Comments on: Memphis seeks inclusion on high speed rail

By: Allan

Allan — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:13:21 +0000

Charlie – You’re correct. Memphis would be the natural nexus … but don’t hold your breath for them to see the obvious.

By: Charlie Vergos

Charlie Vergos — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:08:22 +0000

I was annoyed when I first saw the designated corridor map that each of the proposed lines came within a few hundred miles of each other between St. Louis, Meridian, Birmingham, and Little Rock. It seems like common sense to make Memphis the nexus between those three lines (and a Louisville connection as well, though that may be a stretch). Not to mention the fact that it is a quadramodal city with already existing track for passenger rails connecting Chicago and New Orleans with established right-of-way, a well developed and expanding international airport, several key interstates, and an large active port on the Mississippi. It also has no major geographical barriers preventing rail, as the land in West Tennessee is flat and at low-elevation and has an infrastructure designed around dealing with freight rail.

It’s hard to believe the FTA ignored this when they designated the corridors.

By: 11 Beautiful Train Stations That Fell to the Wrecking Ball (And the Crappy Stuff Built in Their Place) : Chelsea Green

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:23:40 +0000

[...] These days Memphis is expressing interest in being part of the Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor. [...]

By: Demolished! 11 Beautiful Train Stations That Fell To The Wrecking Ball » INFRASTRUCTURIST

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:21:21 +0000

[...] These days Memphis is expressing interest in being part of the Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor. [...]

By: Woody

Woody — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 23:29:50 +0000

Mr Transit, thanks for the link. Always nice to see how much highways cost and how little rail lines cost. Amazing to see the Texas Dept of Highways (or whatever they call themselves now) claiming that they can help with passenger rail. Well, as they say, Follow the money.

By: Wil Skelton

Wil Skelton — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 20:36:02 +0000

Any rail searvice between little Rock and Memphis via searcy and wynne would be great. Pat you are very correct about the cities having farther reach then their city limits. Both cities serve the counties as central hubs of business.In most cases there are more people living with in the county then the city limits. I know a lot of College students who would be willing to hop a train to end up in down town LR or MEM for the night or weekend. 110 mph service would be ideal for the area. That is nearly double the speed limit on the dreaded drive between searcy and Memphis. (the US-64 route not Interstate 40)

By: NikolasM

NikolasM — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 19:19:41 +0000

DFW-Texarkana-Little Rock-Memphis-Birmingham-Atlanta… need to look at the big picture. And this line is more promising than say the “Meridian Speedway” because the DFW-Little Rock part could split easily at that point north to St. Louis and Chicago, thereby sharing a lot of track for some major routes.

By: Allan

Allan — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 18:21:01 +0000

There is a need for a LR-Memphis passenger rail route. It doesn’t need to be HSR … “fast” (90-110-mph) would be great.

While TDOT does have a study for a Memphis-Bristol route, don’t expect much to come of it. A lot of new rail would need to be laid … thus making it very expensive.

By: Streetsblog » Putting the Chill on Sprawl in New Jersey

Streetsblog » Putting the Chill on Sprawl in New Jersey — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:03:47 +0000

[...] in order to bring some coherence to metropolitan development. Other news from around the network: Trains for America reports that Memphis wants in on the high-speed rail action; Baltimore Spokes has a post on an 11 [...]

By: Streetsblog » Putting a Chill on Sprawl in New Jersey

Streetsblog » Putting a Chill on Sprawl in New Jersey — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 14:52:08 +0000