• Lv_InSaNe_vL
    link
    fedilink
    4
    edit-2
    1 day ago

    These small towns would still be an hour+ away from large cities, even with European speed high speed rail.

    Like for me, the nearest “big town” is about 100 miles from me, which is about a 2hr drive. And, at least from some quick googling, it looks like most commuter rail in France tops out at about 100mph. A train would not bring in more people haha

    • @captainlezbian@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      217 hours ago

      Yeah, while I’m a huge advocate for an American Shinkansen, there’s really 4 zones of America for train speeds. East of the Appalachians its fast and easy and rail already works easy. West of them but east of the Mississippi, you’re gonna need high speed rail, but it’ll be somewhat similar to Europe. Between the Mississippi and the west coast, you’re gonna need high speed rail and quite a bit of patience. And on the west coast, you’ll hit up small cities, but honestly it’d be a great second high speed line after the New York-Chicago

    • @piccolo@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      31 day ago

      You’d be suprised how many people commute more than an hour by car. The prospect of having affordable housing with more job opportunities will certainly bring in more people.

      • Lv_InSaNe_vL
        link
        fedilink
        21 day ago

        France spends ~$15 million/mile for high speed commuter rail. Which means that line would cost $1.5 billion.

        I don’t think it’s bringing in that many more people. Even when you amortize it across all of the little cities it would go through

        • @piccolo@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          21 day ago

          Implying the line would stop at the town and not carry on to the next. Also, how much is being spent on building and maintaining freeways?

          • Lv_InSaNe_vL
            link
            fedilink
            01 day ago

            Even when you amortize it across all of the little cities

            Please read the comment in it’s entirety before responding ❤️