High‐Speed Rail Feasibility Study Executive Summary

Details

• Corporate Creators:
  Transportation Economics & Management Systems, Inc (TEMS) ; Quandel Consultants, LLC ; GBSM, Inc
• Corporate Contributors:
  Rocky Mountain Rail Authority
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • High speed rail
  • Feasibility analysis
  • Business models
  • Rail transit
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Right Statement:
  Public Domain
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  Rocky Mountain Rail Authority
• Abstract:
  This executive summary finds that high-speed rail is feasible in Colorado under Federal Railroad Administration criteria, focusing on the state's two principal corridors: I-25 from Fort Collins to Pueblo and I-70 from Denver International Airport to Eagle County Airport. It evaluates highway, greenfield, and existing rail alignments and compares diesel, electric rail, and magnetic levitation technologies across a range of service concepts. ; The summary concludes that Colorado's combination of Front Range population density and mountain tourism creates a viable high-speed rail market, but that full-system concepts were not feasible until the analysis was narrowed to core segments and mixed-technology options. That process yielded eight feasible alternatives. Although maglev was evaluated, especially for the steeper I-70 corridor, the selected FRA Developed Option was a 220-mph very high-speed electric train on the I-70 highway right-of-way and I-25 unconstrained routes because it produced the strongest overall operating and cost-benefit performance. ; The study concluded that I-25 alone could support a 110-mph diesel service, but when linked to the I-70 DIA-Eagle corridor, the combined system could support 220-mph electric rail. The article further emphasized that the I-70 corridor remained the key engineering challenge because of multiple 7 percent grades, while ridership in both corridors was strong enough to support frequent service and the overall implementation period was estimated at 12 to 15 years. ; Overall, the executive summary presents high-speed rail as a significant long-term transportation and economic development opportunity for Colorado, while making clear that further corridor refinement, environmental review, and implementation planning would still be required.
• Content Notes:
  Cite as: Transportation Economics & Management Systems, Inc., Quandel Consultants, LLC, & GBSM Inc. (2010, March). High-speed rail feasibility study: Executive summary. Rocky Mountain Rail Authority.
• Format:
  PDF
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/89766/dot_89766_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.60 MB]
• Collection(s):
  Federal Aviation Administration ; US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e7379446bae828bbb2ff4b120cf9f7f38a2ca1af802524f80c59c76121fbb929a1b2b628566eaff18123189ecd1b156f1f2569bebe4b87bd043ad172b9f3bc9a