Communter Rail between NOLA and Baton Rouge (2 Viewers)

[SaintJ]

Not to mention the cost of buying up enough land for a right-of-way for a six-lane and all of its cloverleaf exits, as opposed to two rail lines and some station parcels.

More people would live upriver from N.O. and downriver from BR. More commuter trains to and from those neighborhoods than all the way between cities, until demand indicated otherwise.

Rail systems like this are always going to lose money intially, but so do toll roads. Rail systems with buy-in can give your city a real downtown, as opposed to the plasma-like state of such megacities (by footprint) such as Atlanta and L.A.

 

[SaintJ]

It's roughly 80 miles from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. If you car gets 20 MPG, that's 8 gallons of gas. @ $2.50/gallon, that's $20 a day to drive. How is the train any worse?

If you ride the commuter trains up here, New Haven, CT, to Grand Central Terminal, NYC, it's $11.50 during off-peak times, and $14.00 during peak times, one way.

Not to mention THE COST OF PARKING.

If I do a round-trip to work by train, it's 30 minutes each way (roughly), $1.00 to park, $4.50 each way, $9.00 total. If I drive the 22 miles during rush hour, it's an hour and two gallons of gas, plus between $17 and $24 to park my car within 8 blocks of my office, or a $22-29 total.

I drive some days, but I try to take the train 3-4 days a week; you can work, clear emails, read the paper, do SR.com on a wireless computer.

Not to mention that downtown Philadelphia could not function without commuter transit; gridlock + no parking + and extra 45 minutes of rush hour, with people with these attitudes, is a combustible combination.

 

[varanook]

It's roughly 80 miles from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. If you car gets 20 MPG, that's 8 gallons of gas. @ $2.50/gallon, that's $20 a day to drive. How is the train any worse?

If you ride the commuter trains up here, New Haven, CT, to Grand Central Terminal, NYC, it's $11.50 during off-peak times, and $14.00 during peak times, one way.

Does not cost me 20.00 a day to drive. I don't quite get to N.O. and I am south of BR in Ascension Parish. Which would be too much money at 22.00-25.00 a day.

 

[Mr. Sparkle]

File this under Never Gonna Happen.

We can't even get the St. Charles streetcar line back up and running yet.

 

[jimwnola]

This is not forward thinking. It is half-a** patch to solve a temporary problem that will be too late for its purpose. Slow poking Amtrack trains taking 2 times the drive time to BR will just make it seem like all rail ventures here will fail, and will doom all other ideas. Forward thinking would be light rail specifically tailored for New Orleans needs, branching outward intelligently to New Orleans suburbs, not BR.

 

[ChillyGentilly]

This is not forward thinking. It is half-a** patch to solve a temporary problem that will be too late for its purpose. Slow poking Amtrack trains taking 2 times the drive time to BR will just make it seem like all rail ventures here will fail, and will doom all other ideas. Forward thinking would be light rail specifically tailored for New Orleans needs, branching outward intelligently to New Orleans suburbs, not BR.

I agree too. That's what I'm talkin' about. Look at Germany's S-Bahn system.

You are right, don't let Amtrak anywhere near it. Hire ABB or Alstom.

Maybe less than a week of Iraq spending would git er goin. And it would be a visible benefit for the people who pay for it.

Check it out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-Bahn

All the expertise exists already. It's just a matter of tapping into it.

 

[SoonerJim]

That is fantasy. This is reality, a story of Terrance's alma mater.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/01/education/01orleans.html?_r=1&ref=education&oref=slogin

 

[St. Ranger]

Why not try and build something that has been working well in other countries but has yet to make an appearance in the States...the high-speed rail. At 180-200mph, it would take like 15 minutes to get to New Orleans from Baton Rouge.

 

[saints225]

things of concern:

1) security, especially if it is used late at night, such as getting home from saints games or bourbon st.

2) effects on the neighborhoods the tracks/stations are located

It would use current tracks.

 

[saints225]

I think you might've misunderstood. What I'm talking about is if you take the train to work and something comes up to where you can't leave work right at five, you're going to be stuck in downtown Seattle with no way home. Except a nightmare 2 1/2-hour bus ride or an unholy expensive cab trip.

There would be 13 trains leaving a day on weekdays and 8 on weekends.

 

[jimwnola]

Again, more reality to consider. Right now, it takes 2 hours and 2 minutes for the present Amtrak train to go from Picayune, MS to New Olreans, with 1 Slidell stop in between. Baton Rouge is 80 miles with maybe 4 or more stops? Do the math. Admittedly, for some strange reason that same Amtrak makes the return trip from New Orleans to Picayune in a "zippy" 1 hour 20 minutes. Downhill, wind, less traffic? Even taking the average, using proportions and adding 15 more minutes for 3 more stops, I come up with 3 hours each way.
So for all you people who want to live in Baton Rouge and spend 24 dollars day, and commute 6 hours a day, to work in New Orleans, it sounds like a great idea.

 

[varanook]

Again, more reality to consider. Right now, it takes 2 hours and 2 minutes for the present Amtrak train to go from Picayune, MS to New Olreans, with 1 Slidell stop in between. Baton Rouge is 80 miles with maybe 4 or more stops? Do the math. Admittedly, for some strange reason that same Amtrak makes the return trip from New Orleans to Picayune in a "zippy" 1 hour 20 minutes. Downhill, wind, less traffic? Even taking the average, using proportions and adding 15 more minutes for 3 more stops, I come up with 3 hours each way.
So for all you people who want to live in Baton Rouge and spend 24 dollars day, and commute 6 hours a day, to work in New Orleans, it sounds like a great idea.

The current plan may not work, but at least it is an idea.
That is the primary problem with this state and the recovery as a whole, every time an idea is floated it is shot down by someone.
That is why there is no plan, no nothing and why most of the country cannot stand the fact that thier tax dollars are going to rebuild this place.

This state has a great chance to be forward thinking but the leadership and residents can't ever agree on anything and no one is willing to make some hard decisions. It just friggin sucks. Has anything real been done except the Superdome?
Here is what most of the nation thinks. Some may sound woefully ignorant but some points are correct as well.
http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2006/10/post_38.html#more

 

[MLU]

Saw something last night on the news saying it may take business away from the Baton Rouge Airport. It would probably, but it would life easier for other things.

I just can't imagine that there are many people buying tickets to fly from Baton Rouge to New Orleans...

 

[ChillyGentilly]

Again, more reality to consider. Right now, it takes 2 hours and 2 minutes for the present Amtrak train to go from Picayune, MS to New Olreans, with 1 Slidell stop in between. Baton Rouge is 80 miles with maybe 4 or more stops? Do the math. Admittedly, for some strange reason that same Amtrak makes the return trip from New Orleans to Picayune in a "zippy" 1 hour 20 minutes. Downhill, wind, less traffic? Even taking the average, using proportions and adding 15 more minutes for 3 more stops, I come up with 3 hours each way.
So for all you people who want to live in Baton Rouge and spend 24 dollars day, and commute 6 hours a day, to work in New Orleans, it sounds like a great idea.

You're still talkin about Amtrak. If that's the plan give it a miss.

Go to people who know how to build and run high speed rail, with proven results.

They ain't in America.

But if you pay them to come over they'll biuild it for you and transfer the know how.

It's down to how bad you want it. Priorities.

 

[Ted]

I just can't imagine that there are many people buying tickets to fly from Baton Rouge to New Orleans...

no, it's that people would take the train to MSY to fly instead of flying from BTR