Evansville Rail: Take A Look At Our High Speed Rail Region

Friday, June 3, 2011

Take A Look At Our High Speed Rail Region

(photo credit: Midwest High Speed Rail Association)

Here in Evansville, if we are ever fortunate enough to convince our local and regional leaders to pursue high speed rail, we will be in the Midwest Regional Rail System. Here are some great links to introduce you to the network...

http://www.midwesthsr.org/splash.html

http://www.midwesthsr.org/2011-economic-study
http://www.connectthemidwest.com/
http://www.dot.state.wi.us/projects/state/docs/mwrri-regional-brochure.pdf
http://www.indianahighspeedrail.org/

As you can see, Evansville is the only major region in the entire Midwest that isn't planning for high speed rail. We need to change that. We need to make sure...

- We have a clean environment
- We have an affordable transportation system
- We have a safe transportation system
- We have a fast transportation system
- We have a transportation system free from the shackles of oil
- we have a transportation system that produces jobs for everyone

High speed rail does all of the above. Other cities and states, including our very own state of Indiana are planning to build high speed rail. We need to do the same!

(photo credit: treehugger.com)

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Did You Know?

-An intercity high-speed passenger train is three times as energy efficient as commercial air, and six times as efficient as a car traveling with one occupant.

-Switching 5% of US highway travel to high-speed passenger rail would save more that one-sixth the amount of oil imported annually from the Middle East.

-High-Speed Rail service requires less land acquisition that other modes of travel. According to the Worldwatch Institute, two railroad tracks can carry as many people per hour as sixteen lanes of highway. Farmlands and environmentally-sensitive geography are preserved.

-One railway track mile uses 0.42 football field(s) worth of land compared to one highway mile that equals 1.10.

-One Virginia Railway Express commuter train can equal as many as 800 cars taken off the highway.

-One intermodal freight train can equal up to 300 tractor-trailers.

-For every $1 invested in public transportation such as intercity passenger rail, $4 is returned in economic development.

-One regional passenger train equals 4 regional planes

-For the cost of building a third airport in the Chicago area, a network of high-speed trains could be built in nine states and serve far more travelers.

-In addition, the cost of building quality interstate highways in urban areas cost between $15 and $20 Million per mile, while infrastructure for high-speed passenger trains traveling at 125 mph costs between $3 and $6 Million per mile.

-In over 35 years of operation, the high-speed passenger rail system, carrying over 6 million passengers a day, worldwide, has only had a few minor incidents and one fatal accident.

-In the United States, Amtrak's Metroliner, a passenger train traveling at 125 Mph between New York and Washington, has had no passenger fatalities since it was established in 1986. Compare that to 500,000 motor vehicle fatalities in the United States since 1986.

-High-speed trains speed travelers from city center to city center. For most passengers, the rest of the trip is a simple walk or short taxi ride from the train station to their final destination.