A better model for US rail transit?

Trakar

VIP Member
Feb 28, 2011
1,699
73
83
"Rail integrated communities in Tokyo,"
The Journal of Transport and Land Use,
vol 5, no. 1 (Spring 2012), pp. 19-32,
doi: 10.5198/jtlu.v5i1.280.

In reference to Tokyo's private railway lines:
Government regulation of fares coupled with limited subsidies for railway operations pushed the private railways to innovate and diversify into a wide variety of related businesses, most notably real estate. Due to their long-term interest in the communities they built along their rail lines, the private railways provided valuable social benefits through public transportation while still pursuing profits. High quality, frequent rail service to dense, mixed-use, safe, pedestrian-friendly developments has allowed Tokyo to achieve enviable rates of public transit usage and given Tokyoites the freedom to view automobile ownership as a lifestyle choice rather than a necessity.

The report talks about Tokyo's private rail systems that employ what are known as "rail-integrated communities." The concept involves developing communities around each of the major rail stations, walkable, mixed-use central zones with a heavy commercial/retail almost mall-like/urban "vibrancy." This is the type of setting that turns riders into customers. It is an interesting private-rail model that U.S. rail companies might one day adopt as a guide toward producing a profitable private or quasi-public rail-transit system.
 
  • Thanks
Reactions: del
We need an improved railway system. The high speed rail system that was passed would be so beneficial to American transit. Chicago to St. Louis in a 2 hour train ride? Absolutely amazing. The problem is conservatives saying we don't need to build yet how did we build the interstate system? Through government involvement. To make travel quicker and more affordable, we need to make investments in necessary infrastructure.
 
You can fly round trip from Los Angeles to Las Vegas for $98 on Spirit Air and the trip takes an hour

why do we need a fucking choo choo?
 
The transit system in nyc is run by Democrats and unions so they leased prime retail space at Grand Central Station to Apple for less than half, probably 1/3, of what a landlord across the street would have charged, and they're proud of their total fuck up.

The Commuter rail I ride has half the seats facing the wrong way 100% of the time because the union workers are too fucking stupid and lazy to be trusted with making sure the train cars face forward.

The station I board, White Plains is a total fucking disgrace. Nevermind the stairway smells like piss, there is one crappy coffee shop and 1 newspaper stand serving 50,000 commuters daily. None of the a name franchise either, its a license to steal.

There is no WiFi service on the train, you have 4 dead spots between the station and Grand Central.

That's a Democrat government run/Union labor rail system for you.
 
The biggest problem with rail travel in the U.S. is the expansiveness of our country. It seems to me that the most successful rail systems are in countries with little land mass. Unless you want to include countries with an impoverished populace...
 
We need an improved railway system. The high speed rail system that was passed would be so beneficial to American transit. Chicago to St. Louis in a 2 hour train ride? Absolutely amazing. The problem is conservatives saying we don't need to build yet how did we build the interstate system? Through government involvement. To make travel quicker and more affordable, we need to make investments in necessary infrastructure.

This system is more of a local/regional type of rail system connecting suburban and outlying fringe townships with a larger central metropolis. Presumably systems could be expanded to connect these larger metropolis areas together into regional networks and perhaps eventually we could get these regional networks connected by high-speed runs that would eventually allow cheap transit of both passengers and cargo.
 
The Disney types have always been romanticized by these rail systems!!!

Like I always say...........these same people factor the "costs" into these discussions like they are some kind of an afterthought!~!!~!:coffee:
 
The Disney types have always been romanticized by these rail systems!!!

Like I always say...........these same people factor the "costs" into these discussions like they are some kind of an afterthought!~!!~!:coffee:

If cost doesn't matter anymore. Why not build a bullet train that can go 600 mph between LA and New york? :eusa_boohoo: Another that goes between LA and SF and another that goes from New york to Chicago?

Or better yet how about 5,000 mph?
Vactrain - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Anything less and I'll oppose it as it will suck!
 
Last edited:
Hell, if cost doesn't matter why not build a real Vactrain between LA and New york? faster then the plane by far. Heres the deal I'll support the construction of the Vactrain out of the fact that it is very cool and I love this kind of stuff. I won't support a slow train.

There would be tens of thousands of jobs from building such a mammoth project.
 
Last edited:
Mira mami, no cabras o pollos tambien !
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPuP_HY_1O8&feature=related]Metrô de São Paulo/Brasil - Subway of São Paulo/Brazil - YouTube[/ame]
 
Or better yet

A 600 MPH Maglev Train! What Will China Think Up Next? – AltTransport: Your Guide to Smarter Ways of Getting Around


A 600 MPH Maglev Train! What Will China Think Up Next?
by Chikodi Chimaon Thursday, August 5, 2010 at 6:24 PM

While China may hold $867 billion in U.S. government debt, they also own the road when it comes to futuristic transportation design. The latest example is a new Magnetic Levitation train being designed at Southwest Jiaotong University capable of travel up to 600 miles per hour. Researchers believe it could be built within 10 years.

Maglev trains are smaller than conventional trains and they hover over positively charged electric coils in a suspended trackbed that repel magnets under the body of the train. Pulses of electricity propel the train forward at much higher speeds than those that run on tracks because there is no friction from wheels making contact with the steel rails.

To increase speeds, the Chinese prototype would be built within a vacuum tube underground to eliminate friction and wind resistance. Best of all, the system would only cost about $3 million more permile than conventional high speed rail, according to Shen Zhiyun, a member of the research team.

MagLev.jpg
 
Hell, if cost doesn't matter why not build a real Vactrain between LA and New york? faster then the plane by far. Heres the deal I'll support the construction of the Vactrain out of the fact that it is very cool and I love this kind of stuff. I won't support a slow train.

There would be tens of thousands of jobs from building such a mammoth project.


How much will it cost to build, how much would a ticket cost from LA to NY cost, how many stops are their going to be along the way, will it carry both passengers and cargo?
 
Hell, if cost doesn't matter why not build a real Vactrain between LA and New york? faster then the plane by far. Heres the deal I'll support the construction of the Vactrain out of the fact that it is very cool and I love this kind of stuff. I won't support a slow train.

There would be tens of thousands of jobs from building such a mammoth project.


How much will it cost to build, how much would a ticket cost from LA to NY cost, how many stops are their going to be along the way, will it carry both passengers and cargo?

Vactrain - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
So old rocks or trakar what do you think of building the Vactrain?

I have no real druthers in this area, vac trains seem like a lot of investment for not much payoff. Largely irrelevent to this thread.
 
So old rocks or trakar what do you think of building the Vactrain?

I have no real druthers in this area, vac trains seem like a lot of investment for not much payoff. Largely irrelevent to this thread.


Also largely irrelevant to the environmental radicals who love this stuff?



Cost...................

..............................

....................................


...................................



..........................:blowup:
 
Last edited:

New Topics

Forum List

Back
Top