Amtrak Could Turn a Profit for the First Time

Re:Amtrak Could Turn a Profit for the First Time by thebradbain on Sunday November 17, 2019 @08:15PM (#21561198)

Dallas to Houston is, I believe, the most popular short-haul flight route in the US (maybe SF-LA beats it, but it's up there), and the geography/distance makes so much sense for a high speed rail that a private company, Texas Central, has secured private capital and is working with the government to bring a Japanese-style Shinkansen to Texas. The station locations have already been secured in downtown Dallas and Houston, and groundbreaking is tentatively set for next year.

A 90 minute train ride connecting Texas' largest two cities? Compared to the 4hr trip a car takes or ~2hr for a plane (factoring in security)? At a (tentative) price point of ~two tanks of gas?

I'm optimistic that it won't only be a commercial success, but also that it will convince people (and politicians) that a HSR-network is in the public's best interest, even for routes that don't necessarily make sense from a commercial (private) perspective.

https://www.texascentral.com/

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Re:Amtrak Could Turn a Profit for the First Time by TylerE on Sunday November 17, 2019 @08:19PM (#21561212)

At almost 400 miles, I wouldn't consider SF to LA really short haul. That's almost double Houston-Dallas.

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Re:Amtrak Could Turn a Profit for the First Time by CydeWeys on Sunday November 17, 2019 @08:21PM (#21561219)

Short haul is anything less than 600-800 nmi, depending on who you ask.

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Re:Amtrak Could Turn a Profit for the First Time by TylerE on Sunday November 17, 2019 @08:26PM (#21561234)

For a plane, sure. But for rail, even high speed rail, not so much.

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Re:Amtrak Could Turn a Profit for the First Time by devdas on Monday November 18, 2019 @02:52PM (#21567538)

640 km is about 2 hours of non stop high speed rail travel.

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Re:Amtrak Could Turn a Profit for the First Time by TylerE on Tuesday November 19, 2019 @09:18PM (#21580565)

No it isn't the fastest high speed train in the world only averages 280km/h. Shinkasen and TGV average 260-265 on most routes.

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Re:Amtrak Could Turn a Profit for the First Time by bradleyjg on Sunday November 17, 2019 @08:23PM (#21561226)

Didn’t see it on the list I checked of ten busiest routes, but this is good info, thanks.

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