hope the individual states don' t cause troubles with the plan.

As far as the quote that Hotbike heard about Biden being a railfan, I'd be interested to see if Biden knows the difference between an F7 and a Dash 9.

As far as the quote that Hotbike heard about Biden being a railfan, I'd be interested to see if Biden knows the difference between an F7 and a Dash 9.

There are other ways of being interested in railways. I have almost no interest in locomotives and just assume they do what they are supposed to do. When riding I prefer electric to diesel, and hate riding in a diesel over electrified track. I do have interest in the ease of use for the passenger, suitability of the timetable. Passenger comfort is important also but the exact nature of the carriages doesn't interest me much, either.

george matthews wrote:

As far as the quote that Hotbike heard about Biden being a railfan, I'd be interested to see if Biden knows the difference between an F7 and a Dash 9.

There are other ways of being interested in railways. I have almost no interest in locomotives and just assume they do what they are supposed to do. When riding I prefer electric to diesel, and hate riding in a diesel over electrified track. I do have interest in the ease of use for the passenger, suitability of the timetable. Passenger comfort is important also but the exact nature of the carriages doesn't interest me much, either.

Likewise. I find signalling and safety, and timetables, fascinating, as well as matters of clearances (loading gauge, etc.) and standardization (boarding level, etc.); I find right-of-way acquisition and junctions fascinating; I also find the problem of maximizing farebox recovery and efficient equipment utilization interesting. The different acceleration profiles and cost to run of EMUs, DMUs, electric locos, and diesel locos are about all I find interesting about them (because it affects the topics I actually care about).