1. No category

The history and future of American high speed rail
Historic Periods of High Speed Rail
2015 service: Amtrak runs on
inland route. All Aboard Florida
trains, starting in 2017, will run
Miami-Cocoa-Orlando.
1930s
1940s
mph
Route Discontinued
-30%
i
mph
1970s
-20%
mph mph
59.7 45.3
1960s
m
0
29.6 26.6
mph
1950s
ia
10%
-10%
-20%
-30%
1940s
es Cocoa
tP
Ft alm
.L
au Bea
de ch
rd
M ale
-10%
mph
1930s
1940s
1900s
1970s
W
28.3
1920s
2015 service: Amtrak
Acela Express; 78.6 mph
commercial speed.
mph
1910s
1970s
1960s
1950s
1940s
1930s
1920s
1910s
1900s
2015 service: Amtrak via
Temple; Future HSR route
runs directly between Dallas
and Houston, not via Temple.
1890s
1980s
1970s
1960s
1950s
1930s
-20%
mph
20%
1900s
-10%
Wash.,
DC
T
O itu
rla sv
nd ille
o
61.7
mph
40%
No Service
mph
63.2
50%
1890s
Houston
mph
Baltimore
mph
mph
40.8 60
30%
1980s
0
mph
61.1
49.3
1970s
Temple
31.4
0
mph
mph
mph
1960s
25.4
Philadelphia
38.6
46.2
63.2
1950s
-20%
10%
Dallas
mph
New York City
48.4
1940s
-10%
mph
62.4
10%
1930s
mph
28.1
mph
mph
1920s
mph
20%
mph
45.3
20%
Florida
mph
60.4
1910s
mph
40.7
30%
1900s
mph
41.6 39.9
mph
mph
80
1890s
mph
1920s
2015 service: Amtrak via
coast; Future hsr route
is inland, via San Jose,
Fresno and Bakersfield.
0
37.4 34.4
1910s
Bakersfield
Los
Angeles
21.3
42
Service
10%
1890s
San Jose
Fresno
mph
ends at
20%
1940s
24.6
1900s
San
Francisco
1910s
30%
Bakersfield
mph
40%
35.3
30%
48.2
Northeast
Corridor
mph
Route Discontinued
50%
40%
1940s
Texas
mph
55.6
1910s
60%
1940s
California
38.6
Percent change by decade of fastest commercial speed along major American rail corridors. Speed calculated as corridor length (miles) divided by end to end travel time (hours).
High speed is not an absolute number. It is historically contingent, defined partly by mass media, partly through subjective perception, and partly in relation to previous rates of movement.
“...the time spent getting from one place to another...is not an objective mathematical unit, but (rather) a subjective perception of time-space.”
1
1830-40: 1st High Speed Train
1890-1910: High Powered Steam Locomotives
Peter Cooper’s Tom Thumb steam locomotive. Coal
fuel. B&O RR. Commercial speed: 15-20 mph. Top
capable speed: 29 mph. 100-200% faster than horsedrawn stagecoach (7-10 mph). Newspaper reports
indicate passenger service on this train was profitable.
Pennsylvania Railroad E-6 “Atlantic” locomotive. 4-42, superheated coal/steam powered. 31,275 lbs tractive
effort. 243,600 lbs. Top capable speed: over 100 mph.
Operating ratio of revenues to expenses was greater
than 1.0; profitable.2
1935–55: Lightweight, Aerodynamic Streamliners
2000-present: All Electric Acela Express
2007: French TGV, World Speed Record
Lima Locomotive Works, GS-4/Golden State steam
locomotive (oil fueled). Superheated. 64,800 lbs
tractive effort. 88’ wheelbase. 475,000 lbs. Top capable
speed: 110 mph. “...(an) instant and profitable...(train)”3
Bombardier Corporation Acela electric powercar.
25,000 volts. Starting tractive effort: 50,000 lbs/23,000
horsepower. 70’ long. 204,000 lbs. Top capable speed:
165 mph. Amtrak financial reports show Acela ridership
revenues cover operating expenses.4
Alstom Corporation TGV 4402. 30,000 volts. (TGV in
regular service is 25,000 volts). 25,000 horsepower. Top
capable speed: 357.2 mph. Japanese magnetic levitation
train speed record: 361 mph.
The future of U.S. high speed rail
California
520 miles: S.F.-L.A.
173 mph av. speed. 220 mph top speed
Train technology not yet determined
$68 billion cost. Public-private partnership
2029 completion date
All Aboard Florida
240 miles: Miami-Orlando.
80 mph av. speed. 125 mph top speed
Siemens “Charger” diesel-electric locomotives
32 trains/day. 1/hour.
$3 billion. Private funding.
2017 completion date
Texas Central Railway
Siemens “Charger“ Locomotive
240 miles. Dallas-Houston.
160 mph av. speed. 205 mph top speed.
Japanese N700 electric power cars
Trains every 30 minutes in peak hours
$10 billion private funding
2021 completion
Sources:
Cohen, J. (2014), “High speed tains and their finances in historical and cross
national perspective,” Final Report, University Transportation Research
Center, Region 2 (New York, N.Y.); Cohen, J. “The historical relativism of
high speed on passenger railways, 1830-present,” Transport, Traffic, and
Mobilities Conference Paper (Philadelphia, PA., September, 2014).
Notes:
1. Schivelbusch, W. (1986), Railway journey: the industrialization of time and
space in the 19th century, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 33-34).
2. Cohen, Final Report, 2014.
3. Hofsommer, D. (1986), The Southern Pacific, 1901-1985 (College Station,
Texas: Texas A&M Uinversity Press).
4. Cohen, Final Report, 2014.
Poster by Jim Cohen, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus; Director, Research Initiatives;
Institute for Transportation Systems; The City University of New York;
jcohen@jjay.cuny.edu
Joe Kirchhof (joe@obscurae.com) provided key technical and design work on
this poster.