george matthews wrote:I think they will have to move the road. It would not be suitable to put the rail line in the middle. Safety consideration will need the road and the rail line to be entirely separate. For example, cars sometimes run off a road into the median zone.
Median rail lines are always metros or light rail lines (like the Chicago metro that runs to the airport, or the Docklands light rail in London on the Beckton line).
I disagree. Amtrak long distance trains fit in freeway medians too. I see no reason why a long distance trains can't run down freeway medians. Check out Austin's MoPac Freeway.
UP Tex-Mex freight trains and Amtrak's Texas Eagle use it daily.
YouTube video of the Texas Eagle in the median of the MoPac freeway
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tg4Zww3KuVo
And NMDOT's Railrunner also runs down the middle of 1-25 too.
YouTube video of the Railrunner in the median of I-25.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx_7K_W4A1I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqJCW6UZw6Q&NR=1
Look closely, you'll see that NMDOT has already graded the corridor for a second track, although a second track isn't needed yet...Also note that guardrails, separating the highway from the rail corridor, aren't legally required, although I'll agree some sort of traffic divider would provide more safety.