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Inside Amtrak's Push to Bring Japanese-Style High-Speed Rail to the US
06.10.2023 - 15:39 / pcmag.com
Amtrak wants to bring high-speed trains to the US, a country known more for pickup trucks and planes than public transit, and has recruited Andy Byford to get the job done.
"If there ever was a time we can make high-speed reality in the US it’s now," the Englishman said at the MOVE America Conference last week. "We have the support. We have the funding. We are looking to effect a rail revolution across the US."
Byford joined Amtrak this year, his 34th year working in public transit and second position in the States. He previously served as president of the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) from 2018-2020. During that time, he improved on-time train performance from 59% to 82%, he says. The improvements delighted New Yorkers, who dubbed him "Train Daddy."
"Little stickers with a picture of my face superimposed on a train started appearing in Brooklyn and suddenly everyone was calling me Train Daddy," he says. "The most amusing thing was that the image of me had lipstick on. I'm not sure what they were trying to tell me."
After a falling out with since-ousted Governor Andrew Cuomo, Byford left the MTA and went to oversee London's transport system, the New York Times reports. As of April 2023, he's back in America with a new mission: Gaining enough political support, and funding, to finally start the type of high-speed rail service he says is already commonplace in Europe, Asia, Russia, Morocco—"everywhere except the US. The US is the outlier."
Byford defines high-speed as trains that can go at least 160mph. Amtrak's lines currently achieve far lower speeds, such as the six-hour, 70mph journey from Boston to Washington, D.C. "It takes that long because the train cannot go at its full speed," Byford says.
Turns out, having speedier trains requires more changes to the tracks than the trains themselves. Around 97% of the railways Amtrak's trains run on are not owned by Amtrak, creating delays getting stuck behind freight trains and regional lines. Even Amtrak's Acela service, which it bills as high-speed, has trains "capable of 150mph, but the line itself—the infrastructure over which it runs—is the problem," Byford explains.
High-speed tracks must be primarily straight, without any sharp curves, crossings, and limited stops along the way. They must run between two highly populated areas with consistent ridership, and easy access to other forms of public transit on either end. Taking a long Uber upon arrival could undermine the convenience of the train and compel riders to drive instead, Byford says.
His team has identified a set of "compelling city pairings" where this type of rail could thrive. So far, Dallas to Houston has emerged as the top candidate. The 3.5-hour drive between them is
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