As someone who lives in Tampa and has seen the daily traffic jams increase heavily over the last few years this possibility is music to my ears. I was upset it got dumped 8 years ago and the last 2 years has been even more aggravating. Something like this would make it much easier to get to Orlando even for doing things other than Disney. Add in the fact that it would make it better to drive out there as well. Long overdue but still worry it won't be enough by the time it actually sees the light of day.
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Rumor Higher Speed Rail from MCO to Disney World
- Thread starter UCF
- Start date
Pixieish
Well-Known Member
I've ridden the Boston subways and commuter rails so many times that I can sleep and wake before my stop.
Rider
Well-Known Member
MCO to WDW wouldn't have as much time saving but imagine the boost that a Tampa Airport to Disney could have. Plenty of tourists already fly into Tampa as a cheaper alternative. Cutting down the trip time and not needing to rent a car (also a bonus for Disney) would drive even more business to Tampa. Win win all around for the city and the airlines there.
*Note: the original HSR didn't go to Tampa airport. This just assumes if this new plan did.
*Note: the original HSR didn't go to Tampa airport. This just assumes if this new plan did.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
How would there be a meaningful reduction in travel time? Brightline is not a high speed system and even the old high speed proposal was not significantly faster than driving without incident.
I-4 between Tampa and Orlando is a multi-hump death trap, and you can almost always count on a backup somewhere along that stretch.
A regional rail system wouldn't have any backups, making it, in the aggregate, and on average, a faster, more reliable method to get to Orlando than I-4.
A regional rail system wouldn't have any backups, making it, in the aggregate, and on average, a faster, more reliable method to get to Orlando than I-4.
V_L_Raptor
Well-Known Member
I'm yet to experience I-4 without incident, and there are frequently multiple incidents. Having Brightline wouldn't get me to everywhere I'd want to go in Orlando, but it sure would help for some things -- particularly if Disney were somehow on the route.
Couple that with a Lynx pass -- Lynx and Lymmo are always going to be better than HART, no, really -- and now you're talking.
JoeCamel
Well-Known Member
That is not a high bar.....
Sir_Cliff
Well-Known Member
I used to do that route on the ICE quite a bit, too, when I lived in Köln!
It does seem to be very much a cultural issue. One thing I notice living in Europe is that whenever I fly anywhere I just assume there will be a fast train that will zip me right into the centre of town. In the US, it never even crosses my mind that I might be able to take the train from the airport into town. Sometimes they are there and I also quite like using Amtrak, but there is nothing like the train culture you see in Europe and, I presume, Japan.
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V_L_Raptor
Well-Known Member
Well, sure, but I don't see lugging a Radio Flyer along on a future Orlando rail trip to fit my idea of a good time. The wagon has a better range than MetroRapid does.
imarc
Well-Known Member
Too little, too late. We've already done the math.
It's all gondolas from here on out.
@Lift Blog, how many towers is this gonna take?
It's all gondolas from here on out.
@Lift Blog, how many towers is this gonna take?
cosmicgirl
Well-Known Member
And fuel costs three times as much....
the.dreamfinder
Well-Known Member
The problem comes with this being a 50+ year investment without the proper technology and planning base to be most effective for that timeframe.
I'm not sittin' behind THAT guy...!Way ahead of ya'!
Skibum1970
Well-Known Member
One issue I could see with the train set up is that you will need a station at WDW for buses to come and gather the guests. The trains won't go to the resorts and so WDW would still need a way to move guests to their respective resorts. So, it would become a waiting game at that station.
I love the idea of a train to WDW from MCO but I'm just not certain that it would work that well. I could see a dedicated highway with no exits between MCO and WDW before a train.
I would be more in favor of a lightrail system connecting the resorts and the parks. Build a few lines and then figure out how to route the trains into/out of resorts and parks. That would eliminate the buses inside the resort for the most part.
I love the idea of a train to WDW from MCO but I'm just not certain that it would work that well. I could see a dedicated highway with no exits between MCO and WDW before a train.
I would be more in favor of a lightrail system connecting the resorts and the parks. Build a few lines and then figure out how to route the trains into/out of resorts and parks. That would eliminate the buses inside the resort for the most part.
The buses would have to be timed to leave after the train arrives. The train is on a set schedule, the buses would have to follow that schedule for when leaving the station obviously for it to make any sense. Not that complicated.
toolsnspools
Well-Known Member
You can now book a train from Miami to West Palm Beach. $30 round trip. The Brightline schedule has the trip at 1 hour 15 minutes. Current travel time (Google Maps) for a car is 1 hour 8 minutes. I'm sure in heavy traffic the train is quicker...
To be honest, I like it much better that a private business is attempting this. It will be FAR more efficient than if we got the State or Federal government involved. Brightline needs to turn a profit, so they'll do what they can to try to do that. There's probably enough congestion in that route that they might be able to make it work. The other option is that they get it up and running and then ask for on-going government subsidies to keep it running (like Amtrak's ~$2 Billion in 2018).
Guessing that a round trip ticket would be $20, it would cost me $100 to take my family on the train. Disney already has a FREE service that goes from MCO to Disney. I might try the train as a novelty, but it would not be my preferred form of travel, even if it saved me a few minutes. Plus, transferring from the train to a bus to complete the trip sounds dreadful after a long day of flying. Also... To provide direct train service to Disney from MCO would require that a station (and rails) be built on WDW property. Disney does not need to give up land to run DME.
So here's Disney's likely play. Let them build the rail without Disney's help. A station would likely be built near Disney, but off WDW property, anyway. Then have the DME buses stop at the new train station close to Disney, and then continue their current routes. If there's enough volume, you can augment the current DME routes with more buses. It prevents travelers from having direct access to a train that could be at Universal Studios in 30 minutes, and would keep more WDW customers locked on property for their entire vacation. It's really the same reason that they run DME for free today anyway.
@UCF I'm really curious what your trip would look like from somewhere in Orlando.
To be honest, I like it much better that a private business is attempting this. It will be FAR more efficient than if we got the State or Federal government involved. Brightline needs to turn a profit, so they'll do what they can to try to do that. There's probably enough congestion in that route that they might be able to make it work. The other option is that they get it up and running and then ask for on-going government subsidies to keep it running (like Amtrak's ~$2 Billion in 2018).
Guessing that a round trip ticket would be $20, it would cost me $100 to take my family on the train. Disney already has a FREE service that goes from MCO to Disney. I might try the train as a novelty, but it would not be my preferred form of travel, even if it saved me a few minutes. Plus, transferring from the train to a bus to complete the trip sounds dreadful after a long day of flying. Also... To provide direct train service to Disney from MCO would require that a station (and rails) be built on WDW property. Disney does not need to give up land to run DME.
So here's Disney's likely play. Let them build the rail without Disney's help. A station would likely be built near Disney, but off WDW property, anyway. Then have the DME buses stop at the new train station close to Disney, and then continue their current routes. If there's enough volume, you can augment the current DME routes with more buses. It prevents travelers from having direct access to a train that could be at Universal Studios in 30 minutes, and would keep more WDW customers locked on property for their entire vacation. It's really the same reason that they run DME for free today anyway.
@UCF I'm really curious what your trip would look like from somewhere in Orlando.
tonymu
Premium Member
With the station close to the resorts the DME buses could be resort specific and then not have to make multiple resort stops. That would be a huge plus.
The old proposal was for Disney to build a new transit center on property right near where they built the Fourth Laundry Operation a few years ago, on the corner of Osceola Parkway and I4.
The train speed between West Palm and Miami is 79mph, to Orlando and beyond it should be 125mph (and 110mph or some old sections of track)