As a lover of most things relating to transportation and especially the exploration of new modes of US transportation I couldn’t help but be a tad bit giddy at the $8,000,000,000 thrown toward high speed rail in the stimulus (even more came through recently).
What was equally disheartening was the giant hole the state of TN represented in the proposed rail network.
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| High Speed Rail: Avoiding Tennesse Like the Plague |
I don’t want to discount what I’m sure are very diligent efforts by both private and public interests to bring high speed rail to TN but it is certainly alarming that we are the only state in the south eastern US to be excluded from this plan.
Maybe we as Tennessean and more immediately Nashvillians aren’t ready for mass transportation. Or maybe this needs to be a bottom-up approach. Currently, even if we were connected into a high speed rail network there would be little place to go beyond the arrival station. Our local network is heavily reliant upon buses (which are a great mode of transportation – clean and friendly) and America’s current favorite choice for moving the automobile. What if Nashville said we are going to make it impossible for a high speed rail line to avoid us because we have the best local rail (above ground, below ground, etc) around? Perhaps a bit dreamy here but to begin dialogue about such an endeavor may be all the catalyst we need to get involved. Even better, if something became of it we really could talk about things like hosting the World Cup (at least the SEC championship?).
So the concern for me is not that we were excluded but how soon we can be included. Perhaps it is our own fault; perhaps we have become just a bit too good at paving. Maybe it is time for us to convince our larger nation that Nashville and TN are ready to participate in the (dare I say) future of transportation…
Or we could just pave a strip where the train should go…
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| West End Avenue |
-Fad_writer
What's more is that the rail lines seem to be equidistant away from Nashville specifically. It's like there's a magnet pushing all the rail lines away.
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Are there really any "high speed" rail lines in the US? I know the ATL to Nawlins line takes 12 hrs vs. 6.5hrs to drive or 1hr to fly.
ReplyDeleteThe US is just so large, compared to Europe or Japan, I have a hard time believeing high speed rail will ever be feasible here, except for maybe a few high traffic routes. And then when you get to most US cities, like Nashville, there isn't a good public transit or localized rail system. A local rail system only works if you have a certain density, it doesn't work with the single family suburban communities that most Nashvillians live in.
Good post! Cheers from Dublin!
Tennessee could position itself very advantageously to connect the different corridor. Theoretically we could tie the Texas/Arkansas, "Chicago Hub," and Southeast parts of the network together. I don't think people would ride it long distances but for perhaps Birmingham, Atlanta, Charlotte, or Louisville distances they would.
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