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I wish we could get this on the East Coast. D.C. -> Philadelphia -> NYC -> Boston I would easily pay $1000 to $1500 a month. It would as affordable as an Amt

I wish we could get this on the East Coast. D.C. -> Philadelphia -> NYC -> Boston I would easily pay $1000 to $1500 a month. It would as affordable as an Amtrak pass and just as convenient. The possibilities for those who don't want to move to another city for work but want to broaden their options (or course if your salary range allows--but if you are making 100k or more it is brilliant).

dwynings 14y ago
They actually had planned to launch on the East Coast, but changed their minds because of the train services there. More info: http://pandodaily.com/2012/04/05/silicon-valley-gets-its-own-airline-surfair/ http://pandodaily.com/2012/04/05/silicon-valley-gets-its-own...
- melling 14y ago
  "So, will this model work? That’s a big question. They had originally planned to launch it on the East Coast but quickly realized, with the train service there, it wasn’t a great market." Kind of funny. We don't even have high-speed rail in this country yet. The distance between LA and San Francisco is less than 400 miles. Someday it'll be a 2 hour train trip, but it's looking like it'll be another 100 years at this point.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
melling 14y ago
D.C. to Philly is 140 miles. Philly to NYC is 90 miles. NYC to Boston is 220 miles. Is it really necessary to spend $1000-$1500 a month to go that short of a distance? There's 50 year old technology that went into commercial use before man stepped foot on the moon. This is insane. At some point America is going to realize that it needs a 21st century infrastructure. It's going to cost a lot more in 20-30 years, of course.
- equark 14y ago
  Amtrak Acela, Boston - NYC is $173 one-way and takes 3 hours and 30 minutes. That quickly adds up.
  - a3camero 14y ago
    That's almost exactly the distance between Shinjuku (Tokyo) and Sendai, Japan. $40 cheaper + an hour faster by train. I think that's the alternative. High speed rail. If you happen to live by Omiya's station (about 30mi closer to Sendai), you'd be there in under 2 hours.
    - excuse-me 14y ago
      London Paris is 60mi further but under 3hours - and there is a sea in the way, If even the English can do public projects better than you, you have a problem!
      - DougWebb 14y ago
        There aren't tens of millions of people living in the Channel blocking the path the train needs to take; digging the Channel tunnel was simple compared to putting straight rail lines between Boston, NYC, Philly, and DC.
        justincormack 14y ago
        Dig a tunnel under the people if you think it is easier then.
        DougWebb 14y ago
        Boston's Big Dig project was an incredibly expensive tunnel project. I'm not sure how much of the cost overrun was due to the terrain they were digging through. I think it'll be a long time before another major tunnel project will be approved though. NYC always has several big tunnel projects going on. The problem here is the very hard granite and the depth of existing infrastructure. New tunnels have to be very deep. At the moment I believe there is a large east-side subway project and a water main project. There was supposed to be a new west side tunnel for Amtrak and NJ Transit trains coming into Penn Station from NJ, but unfortunately NJ's ahole governor killed the project. I'm not familiar with tunnelling projects in Philly and DC, or the areas between them. I suspect the terrain is a lot more varied than below the Channel though. It'd be challenging to tunnel the whole way.
bookshlf 14y ago
I'm in favor of better quality rail service in this country but for various reasons it's not simple. Acquiring land already developed on to get lines in and out of larger cities isn't simple, and building underground routes like the "Chunnel" to get out of city centers isn't cheap. And, I agree, there is a cultural perspective of rail travel that changed dramatically once it became affordable for so many to own a car.

dwynings 14y ago

They actually had planned to launch on the East Coast, but changed their minds because of the train services there. More info: http://pandodaily.com/2012/04/05/silicon-valley-gets-its-own-airline-surfair/ http://pandodaily.com/2012/04/05/silicon-valley-gets-its-own...

melling 14y ago
"So, will this model work? That’s a big question. They had originally planned to launch it on the East Coast but quickly realized, with the train service there, it wasn’t a great market." Kind of funny. We don't even have high-speed rail in this country yet. The distance between LA and San Francisco is less than 400 miles. Someday it'll be a 2 hour train trip, but it's looking like it'll be another 100 years at this point.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

melling 14y ago

D.C. to Philly is 140 miles. Philly to NYC is 90 miles. NYC to Boston is 220 miles. Is it really necessary to spend $1000-$1500 a month to go that short of a distance? There's 50 year old technology that went into commercial use before man stepped foot on the moon. This is insane. At some point America is going to realize that it needs a 21st century infrastructure. It's going to cost a lot more in 20-30 years, of course.

equark 14y ago
Amtrak Acela, Boston - NYC is $173 one-way and takes 3 hours and 30 minutes. That quickly adds up.
- a3camero 14y ago
  That's almost exactly the distance between Shinjuku (Tokyo) and Sendai, Japan. $40 cheaper + an hour faster by train. I think that's the alternative. High speed rail. If you happen to live by Omiya's station (about 30mi closer to Sendai), you'd be there in under 2 hours.
  - excuse-me 14y ago
    London Paris is 60mi further but under 3hours - and there is a sea in the way, If even the English can do public projects better than you, you have a problem!
    - DougWebb 14y ago
      There aren't tens of millions of people living in the Channel blocking the path the train needs to take; digging the Channel tunnel was simple compared to putting straight rail lines between Boston, NYC, Philly, and DC.
      - justincormack 14y ago
        Dig a tunnel under the people if you think it is easier then.
        DougWebb 14y ago
        Boston's Big Dig project was an incredibly expensive tunnel project. I'm not sure how much of the cost overrun was due to the terrain they were digging through. I think it'll be a long time before another major tunnel project will be approved though. NYC always has several big tunnel projects going on. The problem here is the very hard granite and the depth of existing infrastructure. New tunnels have to be very deep. At the moment I believe there is a large east-side subway project and a water main project. There was supposed to be a new west side tunnel for Amtrak and NJ Transit trains coming into Penn Station from NJ, but unfortunately NJ's ahole governor killed the project. I'm not familiar with tunnelling projects in Philly and DC, or the areas between them. I suspect the terrain is a lot more varied than below the Channel though. It'd be challenging to tunnel the whole way.

bookshlf 14y ago

I'm in favor of better quality rail service in this country but for various reasons it's not simple. Acquiring land already developed on to get lines in and out of larger cities isn't simple, and building underground routes like the "Chunnel" to get out of city centers isn't cheap. And, I agree, there is a cultural perspective of rail travel that changed dramatically once it became affordable for so many to own a car.