BATON ROUGE — A poll has found strong support for creation of a passenger rail service between New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
The poll, funded by business interest in the two cities, found about 75% of respondents were supportive of the idea after hearing the train would offer an alternative to driving between the cities. And 85% said its “important” or “very important” to have such a rail link, the Baton Rouge Advocate reports.
The poll surveyed 1,050 registered voters in the area and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9%. It was commissioned by the Southern Rail Commission, Baton Rouge Area Chamber, and GNO Inc.
The project, estimated at $260 million, would make two daily round trips between the two cities, roughly 80 miles apart. The poll also found 70% of respondents foresaw using the train to get to events at the Superdome and other New Orleans sporting events, and 60% would ride it to attend Louisiana State University events in Baton Rouge.
It’s hard to know whether this was a “push poll”, in which the goal is not to collect data but to press talking points, but people are correct to make how much stock they put in the reported results conditional on the survey methodology.
Access to sporting events is a simple, appealing reason to state for traveling, but I suspect a substantial number of people would travel to & from LSU as students, to & from New Orleans for business and medical appointments, and both directions for other family and business reasons. And getting even a little traffic off the road before & after major sporting events is a goal worth pursuing.
Whether all of that is worth the costs required to start up and run the service is another question that can’t be answered with the info available to us here & now.
And yes, this would be yet another great application for light, quick, modern DMUs rather than heavy old locomotive-hauled equipment.
One other comment. Since Katrina there has been a considerable amount of commuter traffic between New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
I suspect you are correct Mr Landey. But sometimes we don’t get exactly what we want no matter how much we complain. So we may need to enjoy what we have or have nothing at all.
I think 3-4 R/T would be more optimal for starters as it allows for mid-day and late-night service with 2 trains in the morning and evening no more than 1-2 hours apart for the traditional commute to/from work.
Jan I’d up the frequency to 12 daily RT’s.. I wouldn’t waste money though on buying loco/pass car consist though. DMU’s would be perfectly suited to a corridor this length. 80 mph nonstop, or limited stop service. No need to go any faster.
80 miles apart with 2 round trips a day is pathetic. If you spend the money go for at least 8 round trips a day.
The faster you go the less equipment you need and the more likely speed obsessed folk will ride it.
$260 million so sports fans can ride the train to their games. As long as they use Louisiana dollars and not federal funds its OK with me. But it seems like an awful waste of taxpayer dollars for 80 miles. And after the first couple of games they’ll go back to driving. Put the true cost of rehabbing the tracks. the cost of the equipment and stations. Then hit them with the amount of subsidy per passenger and then ask them again. I think that Californians, if they knew the true cost of their HSR, wouldn’t have been so anxious to built it.
A distance of 80 miles? This makes no sense to spend for such a short distance. Wish we had modern RDC units. Then we might have something.
It will be interesting to see if the state of Louisiana is interested. Louisiana politicians generally don’t like to spend tax dollars unless it directly benefits the politician who is voting for it.
Did the push poll question include the capital cost and the projected annual subsidy? Also any hidden subsidies like hitting up each local city or parish to build and maintain the stations for no revenue.
Basically push polls are meaningless. It all depends on how the questions are asked.
I’m not opposed to subsidies for passenger trains. What I’m saying is I don’t trust push polls.
Chris – Many people on this comment site support public subsidy of trains (transit, buses, trolleys, etc.).We want reasonable return for the money. We don’t want our railfan hobby subsidized by means of slow, empty trains running three times a week.. We want reliable and useful transportation.
John – Good post. It’s not speed we’re looking for, it’s reliability, frequency and connectivity.
This is EXACTLY the kind of service that State governments should be pushing for (I’d say Amtrak too, but I think the Amtrak management is happy with the scam they’ve got going now). The California Capital Corridor (85 miles) started as 3 trains a day and is now up to 15, and it has expanded south to San Jose (another 43 miles). If this rail line can make it as a corridor, any can. The route isn’t very straight and it’s torturous through Oakland, so the speed are definitely not fast; but the trains are full.
As this is being pushed by REAL Merican bidness (the back-bone of this great-n-glorious country who EARN their money and pay taxes, unlike “those people” on welfare) they should be able to create some great BS about how trains will increase the “grote-n-prosperity of this great-n-glorious nation and protect us from turbine-a-wearin’ trrrrrsss”.
We aren’t gonna have trains until the people that matter (aka, the top 10%) want them. Which why the Acela Corridor exists and the Capital Corridor exists.
I’m beginning to wonder if this is railfan news site or a place for people to cry about how their tax dollars are spent. Well boo freaking hoo. Get used to it you’ve got to pay taxes. And guess what, in America you are probably not going to like what the money is spent on sometimes, hell I know I don’t. But as supposed railfans I’d think if the money is going to be wasted, and a lot of it is, we would rather see it wasted on something that we enjoy. I’m really starting to wonder if some of y’all really enjoy railroads and trains or just like to bitch. I know one thing, I’d rather see more money “wasted” on trains than some of the crap it’s wasted on now. At least I’ll have the chance to enjoy the use, or misuse if you want, of my tax dollars.