00740697

Component

https://doi.org/10.3141/1584-03

http://scholar.google.com...ison&publication_year=1997

The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 required the U.S. Department of Transportation to evaluate the commercial feasibility of high-speed ground transportation--a family of technologies ranging from incremental rail improvements to high-speed rail and magnetic levitation (Maglev) systems--in selected urban corridors. The evaluation involved estimating travel times, capital costs, operation and maintenance costs, and ridership for proposed service frequencies and then computing the potential return on investment from fares and other potential revenues. The results are documented in a U.S. Department of Transportation report generally referred to as the commercial feasibility study (CFS). Two elements of the CFS are addressed here: travel times and capital costs in four illustrative corridors--Chicago to St. Louis; Los Angeles to San Francisco; Eugene, Oregon, to Vancouver, B.C., Canada; and Miami to Tampa via Orlando. Analysis of the results reveals common cost trends: for average speeds up to about 200 km/hr (125 mph), the initial investment required is generally in the range of $1.6 to $3 million per route-kilometer ($2.6 to $4.8 million per route-mile). Above this speed regime (which varies by corridor), the initial investment increases steadily with speed, generally reaching $10 to $12 million per route-km ($16 to $19 million per route-mi) for very-high-speed rail systems and from $14 to $19 million per route-km ($23 to $31 million per route-mi) for Maglev systems. Analysis of the capital cost estimates reveals that despite the wide range of initial costs for the high-speed options, the cost per minute of trip time saved is remarkably consistent in corridors of similar length and with similar terrains. Cost-effectiveness plots are provided, allowing the reader to compare the performance of each of the four corridors in terms of trip time savings and cost per route-kilometer.

This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1584, Railroad Research Topics: Costs of High-Speed Rail, Communications-Based Control, and Track Research.

English

p. 17-21

1997

Transportation Research Record

0309061555

Figures (4) ; References (6) ; Tables (1)

Alternatives analysis; Capital costs; Corridors; Cost effectiveness; Cost estimating; Estimates; High speed ground transportation; High speed rail; Intercity transportation; Investments; Magnetic levitation; Travel time

Comparative analysis

Economics; Highways; Public Transportation; Railroads; Society

TRIS, TRB

Sep 17 1997 12:00AM

• CROSS-CORRIDOR COMPARISON OF OPERATING COSTS FOR HIGH-SPEED GROUND TRANSPORTATION
• FIBER-OPTIC SENSING TECHNOLOGY FOR RAIL-BUCKLING DETECTION
• METHODOLOGY DEVELOPMENT FOR ESTIMATING EXTERNAL BENEFITS AND COSTS OF HIGH-SPEED GROUND TRANSPORTATION IN THE UNITED STATES
• THREE-DIMENSIONAL NONLINEAR STABILITY ANALYSIS OF TANGENT CONTINUOUS WELDED RAIL TRACK UNDER TEMPERATURE AND MECHANICAL LOADS
• TRAIN DISPATCHING EFFECTIVENESS WITH RESPECT TO COMMUNICATIONS-BASED TRAIN CONTROL: QUANTIFICATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP