Thinking about a history of repeated near successes.
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Aaron is eating noodles on-air because he was busy farmingBeginnings
Passenger rail service started pretty much along with the first railroads in the 1830s, and grew to become the primary method of intercity travelBy 1916, 98% of all intercity travel was by rail, and passengers traveled 42 billion miles that year“High speed” rail first emerged in the 1930s, with the first diesel streamlined stainless steel trains, built by the Budd CompanyBurlington Zephyr, Pioneer Zephyr, California ZephyrService averaged around 80mph, and was fairly popular, but eventually suffered due to the Great DepressionHowever, passenger numbers recovered during WWII, when gas rationing made automobile travel less feasibleThe 79 mph rule
In 1946, two passenger trains collided, resulting in the death of 45 peopleOne train collide with another, stopped trainThe colliding train had passed a red stop signal, which the engineer said he had not seenAs a result of this disaster, the regulator of the railroads, the Interstate Commerce Commission, set up new regulations in response:Nationwide rail speed limits were imposed for the first timeAutomatic signalling was required on many linesSignals inside the cab (cab signalling) was required on any line that exceeded 79mphMany railroads, already struggling with infrastructure costs, did not want to pay to upgrade their equipmentAs a result, they all ran their trains at less than 79 mph to avoid needing to install new equipmentThis greatly reduced the competitiveness of passenger rail at a time when car ownership was skyrocketingEnter Shinkansen
In 1964, Japan Railways began service on the Shinkansen (new trunk line) from Tokyo to Shin-OsakaThis was the first system for dedicated high speed rail service in the worldTrains ran at speed of 130mph (210 km/h)The US responded to Shinkansen by deciding to spur HSR developmentThe HSGTA was passed in 1965Metroliner
The HSGTA provided for the development of high speed service along the existing Northwest Corridor line of the Pennsylvania Railroad from NYC to DCThis line had been electrified in the 1930s and was still a busy passenger lineEastern Air Line had also began an air shuttle service between the two cities in 1961, which became very popular*This service was named after the rolling stock that would be built for it: MetrolinersMetroliners were a project between the PRR, USDOT, and BuddMetroliners were advanced electric multiple unit trains designed for speeds of up to 150 mph (240 km/h)However, they were plagued with electrical issues, and despite deliveries beginning in 1967, they did not enter service until 1969By 1969, the PRR had merged with the NYC to form Penn Central, which operated the Metroliner serviceMetroliners continued to experience various problems throughout their service life and were limited to 120 mph, then 110, then 100 mph, never fully living up to the design promiseHowever, the Metroliner design was very popular and inspired new designs of passenger coaches that would eventually be used by Amtrak and many commuter rail servicesUAC TurboTrain
At the same time, the UAC was working on its own high speed train system, based on gas turbines derived from jet enginesThis would allow high speed operation on non-electrified lines, with the non-electrified portion of the NEC from New Haven to Boston in mind, as well as journeys from Chicago to points westThey were also some of the first tilting trains createdHowever, they were considered very noisy and rough, and were withdrawn from service in 1976 in the US, though they continued to be used in Canadian National’s Quebec-Toronto Corridor service from 1968 to 1982.Black Beetle
The New York Central also experimented with high speed trains in 1966They strapped two jet engines taken from a B-36 bomber to one of their Budd Rail Diesel Cars, number M-497, to create the Black Beetle, a jet-powered trainThis train set the current American rail speed record of 183 mphThe train was not considered economically feasible and was dismantled shortly afterFailure of Private Passenger Service
Compared to the 1918 high of 98% of all intercity travel, by 1957 only 32% of intercity travel was by railPassenger miles decreased from the 1916 high of 42 billion to just 49,000 in 1970There were many causes for the decline, but it was primarily due to the rise of automobile travel due to the creation of the interstate highway, and the declining cost of air travelRailroads had always been responsible for constructing and maintaining their own infrastructureBy contrast, federal and state governments funded the construction of roads and highways, essentially subsidizing both private car travel and truckingBy the late 1960s, much of the railroads’ infrastructure was old and worn out, but funds were scarce for replacementRailroads also followed routes originally laid out in the 19th century, which were not chosen or selected with high speed service in mindThough passenger rail travel had surged during WWII, it crashed immediately afterwards, as soon as gas rationing was discontinuedCollapse and Rescue
In 1967, the USPS diverted mail service from passenger trains to trucks, planes, and freight trains, eliminating a previously-reliable source of revenue*Soon after, the ATSF, one of the larger railroads, filed with the ICC to discontinue 33 of its 39 passenger routesThings really came to a head after the Penn Central, which had been created in 1968 with the merger of the PRR, NYC, and eventually the bankrupt New Haven, entered into the largest corporate bankruptcy in US history in 1970, filing to discontinue the majority of its passenger routesThe PC was the largest passenger railroad at the timeIn response, Congress passed the Rail Passenger Service Act in 1970, which created the National Railroad Passenger Corporation to take over passenger service from the private railroadsNRPC was first named Railpax, then Amtrak26 railroads were eligible to turn their passenger service over to Amtrak, and 21 did soAmtrak began service on May 1, 1971, immediately trimming half of the previously existing passenger rail routesAmtrak’s Problems
Amtrak was not expected to survive very longIt inherited a plethora of problems from the railroadsDeferred maintenanceRedundant facilitiesAmtrak was also not provided any actual trackage of its own; instead, it had to contract with the railroads to run service on their tracksThis continues to be an issueIn the end, passenger rail service was expected to go extinct within a few years, with Amtrak slowly winding down over that timeFinding a Footing
Amtrak survived, thoughNow a nationwide service, Amtrak was able to offer routes that were previously impossiblee.g. LA to Seattle Coast Starlight, previously three separate routesAfter Penn Central’s bankruptcy, it went through an extended bankruptcy processIn 1972, Hurricane Agnes damaged the northeast’s rail networks, further harming PC as well as other railroads like the Erie LackawannaIn 1973, PC officials threatened to shut the company down and liquidate if it did not receive government aid by October 1Congress passed the Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973 to nationalize the failing railroadsHowever, Nixon threatened to veto itA court ordered the PC to operate into 1974, and the RRR Act was signed on January 2On Feburary 1, the United States Railway Association was established, with a mandate to create a “Final System Plan” to decide which failing railroads would be included in a new government-owned railroad: the Consolidated Rail Corporation (ConRail)The final plan included:The PC (PRR, NYC, NY,NH&H)Erie LackawannaAnn Arbor RailroadLehigh Valley RailroadReading CompanyCentral of New JerseyLehigh & Hudson RiverConRail was officially created from these railroads by the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976This act also included provisions allowing Amtrak to acquire the Northeast Corridor track, equipment and stations, and provided it the funding to do soFrom that point onward, the NEC would become the focus of Amtrak’s efforts, being by far its busiest linesThe Rainbow Era
Amtrak assumed operation of the Metroliner and TurboTrain upon its inceptionRainbow era1975 Phase ITurboTrain withdrawn in 1976In 1972, Amtrak started rebuilding Metroliners, though this rebuilding was largely unsuccessful and the trains remained unreliableAs a result, Amtrak began exploring alternativesIn 1980, they selected the EMD AEM-7, based on a Swedish locomotive, to replace the Metroliners on the Metroliner Service. This was a traditional locomotive hauling passenger carsThey proved very reliable and bested the average speed of the Metroliners in serviceThe rebuilt Metroliners that remained were moved to the Keystone Service until their retirement in 1980, though some remain in service, rebuilt into cab carsThe Metroliner Service (run by the AEM-7s) remained very popular, especially as the Eastern Air Lines Shuttle’s popularity waned and it was sold in 1988 to Donald Trump, who ended its “no-frills” operation and ran it into the ground in 1992, selling it to USAirIt continues today as the American Airlines Shuttle but hardly resembles the original serviceTurboliners
Outside the NEC, Amtrak tried to update its fleet with the RTG TurbolinersFrench design, gas turbine powered, plied the midwest starting in 1973Too popular for their own good: they were a fixed consist, so new cars could not be added on to meet the demandNever got above 79mph due to track conditions, despite being designed for 125mphSecond generation Turboliners, the RTL Turboliners, provided the Empire Corridor service in 1976Designed for 125mph operation, they never reached it, though there was an attempt in 1998 to upgrade the Empire Corridor to allow this speed; it was abandoned in 2003All Talk, No Action
Federal and state governments continued to discuss HSR after the original HSGTA of 1965In 1980, the Passenger Railroad Rebuilding Act specified some corridors and appropriated some funds but nothing happenedPrivate consortia have published various white papersMaglev trains were developed in the 1970sCongress passed the ISTEA act in 1991, naming five high speed corridors but offering little funding for themAlso mentioned again in the 1998 TEAHSR languished in the US until 1993Enter Acela
As a result of the 1991 ISTEA, Amtrak sought bids for new high speed equipment for the proposed corridorsIn 1992, a leased Swedish X2000 HSR train provided test service on the NEC for several months, this was followed by similar tests of a German ICE 1 in 1993 and 1994Having built interest in high speed service, Amtrak put forth a proper tender in 1994 for new, high speed equipment for the NECIn 1995 Amtrak undertook to electrify the rest of the NEC from New Haven to Boston, allowing full high speed service from DC to BostonIn 1999, the plan was unveiled: a new trainset called the Acela ExpressIt was a tilting trainset designed to reach 150mph (240km/h)Service began in 2000, and, despite some early hiccups, it overtook the Metroliner Service in popularity in 2005, resulting in the end of Metroliner Service in 2006Acela is one of Amtrak’s most popular routesIt generates a profit, and accounts for 25% of Amtrak’s total revenueParadoxically, because of increased rail traffic on the NEC for the past 50 years, the Acela actually travels the distance from NYC to DC in more time than the Metroliners (2h53m vs 2h30m)Acela remains hampered by the lack of a dedicated high speed line, and is only able to reach its full 150mph for 33 miles of track in RI and MassachusettsJetTrain
Capitalizing on the popularity of Acela, Bombardier developed a high speed gas turbine demonstrator train: the JetTrainIt toured North American in the early 2000s to drum up interest in HSR projects along unelectrified linesIt could operate at speeds up to 165mphThe only such project that was started as a result of the JetTrain was the Florida High Speed CorridorIn 2000 Florida voters voted to establish a 120mph rail system between five major citiesJeb Bush constantly thwarted any progress, and the original referendum establishing the system was repealed by voters in 2004, killing the projectMore Recent Efforts
ARRA provided funds for several HSR corridors as part of the TIGER programFlorida initially tried to take advantage, reviving its HSR project, but Gov. Rick Scott rejected federal fundsSimilarly, Gov. Kasich in Ohio rejected federal funds for the 3C rail thereGov. Walker also canceled a similar plan and rejected federal funding for HSR in WisconsinSome “higher-speed” (~110mph) rail projects are in progress or completed, in Michigan, Illinois, and Missouri, mostly for routes going to or from Chicago.Amtrak is replacing the Acela trainsets with the New Acela (fka Avelia Liberty), which should allow for new max speeds of 160mph, possibly increasing to 186mph with track and signal upgrades
https://twitter.com/InterurbanE/status/1263938585369051137
California High Speed Rail
The only true high speed rail system ever attempted in the US is CalHSRCalls for dedicated, grade-separated lines from SJ to Burbank at up to 220 mph (350 km/h)Unfortunately, has faced many setbacks from cancellation of federal grants, and only central segment (Bakersfield-Merced) is under constructionThe rest is indefinitely postponedBrightline
Resurrected a portion of the FL HSR idea, providing service from West Palm Beach to Miami at up to 80 mph. Currently working on building expansion to Orlando that will run at 110mphPlanning includes service to Tampa at 125mphNew Private Ventures
XpressWest - Las Vegas to Victorville service on an electrified dedicated line (eventually expanding to Palmdale), construction expected to begin this yearSpeeds of up to 180 mphTexas Central Railway - Shinkansen-like system to connect Dallas and Houston at speeds of 205mphSeth Moulton’s Proposal
https://www.wired.com/story/lawmaker-wants-fast-trains-rev-us-economy/Challenges of HSR
Old infrastructure: bridges and tunnels that limit sizes, old track, signals, and overhead lines that limit max speedOutdated alignments: tight turns, too many grade crossings, and bad locations in now-populated areasNot funded by the federal government like highways and airportsCrashworthiness requirements: FRA’s excessive requirements were not reformed until 2018, and no one has yet updated their proposals to take advantagePreviously, the test required excessive weight to be added to meet strength tests for crashesNo dedicated lines as yetFreight interference - freight railroads do not often give priority to passenger trains like they are supposed toOne reason for this: freight trains are increasingly long (>2 miles or more), and there are relatively few passing sidings that these long trains can fit into on single-track mainlines to allow passenger trains to passSo, the passenger trains get put in the sidings insteadBenefits of HSR
Good mid-range option - journeys under 400 milesReduced security headachesCentrally-located stationsLowest emissions of any form of passenger transportHigher passenger density than cars, buses, or planes
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