S00:E02 - "High Speed Rail in the US"

Thinking about a history of repeated near successes.

Thinking about a history of repeated near successes.

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Aaron is eating noodles on-air because he was busy farming

Beginnings

Passenger rail service started pretty much along with the first railroads in the 1830s, and grew to become the primary method of intercity travel
By 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 Company

Burlington Zephyr, Pioneer Zephyr, California Zephyr


Service averaged around 80mph, and was fairly popular, but eventually suffered due to the Great Depression
However, passenger numbers recovered during WWII, when gas rationing made automobile travel less feasible

The 79 mph rule

In 1946, two passenger trains collided, resulting in the death of 45 people
One train collide with another, stopped train
The colliding train had passed a red stop signal, which the engineer said he had not seen
As 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 time
Automatic signalling was required on many lines
Signals inside the cab (cab signalling) was required on any line that exceeded 79mph


Many railroads, already struggling with infrastructure costs, did not want to pay to upgrade their equipment
As a result, they all ran their trains at less than 79 mph to avoid needing to install new equipment
This greatly reduced the competitiveness of passenger rail at a time when car ownership was skyrocketing

Enter Shinkansen

In 1964, Japan Railways began service on the Shinkansen (new trunk line) from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka
This was the first system for dedicated high speed rail service in the world
Trains ran at speed of 130mph (210 km/h)
The US responded to Shinkansen by deciding to spur HSR development
The HSGTA was passed in 1965

Metroliner

The HSGTA provided for the development of high speed service along the existing Northwest Corridor line of the Pennsylvania Railroad from NYC to DC
This line had been electrified in the 1930s and was still a busy passenger line
Eastern 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: Metroliners
Metroliners were a project between the PRR, USDOT, and Budd
Metroliners 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 1969
By 1969, the PRR had merged with the NYC to form Penn Central, which operated the Metroliner service
Metroliners 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 promise
However, the Metroliner design was very popular and inspired new designs of passenger coaches that would eventually be used by Amtrak and many commuter rail services

UAC TurboTrain

At the same time, the UAC was working on its own high speed train system, based on gas turbines derived from jet engines
This 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 west
They were also some of the first tilting trains created
However, 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 1966
They 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 train
This train set the current American rail speed record of 183 mph
The train was not considered economically feasible and was dismantled shortly after

Failure of Private Passenger Service

Compared to the 1918 high of 98% of all intercity travel, by 1957 only 32% of intercity travel was by rail
Passenger miles decreased from the 1916 high of 42 billion to just 49,000 in 1970
There 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 travel
Railroads had always been responsible for constructing and maintaining their own infrastructure
By contrast, federal and state governments funded the construction of roads and highways, essentially subsidizing both private car travel and trucking
By the late 1960s, much of the railroads’ infrastructure was old and worn out, but funds were scarce for replacement
Railroads also followed routes originally laid out in the 19th century, which were not chosen or selected with high speed service in mind
Though passenger rail travel had surged during WWII, it crashed immediately afterwards, as soon as gas rationing was discontinued

Collapse 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 routes
Things 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 routes
The PC was the largest passenger railroad at the time
In 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 railroads
NRPC was first named Railpax, then Amtrak
26 railroads were eligible to turn their passenger service over to Amtrak, and 21 did so
Amtrak began service on May 1, 1971, immediately trimming half of the previously existing passenger rail routes

Amtrak’s Problems

Amtrak was not expected to survive very long
It inherited a plethora of problems from the railroads

Deferred maintenance
Redundant facilities


Amtrak was also not provided any actual trackage of its own; instead, it had to contract with the railroads to run service on their tracks
This continues to be an issue
In the end, passenger rail service was expected to go extinct within a few years, with Amtrak slowly winding down over that time

Finding a Footing

Amtrak survived, though
Now a nationwide service, Amtrak was able to offer routes that were previously impossible

e.g. LA to Seattle Coast Starlight, previously three separate routes


After Penn Central’s bankruptcy, it went through an extended bankruptcy process
In 1972, Hurricane Agnes damaged the northeast’s rail networks, further harming PC as well as other railroads like the Erie Lackawanna
In 1973, PC officials threatened to shut the company down and liquidate if it did not receive government aid by October 1
Congress passed the Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973 to nationalize the failing railroads
However, Nixon threatened to veto it
A court ordered the PC to operate into 1974, and the RRR Act was signed on January 2
On 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 Lackawanna
Ann Arbor Railroad
Lehigh Valley Railroad
Reading Company
Central of New Jersey
Lehigh & Hudson River


ConRail was officially created from these railroads by the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976
This act also included provisions allowing Amtrak to acquire the Northeast Corridor track, equipment and stations, and provided it the funding to do so
From that point onward, the NEC would become the focus of Amtrak’s efforts, being by far its busiest lines

The Rainbow Era

Amtrak assumed operation of the Metroliner and TurboTrain upon its inception
Rainbow era
1975 Phase I
TurboTrain withdrawn in 1976
In 1972, Amtrak started rebuilding Metroliners, though this rebuilding was largely unsuccessful and the trains remained unreliable
As a result, Amtrak began exploring alternatives
In 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 cars
They proved very reliable and bested the average speed of the Metroliners in service
The rebuilt Metroliners that remained were moved to the Keystone Service until their retirement in 1980, though some remain in service, rebuilt into cab cars
The 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 USAir
It continues today as the American Airlines Shuttle but hardly resembles the original service

Turboliners

Outside the NEC, Amtrak tried to update its fleet with the RTG Turboliners
French design, gas turbine powered, plied the midwest starting in 1973
Too popular for their own good: they were a fixed consist, so new cars could not be added on to meet the demand
Never got above 79mph due to track conditions, despite being designed for 125mph
Second generation Turboliners, the RTL Turboliners, provided the Empire Corridor service in 1976
Designed 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 2003

All Talk, No Action

Federal and state governments continued to discuss HSR after the original HSGTA of 1965
In 1980, the Passenger Railroad Rebuilding Act specified some corridors and appropriated some funds but nothing happened
Private consortia have published various white papers
Maglev trains were developed in the 1970s
Congress passed the ISTEA act in 1991, naming five high speed corridors but offering little funding for them
Also mentioned again in the 1998 TEA
HSR languished in the US until 1993

Enter Acela

As a result of the 1991 ISTEA, Amtrak sought bids for new high speed equipment for the proposed corridors
In 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 1994
Having built interest in high speed service, Amtrak put forth a proper tender in 1994 for new, high speed equipment for the NEC
In 1995 Amtrak undertook to electrify the rest of the NEC from New Haven to Boston, allowing full high speed service from DC to Boston
In 1999, the plan was unveiled: a new trainset called the Acela Express
It 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 2006
Acela is one of Amtrak’s most popular routes
It generates a profit, and accounts for 25% of Amtrak’s total revenue
Paradoxically, 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 Massachusetts

JetTrain

Capitalizing on the popularity of Acela, Bombardier developed a high speed gas turbine demonstrator train: the JetTrain
It toured North American in the early 2000s to drum up interest in HSR projects along unelectrified lines
It could operate at speeds up to 165mph
The only such project that was started as a result of the JetTrain was the Florida High Speed Corridor
In 2000 Florida voters voted to establish a 120mph rail system between five major cities
Jeb Bush constantly thwarted any progress, and the original referendum establishing the system was repealed by voters in 2004, killing the project

More Recent Efforts

ARRA provided funds for several HSR corridors as part of the TIGER program
Florida initially tried to take advantage, reviving its HSR project, but Gov. Rick Scott rejected federal funds
Similarly, Gov. Kasich in Ohio rejected federal funds for the 3C rail there
Gov. Walker also canceled a similar plan and rejected federal funding for HSR in Wisconsin
Some “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 CalHSR
Calls 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 construction
The rest is indefinitely postponed

Brightline

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 110mph
Planning includes service to Tampa at 125mph

New Private Ventures

XpressWest - Las Vegas to Victorville service on an electrified dedicated line (eventually expanding to Palmdale), construction expected to begin this year
Speeds of up to 180 mph
Texas Central Railway - Shinkansen-like system to connect Dallas and Houston at speeds of 205mph

Seth 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 speed
Outdated alignments: tight turns, too many grade crossings, and bad locations in now-populated areas
Not funded by the federal government like highways and airports
Crashworthiness requirements: FRA’s excessive requirements were not reformed until 2018, and no one has yet updated their proposals to take advantage

Previously, the test required excessive weight to be added to meet strength tests for crashes


No dedicated lines as yet
Freight interference - freight railroads do not often give priority to passenger trains like they are supposed to

One 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 pass
So, the passenger trains get put in the sidings instead

Benefits of HSR

Good mid-range option - journeys under 400 miles
Reduced security headaches
Centrally-located stations
Lowest emissions of any form of passenger transport
Higher passenger density than cars, buses, or planes