As reported in the Chicago Tibune, the Midwest High Speed Rail Association suggests a 220-mph HSR link could be built between Chicago and St Louis for a little over $11 billion. Unfortunately this price does not include trainsets or maintenance facilities.
On a more positive note, if the ROW could be built, it might be possible to initiate 150-mph service using trainset technology that is decades old and proven by millions of miles of service. It might even be possible to buy used TGV trainsets as France upgrades to faster AGV service. Admittedly, deciding whether new equipment, or used French equipment would be harder for Americans to keep running would be a tough call.
Putting this on the table is a smart move by the Midwest High Speed Rail Association. The California HSR did not just happen- it was studied, and brought forward in a number of legislative initiatives which aired the project thoroughly in hundreds of hours of legislative hearings. Almost all of the initial environmental study work, which can take years, is done. The CAHSR is based in an appropriate time period for forecasting demographics, several decades into the future, just as the BART was planned to serve the Bay Area for at least a century.
We’ve all watched while Wiley Coyote runs off the cliff, but doesn’t fall- until he looks down. That’s our up-to-date 21st century transportation system- cars and planes just waiting for the price of fuel to triple if you can get it… When gas-guzzling commuter planes are not-rusting in some Nevada desert parking lot, the cities with HSR are going to look pretty good.
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