Is Disney fully on board with plans for high-speed rail?

[Lewisc]

The information posted in wikipedia suggests the train time from downtown Tampa to MCO will be an hour and 4 minutes. It suggests the time to drive is an hour 22 minutes. That's about a 1/3 savings however the savings will be reduced for any passenger that has to drive out of his way to get to a train station. How many minutes before departure should you be at the train station? 5 minutes? 10 minutes? How much time do you need to allow for traffic and to find parking? Another 5 or 10 minutes?

I suspect the real time savings, door to door, will be minimal.

Florida politicians did a good job getting federal taxpayer money.

 

[SouthernExplorer]

Also, if the rail system is a success, won't we see it put into place in other cities as well? Atlanta anyone?

The city of Dallas has a rail system that I've used.

http://dart.org/

It was great going to the DMA by rail from Plano rather than to drive ourselves, find parking, etc. The DART rail is "green", cheap and hassle-free, and we will use it again and again. Many people use the DART rail to get to their jobs in Dallas, and from what I've read this sounds like a good idea for Central Florida.

 

[rwdavis2]

Many people use the DART rail to get to their jobs in Dallas, and from what I've read this sounds like a good idea for Central Florida.

Hardly. The population densities in Central Florida are not high enough to ever make rail a reasonable option. Politicians love this stuff because they get to pretend they are doing something productive when they are just spending other peoples' money. If this is a good idea for Florida then Florida alone should pay for it.

 

[skiingfast]

Hardly. The population densities in Central Florida are not high enough to ever make rail a reasonable option. Politicians love this stuff because they get to pretend they are doing something productive when they are just spending other peoples' money. If this is a good idea for Florida then Florida alone should pay for it.

Please have Florida return the money it used to build and maintain it's highway system. It was a good idea for Florida but it didn't pay for all of it. The same could be said for the air travel system as well.

Transit systems have benefited all Americans in immense ways. I think this should always be a priority of the Federal Government.

 

[rwdavis2]

Please have Florida return the money it used to build and maintain it's highway system. It was a good idea for Florida but it didn't pay for all of it. The same could be said for the air travel system as well.

Transit systems have benefited all Americans in immense ways. I think this should always be a priority of the Federal Government.

I generally agree with your last statement. But, again, costly rail projects in low density population areas are a waste of money. It would be far more economical to run buses between Tampa and Orlando. Rail projects in and of themselves are not necessarily "green" as some people in this thread have mentioned. The energy to run the trains comes from electrical power lines or diesel locomotives.

Just because people are in love with the idea of riding trains does not make them a good alternative. How many of us would take a several day train ride to get to the west coast vs. a 6 hour flight? Amtrak is proof that not many people do. Again, rail transport from DC through to Boston makes a lot of sense because the travel times from door to door are comparable as well as the costs. Also, the Bay Area of San Francisco is a good place for it as well. The roads there are very heavily traveled and relieving that congestion makes sense.

People quoting prices and travel time of a Tampa/Orlando train route pretty much show that very few people would take that train on a regular basis.
BD

 

[joelkfla]

I generally agree with your last statement. But, again, costly rail projects in low density population areas are a waste of money. It would be far more economical to run buses between Tampa and Orlando.

Buses run on roads. Someone has to pay for those roads and their maintenance. This fact is usually ignored by rail opponents.

Buses are also subject to traffic delays. Now you could go and build dedicated bus lanes, but then you're negating much of the alleged savings, as well as eating up real estate.

Buses are not as "sexy" as trains. There's a reason. Buses are less comfortable and generally cannot offer the on-board conveniences offered by modern trains. They therefore attract fewer riders.

Rail projects in and of themselves are not necessarily "green" as some people in this thread have mentioned. The energy to run the trains comes from electrical power lines or diesel locomotives.

Obviously, energy is not free. But the energy consumed per passenger mile is generally less than other forms of ground transportation. And there is more opportunity to use clean energy.

How many of us would take a several day train ride to get to the west coast vs. a 6 hour flight? Amtrak is proof that not many people do.

Wrong question, bad proof.

Amtrak is burdened with an antiquated, under-maintained infrastructure. Theoretically, a true high-speed rail system could make the 3,000 mile trip in about 20 hours. So the appropriate question is: "How many would take a one-day train trip, in roomy comfort, free to move about the cabin, dining on real food, over a 6-hour flight packed in like cattle?" The success of high-speed rail in other parts of the world is the answer to that question.

 

[skiingfast]

This is what they will be using in Wisconsin. The manufacturing plant for these cars is being built. The order for the cars has been placed.

http://www.talgoamerica.com/series8-passengerCars.aspx

 

[G8RFAN]

I would consider taking the Amtrak if it dropped you off at the TTC or some substation on property. Since it doesn't, I make the drive from S. FL to WDW in less time and hassle. On a micro level, when I have to walk past my car on the way to the bus stop at any WDW resort, I tend to want to drive instead to taking the resort buses as the hassles that come with "public transportation" negates most of the pleasure of not having to drive while on vacation. I might take the high speed train to Tampa from a vacation in Orlando to do a Busch Gardens day trip, however, if it is a hassle, I doubt I would do it more than once. IMHO, most people tend to avoid queues and for me idle time. I'd rather walk from the contemporary to MK than to wait for the resort monorail, especially when it is going in the other direction and has to make all the other stops.

 

[doconeill]

This is what they will be using in Wisconsin. The manufacturing plant for these cars is being built. The order for the cars has been placed.

http://www.talgoamerica.com/series8-passengerCars.aspx

These look more like long-haul commuter coaches...if this were to become a true long-haul intercity service, which would need to at least include Miami, then these might make sense, but for at least Phase I they'd probably go with something simpler.

Suddenly, the complexities of moving thousands of Disney tourists and all their bags renders some interesting problems...get luggage off plane, take luggage to train, get luggage on train, get self on train, ride train, get self off train, get luggage off train, get luggage on bus...

That is, unless Disney will offer a separate luggage service (i.e. Magical Express just for the luggage).

 

[skiingfast]

These look more like long-haul commuter coaches...if this were to become a true long-haul intercity service, which would need to at least include Miami, then these might make sense, but for at least Phase I they'd probably go with something simpler.

Suddenly, the complexities of moving thousands of Disney tourists and all their bags renders some interesting problems...get luggage off plane, take luggage to train, get luggage on train, get self on train, ride train, get self off train, get luggage off train, get luggage on bus...

That is, unless Disney will offer a separate luggage service (i.e. Magical Express just for the luggage).

Though invisible to the guests there is a seperate baggage service. I don't think it would go away, It's nessecary in either case or a mixed case as well.

These Talgo trains are for use in the Chicago to Milwaukee and Milwaukee to Madison route. Which is a semi commute route. So would be a Tampa, Lakeland, and Orlando route. This intercity distances are all pretty close.

This is why I added the post and link.