Every day, roughly 5,000 passengers travel in each direction between Mpls/St. Paul and Chicago and intermediate points (Madison and Milwaukee). That's enough to fill 40 flights per day (20 in each direction).
A highspeed train like the TGV in France or the Shinkasin in Japan would make this trip in 2 1/2 hours with stops at the airports and the intermediate cities as well as downtown Minneapolis and Chicago (400 miles @ 200mph). If the experience of highspeed trains in Europe is taken as a guide, we can expect such a train to attract at least 50% of the 10,000 passengers now traveling daily by air between these cities. And this doesn't take account of the many more people traveling by bus and car between these places. How many gates at the airport would not need to be built if such a train existed? At least 10 by my calculations. Highspeed rail is also more environmentally sound than aircraft and certainly more than the automobile. I think it's time we looked into building a truly modern rail connection between Chicago and the Twin Cities rather than put all of our eggs in the Northwest Airline's basket. Building such a line would not be cheap but I'd like to see a rigorous cost/benefit analysis of this option compared to the airline/automobile one. Charlie Swope Ward 1 _____________________________________________ To Join: St. Paul Issues Forum Rules Discussion Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [email protected] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
