Those of us who have been advocating intercity high-speed passenger trains applaud the Tribune`s publica-tion of John Schmeltzer`s story on the French TGV system projected for Texas (Transpor-tation, Jan. 12). Schmeltzer gave a thorough and accurate picture of high-speed rail`s potential and a fair assessment of the legal, social and financial hurdles it must surmount before becoming an American reality.
But I winced at the last paragraph, where Schmeltzer declares: ”High-speed rail finally appears to be in the future for American rail buffs.”
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In 10 years of researching and writing about high-speed trains, including five years managing a non-profit Amtrak excursion-train program, it`s been my experience that railroad ”buffs” are either indifferent to high-speed trains-or overtly hostile. Most of them are history- or nostalgia-oriented.
In any case, the number of rail buffs in the U.S. is far too low to supply the passenger loads required to support a TGV operation. The real market here will be the same as that in Europe and Japan-affluent business travelers who will appreciate not only the speed of a train that can go from Chicago to Detroit or Chicago to St. Louis as fast as an airplane, but also the chance to make the trip in total safety, with a 98 percent on-time record regardless of weather, in the comfort of private conference rooms that include photocopying, cellular phone service and on-board FAX machines. High-speed trains are a businessman`s tool, not a rail buff`s theme park.