Private Firm Planning Bullet Trains in Texas by 2020

[ffemt300]

I love trains. Fast ones can only be cooler. Get me out of Houston traffic and into DFW in an hour or less? Sign me up.

The firm hopes to have bullet trains moving Texans at 205 miles per hour between Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston by 2020.

[RPB]

watch out for that loose cow on the track ... nevermind ...

Houston to Austin in an hour would be great;
I just worry about that speed while on the ground instead of the air; too many squirrels on the tracks didn't get the memo and wild boar are major speed bumps of grease... I smell bacon

elevated monorail systems could be cool

Houston and Austin's Metro rail have plenty of wrecks.

[nyj]

Heck yeah!! I have friends in Houston & Dallas I would love to go see more than once a year.

[Oldgringo]

I hope it comes through Rusk. I'll only be 78 in 2020 and I've never ridden a bullet train. I sure hope this Texas bullet train isn't 30.06 posted, don't y'all?

[77346]

That would be so cool... but how is it going to be funded?

[ffemt300]

Just realized I forgot to include the link to the article.... DOH!

http://www.texastribune.org/texas-trans ... exas-2020/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[AEA]

I predict......
If it actually ever gets built/operational, the price of a ticket from DFW to HOU will cost the same (or more) than airfare.

[Jumping Frog]

I predict......
If it actually ever gets built/operational, the price of a ticket from DFW to HOU will cost the same (or more) than airfare.

Yeah, but I'd gladly pay for that instead of airfare if I didn't need to arrive an hour before departure time and go through the TSA rigamarole. Flying is very inconvenient now.

[JJVP]

Bullet trains, what caliber? FMJ's or JHP's?

[AEA]

I predict......
If it actually ever gets built/operational, the price of a ticket from DFW to HOU will cost the same (or more) than airfare.

Yeah, but I'd gladly pay for that instead of airfare if I didn't need to arrive an hour before departure time and go through the TSA rigamarole. Flying is very inconvenient now.

[knotquiteawake]

I think you guys are right about the price being higher than airfare. However, I bet they're going to have security just as tight (or pointless?) as the airports. The main difference is that they will likely hire a private firm to do the work. So while you won't have to deal with the TSA you will likely not be permitted to carry. Bullet train would be a tempting target to terrorists I think which is why I was thinking the security would be fairly high.

[AEA]

[sjfcontrol]

I think you guys are right about the price being higher than airfare. However, I bet they're going to have security just as tight (or pointless?) as the airports. The main difference is that they will likely hire a private firm to do the work. So while you won't have to deal with the TSA you will likely not be permitted to carry. Bullet train would be a tempting target to terrorists I think which is why I was thinking the security would be fairly high.

Which means they will be forced to use TSA anyway. After all, the "T" stands for "Transportation".

[psijac]

I think you guys are right about the price being higher than airfare. However, I bet they're going to have security just as tight (or pointless?) as the airports. The main difference is that they will likely hire a private firm to do the work. So while you won't have to deal with the TSA you will likely not be permitted to carry. Bullet train would be a tempting target to terrorists I think which is why I was thinking the security would be fairly high.

Which means they will be forced to use TSA anyway. After all, the "T" stands for "Transportation".

I hate how true this is

[PUCKER]

I've ridden on a bullet train in Japan (from Tokyo to Nagoya from what I recall), it was, in a word, AWESOME! So FAST! No hassle/security, just went to the train station, through the turnstyle type of entry and then waiting for the train to pull up and got on, just like getting on a local train.

I've ridden a somewhat fast train (bullet? maybe, can't say for sure but it did move) from Frankfurt, Germany, to Hannover. Same experience, other than the Japanese train being more comfortable/roomy, better seats, probably had something to do with the class of service, possibly.