11 votes

Visualizing high speed rail from Chicago to Detroit

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    Comment box Scope: summary Tone: neutral Opinion: none Sarcasm/humor: none A series of renders of a potential high-speed line between the large US cities of Chicago, IL and Detroit, MI (combined...
    Comment box
    • Scope: summary
    • Tone: neutral
    • Opinion: none
    • Sarcasm/humor: none

    A series of renders of a potential high-speed line between the large US cities of Chicago, IL and Detroit, MI (combined metro areas of 14 million) via Fort Wayne, IN and also passing through Ohio. Stew's graphics are accompanied by some commentary on right-of-way challenges and routing decisions he made. The goal of this video is to demonstrate what a true HSR line could fairly reasonably look like.

    Note that this routing is just what he decided to make a video on. There are lots of potential alignments between these two cities.

    Sections of Stew's route would reach 200 mph, though speeds of around 110 mph would be more common. The average speed would be 138 mph (2h14m) with two intermediary stops. He utilizes existing rights of way where possible and tries to avoid ridiculous engineering challenges even if that means a technically imperfect route. Stew estimates a cost of $21.8 billion based on route length, guideway type (viaduct, tunnel, at-grade), and land acquisition needs, all adjusted by a constant for regional costs. A route with less viaduct/tunnel would be cheaper but also slower.

    For comparison, the current travel time between Chicago and Detroit by train is 5h20m (Amtrak Wolverine), which takes a straighter and yet much slower route via Kalamazoo, MI.

    2 votes