I didn't know the Japanese industrial expertise had gotten to the level that they could build the full route in just fifteen minutes!

Next they need to build a giant 300m Christmas Tree to mark the midpoint and eventually loop around

People are fed up with flying. I haven't flown since 9/11, partially because I don't want all the hassle that's involved with flying. If they could put these trains as connectors all over the country and make the tickets reasonably priced, it would be a godsend to us all.

I got on a flight after a particularly grueling day and I hadn't paid attention to the routing. Imagine my surprise thinking it was a non-stop DCA - DEN and hearing "Flight time will be 8 minutes"

A more useless waste of time and JP5 and other resources I cannot imagine. Especially since the scheduled 30 minute layover in BWI turned into three hours, ensuring that I missed the DEN - SJC connection.

I'd much rather have that bullet train traverse the entire country.

This is a stupid worthless proposal. It's not like this would be a useful route, nor one not already served by not one or two but an astounding 8 mass-transit options. It's also a route with not enough demand to service the current multiple overlap options.

Philly to Baltimore would be more useful. The current transit lag-line on the urban East Coast is the gap from Aberdeen, MD to Newark, DE. There is no current transit connection except Megabus, Greyhound and Amtrak and no local-transit connection at-all. Bridge that gap (all ~20 miles of it) and it's entirely possible to take commuter mass transit all the way from Bangor, ME to Virginia Beach, VA.

There are many people who would enjoy the lower living costs of Baltimore (or options for a dual career couple working in different locations) and a 15 minute commute. I am not one of them as I like living in NoVA so I have no dog in the hunt.

The issue is time. None of the current options would get you from Charm City to DC in less than an hour under typical commuting conditions.

distance, all prices would double. Esp house prices.

is unclear. It could also produce a corresponding decrease in prices for alternative locations where people are now living.

Why not propose a high-speed line between Boston, NYC and DC . . . you know, something that's really needed?

Washington and Baltimore are just 30 minutes apart with a myriad of transportation options already serving the distance and they propose saving 15 minutes?

Give us something worthwhile in savings. How about NYC to LA or Chicago to Dallas if you want to talk about saving real hours not 15 minutes.

the current commuting time is > 1 hr during rush hours.

will allow them to charge higher prices for more lucrative routes later on - like the Tallahassee-Circle Pines express.

Bryant

You could schedule NY to Cuba in the 'teens.

bullet train proposals and have a certain hostility towards mass transit, I think this might be a good idea. Show us what's possible!

...and then they wind up in D.C. (!?)

Build it, and Philly will want in. Build THAT, and linking NYC is a natural; then NYC-DC will be a two hour trip or less. And so on up to Boston. Thus will the Japanese build for us the rail line we shoudl have built for ourselves, replacing the joke that is Acela.

that any high speed line requires? It tends to be the land problems (and the inevitable court decisions that accompany them) that slow things down in the UK. Getting high speed lines in the middle of cities isn't always easy, and it's not a question of technology.

How long has WMATA been talking about replacing the subways in DC? They will finally roll out 4 cars (on the new silver line that services that richest of the metro riders) later this year. These cars won't even increase the time it takes to get anywhere, they'll just be cleaner and presumably safer.

Personally, I would love high-speed rail in the US but only if the prices are on par with flying.

n/t

Or maybe they want to start building it fifteen minutes from now...

Or maybe the train takes fifteen minutes to complete the route...

English is such a messy language, lol.

...it will be built from Fukushima scrap metal.

Depending on where the locate the stations, a lot of people in the DC area would use this to take advantage of flight options from BWI, many of which now are cheaper than those out of National and Dulles.

$200 Million per MILE seems kind of excessive.

In any case, why should the people of New York or California pay even a dollar to fund a train in Baltimore?

although there are certainly better routes it could serve...

And it's a shame that no domestic company has stepped to the plate with a lower pricetag...