villager wrote:Check out the new map at megabus.com:
Isn't this pretty much the Midwest HSR network?
http://www.megabus.com/us/stops/index.php
Megabus is a trademark of Stagecoach, a British (Scottish) company. They have some very cheap buses that compete with the National Express network (equivalent of Greyhound). They also run the local buses in many towns and areas.
They are also trying a Megatrain (very cheap fares for certain trains) on the Southwest Trains system that they are the franchisees for. These are the trains that run out of London Waterloo to the south west. I have not yet tried their Megatrain but I think some trains from my area are available.
In some countries a bus network can open up the market for public transport before building a rail line. I have seen this being done in Australia where the southern suburbs of Brisbane were gradually opened up. When I was there 20 years ago the train ended at Beenleigh but now it goes as far as the Gold Coast.
I have experience of only one leg of that MidWest network. I have travelled from Chicago to Milwaukee and reverse both by train and by bus (Greyhound). The bus was very slow on parts of the route and on entering Chicago in the evening it was so slow that I feared I would lose my connection (the Capitol). With the train there were no problems and it was a pleasure to speed past the cars on the road.
Megabus fares seem to be very low, and one wonders if they are just using the tactics they tried in Britain - price their competitors out of the market and then raise their fares. They did this in a number of cities where they destroyed the municipally owned bus company by running very cheap or even free buses until the incumbent was out of business. They have an unsavoury record in Britain. I loathe the fact that they run my local trains.
In Britain I think they are trying to put National Express out of business.