Facts Substantiating Development of
The New York To Chicago Railroad
The New York & Chicago Railroad is designed to connect the midwest (Great Lakes Corridor) with the Northeast Corridor, with 15 major stops eventually along a route with the greatest potential of passengers in the USA. These locations have a total population of over 100 million.
Trains cost travelers between 30 to 75% less, 1/6th that of driving and 1/10th of flying.
Tracks for high speed rail (HSR) right of way (ROW) require only 33% of the land currently used for highways, and is less likely to result in wetland losses and flooding.
One trains can accommodate on average 800 passengers, with travel times equivalent to airlines on this alignment.
Trains emit far fewer total emissions (volatile organic compounds, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide) than cars and planes.
Motor vehicle crashed cost $820 per tax payer for medical expenses, traffic delays, insurance and legal costs. Over 1,000 people lose their lives in traffic accidents in Illinois and other major states every year. There are about 1,000 USA aviation deaths a year also. Japan and France HSR (the two biggest systsems) never had a fatality.
The line ends in Chicago on the west, with integrated travel, convenient connections to Amtrak long distance trains traveling further west to Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, and south to New Orleans/Texas. There are additional connections to more cities in the Midwest.
The United States is severely behind other countries such as France, Germany, England, Spain, and China in developing a high speed rail infrastructure.
Electrified rail would contribute significantly to ending the US oil dependency and reduce aviation/personal vehicle air pollution. Airplanes are not subject to any pollution standards, unlike railroads. 30,000 daily commercial US flights burn 5,000-50,000 gallons of oil each.
The US High Speed Rail Association wants:
17,000 miles of HSR ROW with 75 major cities (300 million people) at a cost of $340,000,000,000.00 - billion.
The Midwest High Speed Rail Association wants:
1,500 miles of HSR ROW with 10 major cities (5 major city pairs, 35 million people) at a cost of $30,000,000,000.00 - billion
The Obama "vision" wants:
A lot of shared freight ROW at higher speeds that is being rejected by the states.
But the NY & Chicago Railroad only wants:
500 miles of true HSR ROW with 10 major cities (120 major city pairs, 100 million people) at a cost of $10,000,000,000.00 - billion, 5 more major cities later.
