Now that we've made New York a hub for high-speed rail from the northwest and the west by linking it to both Toronto, Ontario and Scranton, Pennsylvania, we should look to another direction for future expansion of HSR. Remember that this is how the billions of dollars we are going to be investing in this technology would ideally be spent, not how it actually will be spent.
Washington, DC is currently the southern terminus of the Northeast Corridor, the United States' only HSR line. Expanding the Northeast Corridor from here is difficult because the mountains make the regions west of Washington less dense and not ideal for HSR travel.
Any extension to the south would have to go through Richmond, Virginia, a city around 100 miles south of Washington. Virginia has already expressed interest in expanding the northest corridor to Richmond. From Richmond there are several good options open to expanding High Speed Rail, but the next closest metropolitan area is the Norfolk/Newport News/Hampton Roads area. The existing Amtrak route, owned by CSX Transporation, could be upgraded and expanded into Norfolk proper to serve the port and naval base there.
So after turning New York into a high speed rail hub, our high speed rail system should be expanded to serve northern and eastern Virginia, one of the fastest growing regions in the country and an area where public transportation that could serve HSR has recieved increasing attention.
Washington, DC is currently the southern terminus of the Northeast Corridor, the United States' only HSR line. Expanding the Northeast Corridor from here is difficult because the mountains make the regions west of Washington less dense and not ideal for HSR travel.
Any extension to the south would have to go through Richmond, Virginia, a city around 100 miles south of Washington. Virginia has already expressed interest in expanding the northest corridor to Richmond. From Richmond there are several good options open to expanding High Speed Rail, but the next closest metropolitan area is the Norfolk/Newport News/Hampton Roads area. The existing Amtrak route, owned by CSX Transporation, could be upgraded and expanded into Norfolk proper to serve the port and naval base there.
So after turning New York into a high speed rail hub, our high speed rail system should be expanded to serve northern and eastern Virginia, one of the fastest growing regions in the country and an area where public transportation that could serve HSR has recieved increasing attention.
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