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DrToadley OP t1_j6jljqn wrote

Reply to comment by HomeOnTheMountain_ in My proposal for near-future inter-town/city passenger rail expansions in Vermont! (MAP) by DrToadley

Totally agree. That is one place where new track would need to be laid down. It would certainly be an engineering challenge, but considering that investments in rail are some of the very best investments society can make in terms of ROI, I think it would be well worth it.

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HomeOnTheMountain_ t1_j6jozzx wrote

Oh I agree, but it would be a huge project. When was the last time we made a mountain rail line?

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HillRatch t1_j6k4qyx wrote

Knowing absolutely nothing about engineering this sort of thing, I also wonder if a tunnel/series of tunnels might be the better solution.

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cbospam1 t1_j6kbtk6 wrote

Tunnels are expensive. A quick search indicated $250 to $500 million per mile in Europe and more in the US. We are a rural state, transit tunnels make zero sense.

There is an rail tunnel in Burlington between winooski and the waterfront but it is 350 feet long and was built by hand in the 19th century.

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mervmonster t1_j6kc1rp wrote

The cost of tunneling is dropping drastically with each decade too. I was wondering if we would get a railway/interstate from Rutland to white river after tunneling gets sufficiently cheap and the traffic gets bad enough. I-92 was supposed to go that route but was never built. It’s one reason there is an interstate like route near Bennington.

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mervmonster t1_j6kb6br wrote

It was planned with routes laid out at one point. Parts of the white river to Woodstock railroad right of way and grade are still visible. They tried to continue to Rutland but it wasn’t viable at the time.

As someone that seems to be a fellow rail enthusiast, do you happen to know what All Earth Rail’s planned route is?

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