Anything that helps you avoid stopping in bat country

Just as long as normal because you'll get stuck behind that moron who thinks it's his job to enforce the speed limit.

Will Rhode Island be crossed by an African swallow or a European swallow?

At 165 mph, hitting a bug with your windshield could do a lot of damage.

rmatthewware: Just as long as normal because you'll get stuck behind that moron who thinks it's his job to enforce the speed limit.

I hate it when people drive trains like that.

Still not fast enough to get through Rhode Island.

I would much rather take a high speed train than an airplane.

Amtrak

Houston -> Austin
Houston -> Dallas
Houston -> San Antonio
Houston -> Amarillo
Houston -> El Paso
Houston -> College Station
Houston -> Lubbock

the money is in the banana stand: I would much rather take a high speed train than an airplane.

Amtrak

Houston -> Austin
Houston -> Dallas
Houston -> San Antonio
Houston -> Amarillo
Houston -> El Paso
Houston -> College Station
Houston -> Lubbock

there's a city called ARMADILLO? JESUS

WeenerGord: Will Rhode Island be crossed by an African swallow or a European swallow?

Chickenswallow?

Great, so assuming they can actually accomplish this all they're doing is speeding you up in two short stretches. It doesn't really help when you average 40mph for the rest of the trip. When I lived in Boston I took the Acela to DC a couple of times, and it's pretty obvious why people still take their timing chances driving or flying. Until Amtrak can get dedicated high-speed tracks and doesn't have to stop in every town with a politician with their hand out, worthwhile high-speed rail is not going to happen.

I had to work on my birthday this year, during work I casually told a co-worker it was my birthday today and also my father too. He says, wow you and your dad were born on the same day what are the odds of that? I kinda cock my head and say if you're asking asking it would be 1/365.
/fancy book learnings

Far to long.

the money is in the banana stand: I would much rather take a high speed train than an airplane.


It would be real nice if they had highspeed rail from the cities whose airports don't have direct flights to anywhere and you have to layover in a hub airport to the hub airport.

Nightshade50: WeenerGord: Will Rhode Island be crossed by an African swallow or a European swallow?

Chickenswallow?

A henweigh??

Jon iz teh kewl: the money is in the banana stand: I would much rather take a high speed train than an airplane.

Amtrak

Houston -> Austin
Houston -> Dallas
Houston -> San Antonio
Houston -> Amarillo
Houston -> El Paso
Houston -> College Station
Houston -> Lubbock

there's a city called ARMADILLO? JESUS

Not sure if serious... but if so, reading fail.

I have mixed feelings about amtrak. I love the idea of high speed rail but they use tracks owned by either commuter rail or freight lines and so even if they top out at high speeds the average speed is usually not very great.

I grew up right by the tracks in the section of MA where the Acela supposedly reaches its top speed, like 120 mph or something like that. A few people have gotten killed by them while trying to cross the tracks and tragic as it is people have stupid overreactions and blame the high speed of the trains.... As if it matters if the train is going 30 mph or 300 mph when you get hit by it. I think most often people get hit because they exit a commuter train and go to cross the tracks and because of all the noise they do not notice the amtrak coming along in the other direction.

So even if you can get the trains up to high speed people will complain and there are so many hurdles and so much cost. In the spring I took amtrak from Denver back to Boston. The first leg of the trip to Chicago went fine. The second leg, the train was delayed to begin with, then there was a freight derailment which resulted in the train basically parking for a few hours. Then because the other freight trains take priority, the amtrak crawled along behind them for almost the entire trip, frequently stopping for 20 or 30 mins at a time.

The thing is the freight trains absolutely must be on time as much as possible, so they have no qualms about making an amtrak 30 mins late in order to prevent a freight train from even being 2 or 3 mins late. For high speed rail to become a reality it will need dedicated rail and that is not going to happen.

I did the math...just under five and a half minutes between Coventry and Westerly (pretty much the border to CT).

Nightshade50: WeenerGord: Will Rhode Island be crossed by an African swallow or a European swallow?

Chickenswallow?

That chick CAN but she WON'T.

Man, if I still had my Monte Carlo...I'd have to stop for gas every 40 minutes driving like that.

A: About 10 minutes.... that feel like days.

LeroyBourne

I had to work on my birthday this year, during work I casually told a co-worker it was my birthday today and also my father too. He says, wow you and your dad were born on the same day what are the odds of that? I kinda cock my head and say if you're asking asking it would be 1/365.
/fancy book learnings

The odds of YOU being born on a certain day are 1/365 . The odds of you and your dad being born on the same day are WAY higher. Like 1/133225 higher.

Where'd you say you got them fancy book learnings? University of Rhode Island?

BretMavrik: Great, so assuming they can actually accomplish this all they're doing is speeding you up in two short stretches. It doesn't really help when you average 40mph for the rest of the trip. When I lived in Boston I took the Acela to DC a couple of times, and it's pretty obvious why people still take their timing chances driving or flying. Until Amtrak can get dedicated high-speed tracks and doesn't have to stop in every town with a politician with their hand out, worthwhile high-speed rail is not going to happen.

Pretty much this. I considered taking the train from Toronto to New York City, and the trip would take 12 HOURS because the thing would stop in every other small town on route. Meanwhile an overnight bus could do the entire trip in 8 hours.

When the bus is faster than the train, you are doing something wrong.

In a Kia?

from a quick google search:

...the chances of having the same birthday as one of your parents is: 1 out of 183

and the chances of having the same birthday as both parents is: 1 out of 133,225.

Said it came from wikianswers.

/Once read that many women give birth around the same month/season, so lots of siblings share birthday months or horoscope signs.

mama2tnt: and the chances of having the same birthday as both parents is: 1 out of 133,225.

If you have the same birthday as both parents, they're not your parents, they're your twins...triplets...whatever

Priapetic Does it hurt where mama2ntburned you with sources?

/It isn't trolling if you are right

BretMavrik: Great, so assuming they can actually accomplish this all they're doing is speeding you up in two short stretches. It doesn't really help when you average 40mph for the rest of the trip. When I lived in Boston I took the Acela to DC a couple of times, and it's pretty obvious why people still take their timing chances driving or flying. Until Amtrak can get dedicated high-speed tracks and doesn't have to stop in every town with a politician with their hand out, worthwhile high-speed rail is not going to happen.

I've been researching the trip from Providence to NYC via bus and train. I've noticed that the Acela Express is only 30-45 minutes faster than the standard Northeast Corridor service and costs more than twice as much -- $99 off-peak for Acela, $43 for standard service throughout the day. And until MegaBus started regular service from Providence to NYC, it was cheaper to take the MBTA Commuter Rail to Boston ($10) and get on the Fung Wah Chinatown Bus ($15).

About twice as long as it needs to be, but watch the whole thing for effect:

Acela at Kingston station

It's kind of weird waiting at the station and hearing those announcements, but there's no train in sight. Then... WHAM!!!

Electrify: I considered taking the train from Toronto to New York City, and the trip would take 12 HOURS because the thing would stop in every other small town on route. Meanwhile an overnight bus could do the entire trip in 8 hours. When the bus is faster than the train, you are doing something wrong.

I've taken that train, and it's not just about the local stops along the Hudson (which should just be Metro-North's problem). It's about the 1.5 hours in customs over Niagara Falls. It's about the layover in Renssalaer (across the river from Albany). It's about treating the train as if it were bought on layaway in 1977.

What's worse is New York to Montreal by train. It's going fine until you get to Saratoga Springs. Then it goes between 20 and 40 MPH and stops for a while. When I took it in 1998, it cost $20 less than the bus but took two hours longer. did I mention there isn't food service, so you have to get your own picnic supplies before you leave midtown?

The big problem for Acela between Boston and New York is the slowdown across the Thames in eastern Connecticut. That trunk is the only line Amtrak actually owns -- in the rest of the country, CSX owns the track and treats Amtrak like a burden.

minoridiot: the money is in the banana stand: I would much rather take a high speed train than an airplane.

Amtrak

Houston -> Austin
Houston -> Dallas
Houston -> San Antonio
Houston -> Amarillo
Houston -> El Paso
Houston -> College Station
Houston -> Lubbock

You lie. No one really wants to go to Lubbock.

Escape route from Lubbock :)

Don't forget the random VIPR team checkpoints. If high speed passenger rail became a real thing in this country then you could expect the TSA to take over all rail terminals and install the microwaves.

fredbox: Don't forget the random VIPR team checkpoints. If high speed passenger rail became a real thing in this country then you could expect the TSA to take over all rail terminals and install the microwaves.

I seem to remember that the airlines (or maybe airports) had to opt in for TSA screening. And I also seem to remember a story from a year or so back about some Amtrak guy basically telling the TSA to screw off when they were hassling people on a platform in Atlanta (?). Besides, with as many stops as the trains make, the TSA would basically be helpless to set up screening everywhere. Hell, a lot of small town Amtrak stations aren't even staffed for most of the day - somebody shows up to unlock the doors when the train is coming in that morning, then again when it's going the other way that night.