tamtagon wrote:^I believe you're right! ...well, for regular passenger trains that is, commuter or light rail; but if we're talking High Speed Rail between Fort Worth and Dallas then it's all good!
Arlington is never going to see a HSR train station as long as it doesn't have any type of public transit - including buses. Arlington would be far beeper served by public transit than by a HSR line. Just check out the passenger data from LA, Chicago, and NYC downtown stations served by Amtrak (which I'll admit isn't a true HSR service). Let's compare commuter traffic with intercity traffic.
NYC Pennsylvania Station
Amtrak passengers 27,900 daily
NJT passengers 92,300 daily
LIRR passengers 231,100 daily
Chicago Union Station
Amtrak passengers 9,000 daily
METRA passengers 108,000 daily
LA Union Station
Amtrak passengers 5,200 daily
Metrolink passengers 27,900 daily
Note: I did not include any buses, subways or light rail trains ridership at these stations, which make the local commuter rail ridership data look small. Never-the-less, commuter rail ridership far exceeds intercity rail ridership everywhere.
I know most will respond that's what happens in liberal land, blue states, and doesn't or shouldn't reflect what occurs in Texas. So, to keep the data local, here's the data from Dallas' Union Station.
Amtrak 123 daily
TRE 2,800*
DART 3,200*
*Note: West End Station has DART's highest ridership at 8,700 back in 2006. DART and TRE data very old and before Green and Orange lines opening for service.
Never-the-less, intercity ridership is far, far below local ridership.
Which is why, if we're going to spend a $Billon of public finances on a rail line connecting Dallas to Fort Worth, I much prefer spending it on a local, regional type train than an intercity train, no matter how fast it goes.