High Speed Rail
Why is no one talking about high speed rail as an alternative to automobiles in the US? If we would invest in high speed rail (which much of the rail network is already in place), we could easily travel across the country more quickly, while reducing our need to expand expensive highways and airports. Someone once told me that it costs the same to build an on-ramp to a highway as it does to lay 100 miles of railroad track. Getting a country-wide high speed rail network seems so obvious to me, but why is no one talking about it? We're America...we should have the worlds best high speed train system!! Not to mention the jobs it would create in operating and building the system!!!
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ben Calhoun on -
I think the 100 milesof track VS the on-ramp is probably not very accurate at all.
I like the idea of high speed rail, but right now...right now is not the time to start experimenting with Technology
that American contractors know nothing about. Hire European or Japanese Foreman and maybe we have a chance of bringing
this idea in at budget. And no... I am not European (or Japanese) I was born and raised in the SanFrancisco
Bay Area. 7th generation American
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Permalink Reply by Michel on -
I am a 4th generation Californian as well but have ridden bullet trains in Japan. I've used subways in NYC and Tokyo, and commuted on BART for a year from Oakland to SF. However having been raised in a rural environment, I feel that trains are alien still. I don't think I'm alone in this unfamiliarity. The recovery from the depression and WWII turned us into a nation of suburbs. Eisenhower's Interstate Freeway system spread us out all over. It is harder to abandon the suburbs than it was to create them.
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Permalink Reply by Michel on
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right of way?
rr xing dangers?
cooperation between jurisdictions for a comprehensive system?
states against states cities against counties etc.
we need leadership at all levels to get it done.
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Permalink Reply by Dale Nelson on -
There is already a right of way in place: the median strip of I5 which would be a good place to put new rail.
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Permalink Reply by Mike S on -
You can also use the existing tracks as the right-of-way - they already have all the crossings too. The problem with existing tracks is they aren't banked enough for high speed (over 79mph) - that is something that will need to be addressed if we want nationwide high speed rail options. Unfortunately, highways don't work very well because they are too hilly for heavy rail (rail lines are typically located on the ridge of watersheds).
The California high speed rail is a little different. They are at speeds over 200mph. That requires a new right-of-way, new tracks, etc. It makes sense due to the long distances between stops -- Cali is a big state!!
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Permalink Reply by Michel on
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no need for special tracks to handle the high speed? what about around turns?
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Permalink Reply by Mike S on -
You need banked tracks with articulated train sets to run above 79mph. You can use almost all existing tracks as long as the sharper turns are re-banked so you don't notice the turns in the cabins (and to minimize vibration, etc). 79-mph is pretty slow, but that's what we currently legally classify as "high speed". Anything above roughly 110-mph requires banking and typically wider turns than is supported on existing rail.
Trains don't necessarily run on the "ridges" of mountains and hills...just on the high point of watersheds, which can stretch many many miles.
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Permalink Reply by Dale Nelson on
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One of the problems in California is that there has never been much of a need for north-south rail. Heavy items, bulky cargo could go by sea. So we are somewhat short on the right of way. Ridges are not a good idea here: heavy rain and the ridge washes out. Or falls over in an earthquake.
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Permalink Reply by Ben Calhoun on
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well,... what we are talking about here is a Passenger train. New right of way will have to be dealt with
no matter what
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Permalink Reply by Mike S on
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Yeah, the world is much different than it was when we built the interstate highway system. It will require public education and an understanding of the benefits of rail. It will be challenging, but I think rail makes sense for our country, and I have faith our country will realize this and move forward.
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Permalink Reply by Michel on
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If you peruse property law in general, easements, landowner liability etc., you will find that during the age of rail, you know Stanford and the golden spike and all... during that era, the laws were written by the railroads for the railroads. The simon legrees of the robber baron age really got away with murder, literally, in building the rail empires of the past. Look at all the Chinese laborers killed testing for gas in tunnels. Canaries were too expensive...
Hopefully with more transparency, with a MORE EDUCATED electorate, sensible transportation projects will go forward. The numbers look good. The people are, for the moment, aware that we are in a crisis. We need solutions now, so we need to stop bullshitting about who is going to make a fortune, and proceed with all deliberate speed.
Like John Wooden said, be quick but don't be in a hurry.
With more people paying attention, the decision makers are less likely to sell us vanilla scented pig waste while on corporate fact finding junkets to brothels in the Caymans.
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Permalink Reply by Charles Roeder on -
What is really needed, is a system of tunnels, from which air has been pumped out ,to create a partial vacuum. Maglev trains with pressurised cabins run thru this at a speed faster than an airplane, but at a lower cost than an Amtrack train. This is because Friction has been reduced so much, most of the energy is only needed to accelerate to high speed, not to keep the train moving.
OK this would cost way too much to build, but it would cost less than Bush is spending to bring freedom to those wacky Iraqis.
actually, right now there is freight slowley rolling along those tracks at a high level of efficiency that trucks will never come close to
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