High Speed Rail To WDW Approved

[lugnut33]

Looks like it's happening.

I'd really like to see this train get up to 217mph instead of only 120

 

[WDWKOOK]

Looks like it's happening.

I'd really like to see this train get up to 217mph instead of only 120

Just curious, is there a link to this news?

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Looks like it's happening.

I'd really like to see this train get up to 217mph instead of only 120

Link, PSA, Proof?

 

[Pete W.]

News stories indicate the President will visit FL after the State of the Union address to announce funding of high speed rail project(s).

 

[Dznefreek]

This is a waste of time, money, and resources.
The train will go from OIA to WDW to Lakeland to Tampa just East of Ybor City.
If I am a resident wanting to go to Tampa I have to drive to OIA, take a train to Ybor City then . . . . . I may as well drive myself.
Say goodbye to ME. . . imho

 

[Disco]

Saw an article about it being approved a couple months(ish) ago. Don't remember where.
Details are foggy at this point but Disney wasn't onboard with it at first. They didn't want it stopping anywhere else but at their resort. It’s probably a contributing reason why it won't get over 200MPH.
I've been wondering about the fate of ME/Meers when this is developed?

 

[CanadianGuy]

http://www.wesh.com/automotive/22354556/detail.html

 

[ChrisFL]

This is a waste of time, money, and resources.
The train will go from OIA to WDW to Lakeland to Tampa just East of Ybor City.
If I am a resident wanting to go to Tampa I have to drive to OIA, take a train to Ybor City then . . . . . I may as well drive myself.
Say goodbye to ME. . . imho

It depends on your situation. The question is about what infrastructure could be built to support it.

In my situation, living in Tampa and wanting to visit Disney, I could spend $15-20 in gas and drive myself for 1.5-2 hours, or drive to where it stops in Tampa and just take Disney transportation when I get there...possibly costing me less $$ and defintely less time and headaches driving I-4

 

[KYMickey]

In my situation, living in Tampa and wanting to visit Disney, I could spend $15-20 in gas and drive myself for 1.5-2 hours, or drive to where it stops in Tampa and just take Disney transportation when I get there...possibly costing me less $$ and defintely less time and headaches driving I-4

Maybe it would cost less if you were going alone but if not the cost will certainly be higher.

 

[tazdeb]

Sounds like a terrorists dream. A train supported on risers going through swamp/underdeveloped land, moving at over 120mph. One small explosive and ???? Also it is one thing to build something like this and put people to work etc....but once its done, then what? Is there a great demand for this? Do alot of people in Tampa/Orlando commute to each others city for work? Is this meant mostly for tourists? I predict this will be like the monorail project in Las Vegas. They connected the convention center to the hotels but nobody uses it and now its bankrupt.

 

[Golf4food]

Sounds like a terrorists dream. A train supported on risers going through swamp/underdeveloped land, moving at over 120mph. One small explosive and ???? Also it is one thing to build something like this and put people to work etc....but once its done, then what? Is there a great demand for this? Do alot of people in Tampa/Orlando commute to each others city for work? Is this meant mostly for tourists? I predict this will be like the monorail project in Las Vegas. They connected the convention center to the hotels but nobody uses it and now its bankrupt.

I'm with you. I don't know what morons voted to pass this. Florida is spread out and we are addicted to our cars by necessity of that spread and Floridians don't like using public transit - partly because public transit in most of Florida is HORRIBLE. Busses in our city is a joke and our elevated train/monorail thing is a waste of money that mostly gets used by a small number of downtown business workers. For this train to at all have hope of working you need:

a) much better public transportation options, and
b) very high gas prices that make driving prohibitive for many people - like $7 per gallon

 

[ChrisFL]

From what I've seen, it will not be elevated, just a high speed railroad basically

 

[bikinpunk]

Sounds like a terrorists dream. A train supported on risers going through swamp/underdeveloped land, moving at over 120mph. One small explosive and ????

I’ve literally typed three responses to this and deleted them all because no matter how I put it, I can’t keep it from being a post that’s likely to stir up some controversy or argument.
So, in my last attempt to reply and get my only point across…

Today, ANYTHING can be a target. ANYTHING.
Your single car, your kid’s school, a local bank, a subway train, a subway itself, planes, trains and automobiles (RIP: John Candy).

Not moving on with our lives and attempting to better communities and tourism (however you feel about how accurately this betters said topics), is no way to live.

Am I saying that adding another option for terrorists is OK? No.
Should we stop progress in our country due to fears of potential threats or attacks? No.




I don’t know much about the engineering aspect of this, but having been to Europe a few times and seeing how positive public rail there is, I can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t want this.
I look at this as a step in the direction of automating public transportation on a mass scale. IMO, this is a great thing. If you haven’t had the experience of riding public transportation a la Europe, then I could understand that it’s hard to imagine something so great. But, if you have, you know just how great it is as a tourist (not to mention a resident) to take a train to cross into another city, or even country. No worrying about directions, or taxis… pay for a rail ticket, go to station, wait, get on train, go, arrive, enjoy.
I personally would be THRILLED if I had that luxury here in my local community and region.

 

[Disco]

While I like the idea of getting from the airport to DW faster I'm not sure what the benefit of going from Orlando to Tampa is.
I figured that bullet trains were more of a short airplane hop competitor. I'm thinking of a 4-8 hour drive distance. Not like a 1-3 hour drive replacement.
Frankly I love the idea of a bullet train system throughout the US as our current rail infrastructure is just crumbling into the ground. I'm in Reno and if we had one of these babies going to LA (9 hour drive), that would be the SHIZDANGLE! To fly a round trip ticket would cost about $150. Driving would be about $100 alone plus ten hours of wasted time.
I don't know how much train tickets would cost but if they were $30-$40 I'd save money and 5 hours of driving.
So if this baby went from Orlando to Atlanta, that might be more comparable and would make more sense. I don’t live in the area so I don’t know if there would be demand for a leg like that?
Political rhetoric aside, perhaps they just need to start small and work their way up? If we had one from Reno to Sacramento that would be a waste to me. But if they then built a connection to LA or Seattle it would be two big thumbs up.

 

[FireDancer]

This is a waste of time, money, and resources.
The train will go from OIA to WDW to Lakeland to Tampa just East of Ybor City.
If I am a resident wanting to go to Tampa I have to drive to OIA, take a train to Ybor City then . . . . . I may as well drive myself.
Say goodbye to ME. . . imho

I lived in Tampa for two years and went to Disney on average 3 times a month. I would love to drive to the train station, leave my car, ride the train, and then return. It would give me time to get a little nap or some work done and not drive (I almost always went solo).

Also, I visit Orlando often and still have friends in Tampa. I take ME now so I don't have a car to go see them. I would take the train and meet them at the station once this is built.

This train is not only for residents, it is to get the people who normally don't go to Tampa over there for a day. It will also allow people to not only fly into MCO but also TPA without having to rent a car. It will basically act like ME from two different airports. It is also better for the environment then running multiple buses all day. I've done some traveling in Europe and will be going back there in Sept 2011. I will be visiting 4 countries and getting around completely via the train (other than the flight there of course). I have used the train in the past over there and love it.

The more of these they put in the better. I think it is a shame we have no real rail infrastructure here and if we start now maybe my kids or grandkids will have them as an option.

 

[Dznefreek]

This train is not only for residents, it is to get the people who normally don't go to Tampa over there for a day.

Yes but it drops you near YC. Then you move around by . . . . taxi, bus, train,. . . . . . . . It would be cheaper to just drive the 1 1/2 hours and more efficient.

 

[wdwpins]

Tampa-Orlando is just the first step. I'd like to see a Jacksonville-Miami line, even Orlando-Miami or Orlando-Fort Myers, Orlando-Jacksonville.

Having ridden the TGV (le train à grande vitesse) in France dozens of times, I can tell you that it provides a great alternative not only to driving but to flying (as Herb Kelleher realized when he helped squash plans for Texas TGV because he knew it would provide competition for Southwest Airlines). France has had this technology since 1981, and we only recently acquired the Acela (which, if I remember correctly, goes truly high speed for only a short stint in CT).

In any case, HSR in France became so popular that on its original line, Paris-Lyons/Dijon they had to increase capacity by switching to double-decker trains. France even uses the TGV (yellow) to deliver its mail. Check out this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mr5TnLyy9Y8

France a few years ago broke the world speed record for trains that ride on rails.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqxxTfGCIz0

Its latest TGV line, the TGV-Est, has a maximum speed of 200 mph. You can even access the internet in this train with your laptop.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wt9SQ-HjtAQ

Check out this video of the north line where 3 types of TGVs run--Eurostar to London, TGV-Nord to the north of France, and Thalys, which serves Brussels, Amsterdam and Cologne.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Of6F0fPZV4

HSR--job creation, boost in local economies, no commercial flight hassles (and we know about those), getting to your destination in an often faster and more relaxed state of mind than with flying or driving.

 

[Virtucomp]

Up in the North East there is a commuter train (Acela) and a slower train that run through the state. My DD recently took the slower, cheaper train from Providence to Boston. $8 each way. No parking issue, no traffic, no GPS needed. It takes 45 minutes on the slow train.

If you are a regular commuter they have discounts. I don't see why train transportation isn't more common. Everyone wants to drive their own car and use more gas and add more pollution.

If the state offers alternatives to transportation by car then we are moving in a positive direction. I drove from Rt 75 to Tampa Airport on my last trip. It was nuts. Too many cars in a small area and way to long to go the distance that on paper should be 40 minutes.

 

[DisDreaminMom]

Uh, why are we talking about trains like they are some kind of new fangled mass transit system? It's like calling Trolley's "light rails". If trains were a great way to move people in America (I'm not talking about EU), then private industry would have done more passenger trains, not less. Exhibit A-Z= Amtrack and the vacuum sound that is government welfare going down the toilet. Is this corporate welfare for Disney and Busch Gardens, and an effort to prop up airlines that fly through Tampa AND "balance" the fact that Orlando is the only reason why some travelers go to FL at all? You bet...

Good thing there are tons of well trained Railroad workers out there to get the jobs. Oh, wait, they're all old men, like my long deceased grandfather who worked for a railroad line. All the trains are going to be built in and constructed by Europeans, anyway. The unions are lining up to control the workers, no doubt. And the 8 billion is just how much they are going to pay the consultants who are going to tell them that they are building the track right through the native wetland habitat of the Florida fruit fly, an endangered species that we must protect. Halfway through construction, everything is going to be halted so they can devise a 40 billion dollar system of air bridges so the Florida fruit fly can cross the tracks without perishing. Mark my words, this will happen. Or manatees will be sensitive to the vibration of the trains. Try this one: it will disturb the native alligator breeding rituals.

 

[wdwpins]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yazdjabPxKY

Even the English enjoy some HSR.