OT: - High Speed Rail Through Storrs? | The Boneyard

OT: High Speed Rail Through Storrs?

aburks41

aburks41

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Article says the high speed rail would take 100 minutes to go from NYC to Boston, with stops in Hartford, Storrs, and Providence. This would be possibly the wisest decision the university could make it they can help pull this off. Being 50 minutes from NYC or Boston by train to Storrs would be one of the best recruiting angles we have.

Also, us Hartford county folks only a 50 minute train ride from the Big East Tournament? Yes please

h/t @Storrs South
 
Hey Adrien! said:
The gridlock this country is through to improve infrastructure options is insane. If this is pulled off, a 100% wonderful idea.
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Not Happening Ufc 211 GIF by UFC
 
aburks41 said:


Article says the high speed rail would take 100 minutes to go from NYC to Boston, with stops in Hartford, Storrs, and Providence. This would be possibly the wisest decision the university could make it they can help pull this off. Being 50 minutes from NYC or Boston by train to Storrs would be one of the best recruiting angles we have.

Also, us Hartford county folks only a 50 minute train ride from the Big East Tournament? Yes please

h/t @Storrs South
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It's too good to be true for UCONN Basketball fans.

That route also sounds kinda tricky geographically. Cuts across all the hills and valleys of the state. Amtrak and current Metro North lines stick to the coast and then travel north through river valleys.

From a ticket sales standpoint it seems unlikely as well. When compared to existing Amtrak routes, you would be swapping Stamford, Bridgeport, New Haven and New London for Hartford and Storrs. Not so sure that pencils out.

Would be cool. Just seems unlikely.
 
NDakotaHusky said:
It's too good to be true for UCONN Basketball fans.

That route also sounds kinda tricky geographically. Cuts across all the hills and valleys of the state. Amtrak and current Metro North lines stick to the coast and then travel north through river valleys.

From a ticket sales standpoint it seems unlikely as well. When compared to existing Amtrak routes, you would be swapping Stamford, Bridgeport, New Haven and New London for Hartford and Storrs. Not so sure that pencils out.

Would be cool. Just seems unlikely.
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I feel like I may not be alone in thinking this, but I rarely ever go to NYC because it's a 45 minute drive to New Haven and then a 1.5 hour train ride. If you tell me all I need to do now is drive 15 minutes to Hartford and sit on a train for 50 minutes, I would probably be there once a month even if it was just for a quick evening dinner.

50 minutes from NYC or Boston for Hartford county people is huge, there would be a lot more customers than you think
 
NDakotaHusky said:
It's too good to be true for UCONN Basketball fans.

That route also sounds kinda tricky geographically. Cuts across all the hills and valleys of the state. Amtrak and current Metro North lines stick to the coast and then travel north through river valleys.

From a ticket sales standpoint it seems unlikely as well. When compared to existing Amtrak routes, you would be swapping Stamford, Bridgeport, New Haven and New London for Hartford and Storrs. Not so sure that pencils out.

Would be cool. Just seems unlikely.
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Its purpose is for intracity travel between the big cities. If going through podunk accomplishes it faster, that's where it will go.

i'd be happy with an east-west route between hartford and providence, via something around storrs, of any kind.
 
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pepband99 said:
Its purpose is for intracity travel between the big cities. If going through podunk accomplishes it faster, that's where it will go.

i'd be happy with an east-west route between hartford and providence, via something around storrs, of any kind.
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Makes sense. The route would definitely be controversial. I still don't see Hartford winning. It hasn't in the past.
 
aburks41 said:
I feel like I may not be alone in thinking this, but I rarely ever go to NYC because it's a 45 minute drive to New Haven and then a 1.5 hour train ride. If you tell me all I need to do now is drive 15 minutes to Hartford and sit on a train for 50 minutes, I would probably be there once a month even if it was just for a quick evening dinner.

50 minutes from NYC or Boston for Hartford county people is huge, there would be a lot more customers than you think
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I would go to NYC once a month if this was an option, easily.
 
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Realistically, with today's environmental thinking, it would have to be solar or fusion powered, or maybe they've figured out how to use the wind power they'll generate at the high speeds they'll be traveling. Sort of like a wind power fusion reaction that produces more energy than the drag caused by the turbines used to generate power.

But, since the permits will likely take at least 20 years to obtain, fusion power will be in place and it'll be a go.
 
Unless it runs down the median of existing interstate highways, it will never happen. Nobody wants that eyesore running through their towns and the litigation over eminent domain, environmental, safety, permitting would go on for decades. It’s a great idea DOA.
 
Electric vehicles are the zero carbon future in this country not trains; we’re a mostly rural and suburban country. Especially post covid where decentralization, suburban spread and working for home have become the norm. Look at what’s going on with prices of rural land for example. No one will use this service, if there was demand the private sector would have built this already.
 
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NDakotaHusky said:
I went to our game against Stanford a few years back. Flew into San Francisco. Took the train to campus. It wasn't a high speed train, but it was still only about 50 minutes. The train stop was right on the edge of campus. It was very cool.
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Nine years ago, I took the train back from the Rutgers game at the RAC. My car broke down right off the I-287 exit and the tow guy graciously dropped us off at the RAC and helped schedule a taxi post-game. It was very not cool.

Return trip from the RAC:
  • ~9 PM Taxi from RAC to Dunellen Station
  • ~10 train from Dunellen to Newark
  • ~ 11 transfer from Newark to New Jersey Coast Line
  • ~11:30, arrive at Penn Station, say goodbye to buddy who lived in Manhattan. Take subway to Grand Central
  • ~12:30 AMish train back from Grand Central to Stamford. Keep in mind, this was a Saturday evening so it was one of those 12:30 AM trains and oh, I forgot to mention UConn lost the game
  • ~1:30 AMish. Arrive at Stamford, have my sweet mom pick me up at the station (was 24/25 at the time, still living at home paying off college loans).
  • ~11 AMish the next day, drive back to Jersey with my dad to learn the car needed 5k in repairs. With it being a 1998 civic, I instead sold the car for 1k for parts.
In summary, yeah, a high speed train to Storrs would be awesome.
 
Connecticut is flyover country in an conversation about high speed rail. Multiple stops works against the concept. Stopping in Storrs to service a population of 20k - most of which get discounted tickets?

A single CT hub in New Haven makes most sense. Local trains get vast population (Hartford, New London, Waterbury, Stamford) onto high speed rail in under 30 minutes. How many people can get to Storrs quicker than New Haven? Even Hartford is less convenient for the majority of the population and businesses.

CT pols will be snowed with green promises and multiple stops, then will end up accepting on stop in Waterbury or Harford declaring this will revitalize urban CT. Infrastructure improvements that really have an impact will cost huge money and need to serve the vast population centers. The placement of CTs connection will likely not be based CT's needs/requests. The will put in New London or Hartford to save $1m on a $500b project.
 
Hey Adrien! said:
Nine years ago, I took the train back from the Rutgers game at the RAC. My car broke down right off the I-287 exit and the tow guy graciously dropped us off at the RAC and helped schedule a taxi post-game. It was very not cool.

Return trip from the RAC:
  • ~9 PM Taxi from RAC to Dunellen Station
  • ~10 train from Dunellen to Newark
  • ~ 11 transfer from Newark to New Jersey Coast Line
  • ~11:30, arrive at Penn Station, say goodbye to buddy who lived in Manhattan. Take subway to Grand Central
  • ~12:30 AMish train back from Grand Central to Stamford. Keep in mind, this was a Saturday evening so it was one of those 12:30 AM trains and oh, I forgot to mention UConn lost the game
  • ~1:30 AMish. Arrive at Stamford, have my sweet mom pick me up at the station (was 24/25 at the time, still living at home paying off college loans).
  • ~11 AMish the next day, drive back to Jersey with my dad to learn the car needed 5k in repairs. With it being a 1998 civic, I instead sold the car for 1k for parts.
In summary, yeah, a high speed train to Storrs would be awesome.
Expand ...
Sounds like the bed of a pickup and a good blanket would be awesome in comparison
 
aburks41 said:
I feel like I may not be alone in thinking this, but I rarely ever go to NYC because it's a 45 minute drive to New Haven and then a 1.5 hour train ride. If you tell me all I need to do now is drive 15 minutes to Hartford and sit on a train for 50 minutes, I would probably be there once a month even if it was just for a quick evening dinner.

50 minutes from NYC or Boston for Hartford county people is huge, there would be a lot more customers than you think
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I’ve been saying this since I was like 12. With the trains they have in Europe, and elsewhere overseas, it’s an absolute disgrace that we haven’t connected cities in the Northeast yet, with hour or less trips. Looks like I should have been elected at 12.
 
UcannUconn said:
Electric vehicles are the zero carbon future in this country not trains; we’re a mostly rural and suburban country. Especially post covid where decentralization, suburban spread and working for home have become the norm. Look at what’s going on with prices of rural land for example. No one will use this service, if there was demand the private sector would have built this already.
Expand ...
Suburban is connected to the urban, not the rural. And as a nations we are actually more urban/suburban than we are rural. I think lots of people will use this service. I will absolutely use it. My yearly trips to NYC, Boston, and Providence would increase.
 
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Hey Adrien! said:
Nine years ago, I took the train back from the Rutgers game at the RAC. My car broke down right off the I-287 exit and the tow guy graciously dropped us off at the RAC and helped schedule a taxi post-game. It was very not cool.

Return trip from the RAC:
  • ~9 PM Taxi from RAC to Dunellen Station
  • ~10 train from Dunellen to Newark
  • ~ 11 transfer from Newark to New Jersey Coast Line
  • ~11:30, arrive at Penn Station, say goodbye to buddy who lived in Manhattan. Take subway to Grand Central
  • ~12:30 AMish train back from Grand Central to Stamford. Keep in mind, this was a Saturday evening so it was one of those 12:30 AM trains and oh, I forgot to mention UConn lost the game
  • ~1:30 AMish. Arrive at Stamford, have my sweet mom pick me up at the station (was 24/25 at the time, still living at home paying off college loans).
  • ~11 AMish the next day, drive back to Jersey with my dad to learn the car needed 5k in repairs. With it being a 1998 civic, I instead sold the car for 1k for parts.
In summary, yeah, a high speed train to Storrs would be awesome.
Expand ...
jumping in here to say: if anyone on this board is selling or knows someone selling a 1992-1999 Civic 5spd with no rust or minimal rust I am willing to pay top dollar. I don't even care if it doesn't run.
 
aburks41 said:


Article says the high speed rail would take 100 minutes to go from NYC to Boston, with stops in Hartford, Storrs, and Providence. This would be possibly the wisest decision the university could make it they can help pull this off. Being 50 minutes from NYC or Boston by train to Storrs would be one of the best recruiting angles we have.

Also, us Hartford county folks only a 50 minute train ride from the Big East Tournament? Yes please

h/t @Storrs South
Expand ...

Good luck with that....many of you were not here when I-84 was proposed and designed to go from Hartford, thru Manchester and Willimantic to Providence in the mid-70s. I worked on the route thru Willimantic as the contractor's project engineer. The route was stopped cold in its tracks going east of Willimantic due to opposition from the farming communities to the east and because of "environmental" concerns. That was then when the environmental standards were less severe than they are today and I suspect that there would be similar opposition from the communities to the east as there was then. Getting thru the Environmental Impact Study phase will take years at a snail's pace.

Note that I support such an endeavor, but the obstacles will be monumental and so would the cost.
 
Stamford, Bridgport, New Haven, and Providence (all of RI) have no chance of out-lobbying the Storrs delegate.
There is no chance this happens.
 
Stinger92860 said:
we need a stop in Fairfield count, maybe Danbury
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How would you get to Danbury when Weston and Wilton stopped construction of a new Rte 7 route from Norwalk to Danbury? They certainly would not agree to this, AND, then you need to get from Danbury to Waterbury to Hartford!
 
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