#passengerrail — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #passengerrail, aggregated by home.social.
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Alstom will deliver 313 long-distance coaches for VIA Rail http://dlvr.it/TVKKV7 #passengerrail #RailNews #Railfreight #RailMarket
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Alstom will deliver 313 long-distance coaches for VIA Rail http://dlvr.it/TVKKV7 #passengerrail #RailNews #Railfreight #RailMarket
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Alstom will deliver 313 long-distance coaches for VIA Rail http://dlvr.it/TVKKV7 #passengerrail #RailNews #Railfreight #RailMarket
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Alstom will deliver 313 long-distance coaches for VIA Rail http://dlvr.it/TVKKV7 #passengerrail #RailNews #Railfreight #RailMarket
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Alstom will deliver 313 long-distance coaches for VIA Rail http://dlvr.it/TVKKV7 #passengerrail #RailNews #Railfreight #RailMarket
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Free public transport coming for WA http://dlvr.it/TGSj86 #OperationsandMaintenance #PassengerCareandComfort #passengerrail
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#Maine Voices: Nobody would benefit from the building of the #GorhamConnector
Transit-oriented urban design boosts economies, reduces emissions and provides public space; the only long-term result of the Gorham Connector will be #sprawl.
Posted September 29, 2023
By Jasper Curtis"If the Gorham Connector is constructed and put to use, everyone in the state will lose out in more ways than one.
First, there is the cost, up to $237 million. That’s a lot of money, and it’s on top of the $140 million already being spent on lane widening on Interstate 95. Spoiler alert, none of that money will relieve congestion. In fact, it will likely do the opposite, as proven time and time again in countless U.S. cities. On top of the $340 million total, there is the price of owning a car, which costs the average American $11,000 per year. New car prices are nearing $50,000. None of this is affordable to everyday Mainers. It’s time the state takes these costs seriously, instead of burdening taxpayers with more."Increased road capacity simply leads to more cars on the roads and does not reduce the time spent in traffic. It is a case of #InducedDemand, where wider roads encourage more driving, more vehicles then fill the roads and the public is asked to fund another road- widening project. The cycle repeats itself to extremes, such as the 26-lane #KatyFreeway outside Houston, Texas, which did not solve traffic. St. Louis, Missouri, home to the most highway square mileage per capita in the country, has yet to cease traffic. Here we are again, however, being asked to fork over our tax dollars to an inefficient, ineffective solution to a problem that the state created with poor #UrbanPlanning and shortsighted #infrastructure projects.
"Light #PassengerRail from #WestbrookMaine to #PortlandMaine would cost an estimated $75 million. That’s about $19 million per mile. If a similar cost-per-mile ratio were to be applied to the #GorhamConnector, the project would total $115 million. (Even if the cost-per-mile ratio were double the estimated cost of the Westbrook-to-Portland connection, building rail along the proposed Gorham Connector route would still save $7 million.) From Gorham to Portland, the cost of rail would be almost $30 million cheaper than the Gorham Connector, which reaches only to the Maine Mall in South Portland.
"Rail helps not only commuters and students, but also those who require vehicles for work, because, unlike road widening, public transit reduces the number of vehicles on the road. Driving a work truck on public roads can be infuriating during peak traffic; I know because I have done so. The same goes for driving in an emergency. Rail would help these alleviate these problems; the Gorham Connector would not.
While less quantitative than the previous points, #Maine must still be conscious of its #environmental and social goals. The Maine Department of Transportation (#MDOT) should keep these in mind before it decides its best solution to traffic is to encourage more internal combustion engines. Part of what makes Maine so special to residents is the nature around us. Let’s not wreck it for the sake of one more lane. Maine’s population is the oldest in the nation, and seniors deserve to have safe travel options."Transit-oriented urban design boosts economies, reduces emissions and provides public space. There will be no long-term benefit from the Gorham Connector, only sprawl. It’s that simple. Honest Maine people work hard for their paychecks – they deserve infrastructure that uses their tax dollars with vision and purpose, not another wasteful, #pollution-filled project."
https://www.pressherald.com/2023/09/29/maine-voices-the-gorham-connector-is-a-bad-idea-in-more-ways- than-one
#GorhamSpur #SaveSmilingHillFarm
#SaveTheForest #Woodlands #Meadows #EnvironmentalImpact #GorhamConnector #SaveRedBrook #GreaterPortlandMaine #LightRail #BikeLanes #BusService #MTA #ProtectFarmland #LessCars #WorkingFarms #RapidTransit -
Now, if we could just get some light rail for the greater #PortlandMaine area (instead of building more highways through woods and farmland)!
Federal funding will allow #Downeaster to explore expansion to Rockland, add Falmouth station
The money comes as ridership from Boston to Brunswick has rebounded to pre-pandemic levels.
By Eric Russell, December 8, 2023
"The #Amtrak Downeaster will receive a half million dollars under a new initiative from the Biden Administration to improve and expand #PassengerRail service across the country.
"The $500,000 in funding for the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, which operates the Downeaster, will explore building a new station in Falmouth and extending train service from Brunswick to Rockland, something that has long been considered.
"The award to the Downeaster, which runs daily from #Boston to #BrunswickMaine with several stops along the way, was part of $8.2 billion in funds announced Friday under the Federal Railroad Administration’s Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Program. It’s the largest federal investment in passenger rail transportation since Amtrak was created in 1971.
"The largest portion of those funds – $3 billion – will help pay for a new rail line from Las Vegas to Los Angeles that is supposed to be finished before the 2028 summer Olympics in LA. The trip will take about two hours, or half the time it takes to drive.
Also receiving funds are a #LosAngeles - to - #SanFrancisco train; a rail expansion between #WashingtonDC, and #RichmondVirginia; and other upgrades in #Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and other states.
“'Passengers from across America will be thrilled to read about the funding agreements announced today,' said Jim Mathews, president and CEO of the Rail Passengers Association. 'These grants will support the introduction of daily Amtrak service in regions that currently have to make do with trains that only come through their town three times per week; they will help expand popular Amtrak services in rapidly growing parts of the Southeast; and they’ll plant the seeds for scores of new routes across the nation.'"
#Maine #Massachusetts #NewHampshire #Trains #CommuterRail #MoreTrainsLessCars