Rail Network Design

The first step is determining what type of rail network to work towards. Ideally, every city of any size would be able to be connected to a nationwide network. However, that obviously isn’t practical for cost reasons. It is also unnecessary as the existing interstate and highway system provides access to virtually every city.

So the objective is to achieve a balance of connecting as the greatest number of people as possible with the shortest route possible. That depends on the distribution of population across the country.

 (Prepared by Geography Division, U.S. Department of Commerce Economics and Statistics Administration U.S. Census Bureau)

As you can see here, the U.S. population is concentrated in the Northeast region, and in the large cities in the Midwest and west coast. About 50% of the total U.S. population lives in the top 40 major metropolitan areas. The most efficient rail system would link as many large cities together as possible, with the least amount of track as possible. Below are 3 conceptual options for a national high speed rail network: national network, disconnected network, and regional corridors.

Another way to analyze the efficiency of a rail system is to look at the ratio of track length to population.

The regional corridors option provides the greatest efficiency, in that it requires the least amount of track, and therefore cost, to reach to greatest number of people. The disadvantage of this system is that there is a smaller number of destinations which can be reached directly from each city. However, air travel is often a better mode choice for these longer trips. The faster travel speed leads to a bigger difference in travel time over longer distances; whereas for shorter trips rail is comparable in time and sometimes faster due to faster boarding, less security, and no waiting to take off and land.

I will be moving forward evaluating the regional corridors option. These regional corridors are a scaled-down version of Amtrak’s designation of 11 HSR corridors⁴. The map below shows the exact route of each regional corridor. The charts provide details for each corridor and compares the Amtrak corridors to the ones I will be evaluating.

 The ratio of track to population for each of the regional corridors is inline with the proposed California High Speed Rail system.

 

Overview

I’ll be delving into published reports on the feasibility of high speed rail (HSR), as well as providing my own analysis. I intend to stick to hard numbers and use conservative estimates, while keeping in mind The Big Question: Is It Worth It? 

To explain, I’ll be frequently referring to the Chicago to St. Louis Amtrak route. Below are estimated costs and travel times for air, driving, and HSR. HSR provides an important middle ground for long-distance travel: faster than driving, and cheaper than flying. Depending on the route, total travel time is sometimes less than traveling by air.

Answering The Big Question involves first answering many, inter-related smaller questions. Here is the basic process: 

-          Design: Where should it go?

-          Type: What type of system should be built?

-          Time and Cost: How does travel time and cost compare to flying and driving?

-          Ridership: How many people would use HSR?

-          Benefits: How to quantify the benefits?

-          Costs: How much would HSR cost to build and operate?

-          Cost/Benefit Analysis: Do the benefits justify the costs?

-          Other Benefits: What are the other advantages of HSR?

-          Funding: How to pay for it?