(creep alert)
Bill:
How is that Acela? Reliable, fast, decent trackage & MX?
I like the idea of it, especially for the eastern seaboard/New England region, wish we had something like that for the I-35 DAL/AUS/SAT corridor.
Sorry for late response.
Acela is great. Much more reliable than airlines, fast, decent trackage DC-NY. I prefer it to the Shuttle (DL or US, man, I came close to saying "Eastern"). 2:45 from Union Station in DC to Penn Station, with 5 intermediate stops.
We were 20 minutes late out of New York last Friday with a packed train that originated in Boston (where the airport was nearly shut down).... door problem. Still, my last flight from JFK to DCA left 40 minutes late. Acela is the only way to go when the weather is down.
Airline: 45-1 hour before, hour+ flight block time, another 45 minutes to deplane, do the taxi line, and get into NY.... total: 2:45 to midtown. Even worse if weather is down.
I love taking the train. Good cell coverage, decent wireless-cell-broadband data coverage, 110 v electrical outlets at each seat. Wide seats and a lot more leg room.
I agree: the DAL-AUS-SAT corridor would be ideal, and might have enough traffic to support. More likely, DAL-AUS-HOU would do well, too. I'm not sure how well it would stand up to the fares on Southwest. Or how well it would do given that all the cities are sprawled over a lot of real estate. It works for the NE corridor because there are dense city centers.
Oh, wait, isn't this part of Rick Perry's grand scheme for the Trans-Texas Corridor? You know, the one that will have huge highway tolls going to Cintra of Spain?