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One Proposal For Amtrak Bullet Train Route: Under Long Island Sound
Hartford Courant ^ | 5:01 p.m. EDT, September 3, 2012 | Don Stacom

Posted on 09/20/2012 6:53:39 PM PDT by Olog-hai

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To: Daffynition

I actually like busways, since they can shift routes when demand changes, and use existing concrete, at least on some of the routes. And they’re much cheaper.

Having said that, they still MUST be funded locally, just to keep the crap you’re talking about from getting out of control.


21 posted on 09/20/2012 8:02:31 PM PDT by BobL (You can live each day only once. You can waste a few, but don't waste too many.)
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To: BobL

This busway is between Hartford [the Capital] and New Britain. *Back in the day when New Britain was the *Hardware Capital of the World....people came from everywhere to work in the factories. Presently, poor old New Britain is a wasteland of crime and drugs. No one would go there for any reason [except maybe the Museum of American Art]. Hartford in a ghost town too....sadly companies are leaving there in droves. So since there are no jobs/industry, I see no reason for anyone to commute to either destination.

It’s such a waste....especially since our state and nation is in such debt.


22 posted on 09/20/2012 8:11:23 PM PDT by Daffynition (Our forefathers would be shooting by now.)
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To: BobL

23 posted on 09/20/2012 8:13:42 PM PDT by Daffynition (Our forefathers would be shooting by now.)
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To: Daffynition

Of course...that’s why they had to go to Washington. Like I said, I like busways (versus other ideas), but not when they have to run to DC to get their money.


24 posted on 09/20/2012 8:17:26 PM PDT by BobL (You can live each day only once. You can waste a few, but don't waste too many.)
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and that's just for starters...

25 posted on 09/20/2012 8:23:35 PM PDT by Chode (American Hedonist - *DTOM* -ww- NO Pity for the LAZY)
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To: Fester Chugabrew
The NE Corridor.... How about doing something about the 8-10 hour trip on Amtrak from Charlotte to Washington????.. Crap they were doing that route in the ‘40’s at 90 mph WITH STEAM LOCO’s
26 posted on 09/20/2012 9:42:48 PM PDT by Robe (Rome did not create a great empire by talking, they did it by killing all those who opposed them)
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To: Fester Chugabrew

Hey!what the hell.If Massachussets can waste billions of dollars on the big dig,Why can’t Connecticut?

Seriously though.They claim they need high speed rail because the population of the Northeast corridor is growing.

I just read a report yesterday that the population in the northeast is dropping because people are fleeing to the south where there is a much better economy.

Which is not now?


27 posted on 09/21/2012 3:27:51 AM PDT by puppypusher (The World is going to the dogs.)
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To: puppypusher
Hey!what the hell.If Massachusetts can waste billions of dollars on the big dig,Why can’t Connecticut?

You've got a lot of nerve criticizing our wonderful Big Dig.As Mike Dukakis would say...."good jobs at good wages".Why,those billions of dollars now allow folks driving from Boston's western suburbs to get to Logan Airport 3 minutes faster than before!

On a *good* day.

28 posted on 09/21/2012 6:26:10 AM PDT by Gay State Conservative (If Obama's Reelected Imagine The Mess He'll Inherit!)
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To: BobL

What are busways much cheaper than . . . ? The New Britain–Hartford one is costing $63 million per mile, which is way more than a lot of equivalent rail projects. Would you feel safe going at 80-90 mph on a roadway, even a dedicated roadway, in a bus? Then there’s winter cleanup to worry about; with railroads, that’s somewhat less of a problem since trains can push a light-enough covering of snow off the tracks, but on a busway you’re going to need snow plows and salt trucks.


29 posted on 09/21/2012 11:11:02 AM PDT by Olog-hai
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To: Robe
Well, since those rails are privately owned, the federal government has to regulate the owners to death. 90 mph with semaphore signals (as in the past) won’t cut it by the FRA; they require Class 5 track, cab signaling systems and automatic train stop systems to even allow a passenger train to run at 90 mph. (See why private companies have no incentive to run passenger service anymore? and that’s aside from the taxation they once had to face, which even back in the early 20th century when railroads were more dominant ate into their bottom line to a huge degree.)
30 posted on 09/21/2012 11:17:19 AM PDT by Olog-hai
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To: BobL

I’m voting for Ryan, NOT ROMNEY.


31 posted on 09/21/2012 5:01:19 PM PDT by 4Liberty (Some on our "Roads & Bridges" head to the beach. Others head to their offices, farms, libraries....)
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To: Olog-hai

The New Britain–Hartford one is costing $63 million per mile, which is way more than a lot of equivalent rail projects.”

Name one...within the past decade.


32 posted on 09/21/2012 8:33:02 PM PDT by BobL (You can live each day only once. You can waste a few, but don't waste too many.)
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To: BobL

33 posted on 09/21/2012 8:40:49 PM PDT by Daffynition (Our forefathers would be shooting by now.)
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To: BobL

Now just what do you mean by that question?

NJ Transit’s River Line (diesel light rail) is 34 miles long on one of the country’s oldest railroads (the Camden and Amboy), and it cost $32 million per mile, which is itself a lot of dough for rebuilding an existing railroad—but it is half the cost per unit length of this BRT corridor.

I don’t know if you’re trying to justify spending on BRT, but I suggest that we all avoid playing politicians’ games ourselves.


34 posted on 09/21/2012 9:18:14 PM PDT by Olog-hai
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To: Olog-hai

“NJ Transit’s River Line (diesel light rail) is 34 miles long on one of the country’s oldest railroads”

“the Camden and Amboy”

Yea, I’m sure there are a whole hell of a lot of commuters on that route. Yea, if you into connecting RUST BELT cities and places, you can do that very cheaply, simply because the ROWs are there and no one wants to get near them.

The idea isn’t to build a transit system in a location because it happens to be cheap there (like Camden, LOL), it’s to build it where there is DEMAND. Sorry if that confuses you.


35 posted on 09/22/2012 7:55:04 AM PDT by BobL (You can live each day only once. You can waste a few, but don't waste too many.)
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To: BobL
You are not making sense, WADR. Camden is right across the river from Philadelphia, which is a significantly larger city than Hartford UIGM (over ten times the population); a significant chunk of the ridership transfers to/from PATCO, which goes to Center City.

And this is the first time I have heard of Philadelphia (and New Jersey) as being part of the “Rust Belt”.

Since CTfasttrak (the new name for the busway being discussed here) is being built on an old railroad right of way, the capital costs are incredibly high. And since there are eleven stations planned on the approximately 9½-mile route, expect average speeds to be remarkably low.
36 posted on 09/22/2012 11:33:54 AM PDT by Olog-hai
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To: Olog-hai

Oakland is right across the bay from San Francisco. Haiti is right across the border from the Dominican Republic. Juarez is right across the border from El Paso.

You’re welcome to dump people off in Camden in the hope that they will find their way to Phili, just PAY FOR THAT CRAP YOURSELF.


37 posted on 09/22/2012 11:50:00 AM PDT by BobL (You can live each day only once. You can waste a few, but don't waste too many.)
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To: BobL

The River Line received no federal funding, as bad as I believe the spending and execution to be. Nor did it get any funds from Pennsylvania. By contrast, CTfastrak is getting two thirds of its funds from the federal government, which means you ain’t paying for it yourself, to use a turn of a phrase.


38 posted on 09/22/2012 12:03:25 PM PDT by Olog-hai
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