WEEKLY WHINE

Adding to the network

You will no doubt recall that the GoobNet Highly Effective Accelerated Railway Transit for Accessing National Destinations with a Special Opportunity to Unify Locations plan finally brings a high speed railway network to the United States. You will also recall that once the four phases of our plan are completed, we will want to turn our attention toward a system of suburban rail that covers other cities not included in our plan.

But which cities? There now follows a ranking of the regions in the United States toward which we should turn our attention.

1. Northeast Corridor: A normal speed line that follows Line 95 between DC and Boston, but that services many smaller cities in between, would be very useful. Other connecting lines could service other northeastern cities like Dover, Annapolis, Atlantic City, Hartford, and Worcester. We could also extend coverage into upper New England, to cities like Montpelier, VT, Manchester, NH, and Portland, ME.
2. Chicago: The El services Chicago’s suburbs, but what of other cities in the vicinity? A line along the shores of Lake Michigan could originate in Milwaukee and service Racine, Waukegan, Evanston, Gary, and Michigan City before rejoining Line 80 at South Bend. We would also add intersecting lines that originate in Chicago and visit places like Rockford, Bloomington, and Champaign/​Urbana.
3. Bay Area: Although there is such a thing as Bay Area Rapid Transit, it actually services an astonishingly small portion of the Bay Area. Suburban railway lines would be exceedingly useful for accessing places like Santa Cruz, Palo Alto, Livermore, Stockton, Napa, and Santa Rosa.
4. South Texas: Houston, Austin, and San Antonio currently have service, but there are many other major cities in southern Texas, including College Station, Corpus Christi, Laredo, and Brownsville.
5. Southern California: Although the phrase “Southern California” makes most people think only of Los Angeles, the region includes a vast number of communities that require service. A Pacific coast line could originate in San Luis Obispo and service places like Ventura, Simi Valley, Santa Monica, Huntington Beach, Oceanside, and La Jolla. This could be coupled with a desert line that services Bakersfield, Lancaster, and Victorville.
6. Ohio: Though we currently service five Ohio cities, the connectivity is poor. For example, it would be very sensical to build a rail line that follows the 75 and visits Toledo, Dayton, and Cincinnati. Likewise, an additional line should service cities near Cleveland, like Akron and Canton.
7. Florida: Several other cities in Florida, like Boca Raton, Ft Lauderdale, Ft Myers, and Gainesville, should also be serviced.
8. West Texas: Line 20 ends at Dallas/​Ft Worth, but one can envision a normal speed line that continues westward from there. It would service Abilene and Odessa before reaching El Paso, potentially with branches to Wichita Falls, Lubbock, and Amarillo.
9. Puget Sound: Lines arcing around the sound could service locations like Bellingham, Mt Vernon, Tacoma, and Olympia.
10. Carolinas: Currently we have only three stations in North Carolina and two in South Carolina. Additional lines would allow us to serve places like Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Columbia, and Greenville. One line could also be extended across the Georgia border into Augusta.