High Speed Rail

Quote by Ironic

If the train is moving along at 180+ MPH, wouldn't it be derailed even at something less violent?

Trains in California have never derailed because of earthquakes.. BART, which is an older train, has measures that automatically kick in in the event of an earthquake to prevent derailment.

A California train has derailed before when it hit a tractor truck though. The load was believed to be 20 tons of crayons but that was never confirmed.

Anyway pretty sure earthquakes are taken into account when building the train… Ironic and Justlooking51 haven’t magically come up with a groundbreaking thought here. Pun intended.

Quote by Ironic

Were any of those trains going as fast as the proposed trains are expected to be?

Are there earthquakes in Japan? And does Japan have high speed rail?

The answers are Yes and Yes.

What is the number of deaths caused by ultra rare train derailments in Japan?

The answer is Zero. Zero deaths.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1268230/japan-railway-accident-fatalities-by-type/

Quote by Chryses

Of course not. Since the proposed system will never be built, the question is moot.

It’s being built already though.

You’re just mad because I’m better at debating.

Quote by ElCoco

The company that's developing the 2027 Las Vegas-Southern California service just started a Miami and Orlando service. This one's not as fast (125) as the Las Vegas-Southern California (190), but at 3.5 hours, still fits into that quicker than short-haul flight travel time.

.

https://apnews.com/article/highspeed-rail-trains-brightline-florida-ac55cc43685666ae10ef3307512d5f33

That side of the country is.. slow.

Quote by Ironic

I'm sure there will be lessons learned from these current and near future services that will be incorporated into ones still on the drawing board.

Remember when you tried to act like earthquakes in california would be a problem for high speed rail and I ass slammed you with facts and logic and you got super quiet?

That’s why you’re not debated with, seriously, by anyone.

Enough with the filibustering just to take up space and avoid actual discussion points. Thanks.

Quote by Ironic

Maybe. Maybe not. Even if it's an important part, technology is only one part of the economics of a train service.

Yes, economics are an important part of society. And society has people who are needed to build and ride a train.

Quote by Ironic

Society also has people who can calculate a cost/benefit relationship for projects. That helps society not invest its limited resources in projects that are likely to be wasteful. That's true for projects in both the private and public sectors.

In a society it is important to have restaurants so people riding the train can eat, and they can pay for the food with money. Money is an important part of economics.

High-speed rail seems like a frivolous idea when existing passenger and cargo routes should be expanded and updated. Passenger services have steadily disappeared over the years. Why do people need to get to Las Vegas and/or Disney World faster?

Quote by Ironic

Maybe. Maybe not. Even if it's an important part, technology is only one part of the economics of a train service.

Janitorial is another part. Don't forget the ticket takers and the ticket checkers.

Choo Chooo! 🤣

What all goes into 'running a train'? Depends on what kind of train. 😜😉😳😨😲

******

Building g new rail lines for high speed rail could mean tearing up and replacing old rail lines with new railroads capable of handling high speed technology. Or purchasing massive amount of property to build new rail lines. The government would need to do a lot of property condemnation to acquire the land required. It would be very expensive and not very popular.

Quote by Ironic

Like others have posted - it'll cost too much to make economic sense.

However, it would be an investment that would most likely pay off big in the future. Unfortunately, the nation does not plan very far ahead.

Quote by ElCoco

If the Feds invest the money in that program, what programs do you think they should cut to get the money? Or should this be another one that'll be funded by more Federal debt?

Southern state welfare.

Every state needs to start pulling their own weight.

Quote by ElCoco

If the Feds invest the money in that program, what programs do you think they should cut to get the money? Or should this be another one that'll be funded by more Federal debt?

Make tax cheaters like Donald Trump actually pay taxes with late fee penalties.

Cut corporate welfare!!! Don't give 100%; tax breaks to immigrants who own businesses and pass ownership to relatives every few years, therefore requalifying for no taxes.

Tax the rich at the same rates used in the 1950s and 1960s.

Quote by ElCoco

So your recommendation is to raise taxes to pay for new benefits. OK. At least you're acting rationally. How much more tax revenue do you think will be needed?

We'll need bids from rail contractors, right? Find out the cost, then make a plan based on that.

Reality: inflate the real cost, so politicians can make side deals with their donors to all enrich themselves.

If only they were accountable.

Well, if you want a vision of the future, the Train Grande Vitesse is departing Gare du Lyon and will have you in the South of France in 5 hours.

Why? Our internal air corridors are the busiest in the world.

We have had this since the 1980s and all the electricity we need from nuclear power, we have so much, we export it.

I would have thought a country as massive as the US would benefit from this too.

Quote by AmuseBouche

I would have thought a country as massive as the US would benefit from this too.

It would, but as always any self-defeating decisions or lack of decision-making when it comes to systems and structures in the US can always be traced to those lining the pockets of politicians who refuse to act in the best interests of this country and its people.

Quote by Chryses

As WMM and others have pointed out, the type of HSR proposed in the OP is not practical in the U.S.

How come the US is so can’t-do but Europe and Asia is can-do when it comes to high speed rail?

Quote by Magical_felix

How come the US is so can’t-do but Europe and Asia is can-do when it comes to high speed rail?

In North America, we haven't even sold people on taking the train, let alone the benefits of high-speed, so upgrading the train system doesn't make it as a priority in the public consciousness. People love their cars and the auto industry is quite dominant so if it comes down to financing new tracks for high-speed rail (most high-speed trains need a different gauge of rail for full speed) or building/expanding a highway, the highway wins.

Europe and Asia have always relied more on rail for both commuting and long distance travel so putting in high-speed trains and upgrading track for them is improving a service that is already widely used so there's less of a sales job needed. People just go, "Cool. Faster train means shorter ride."

Quote by Seeker4

In North America, we haven't even sold people on taking the train, let alone the benefits of high-speed, so upgrading the train system doesn't make it as a priority in the public consciousness. People love their cars and the auto industry is quite dominant so if it comes down to financing new tracks for high-speed rail (most high-speed trains need a different gauge of rail for full speed) or building/expanding a highway, the highway wins.

Europe and Asia have always relied more on rail for both commuting and long distance travel so putting in high-speed trains and upgrading track for them is improving a service that is already widely used so there's less of a sales job needed. People just go, "Cool. Faster train means shorter ride."

So basically we are more stupider

Forgot about this asshole... Listen all'ya'll is was a sabotage.

3 billion in federal funding has been approved for high speed rail from Southern California to Vegas 🔥

Quote by Magical_felix

3 billion in federal funding has been approved for high speed rail from Southern California to Vegas 🔥

Good shit. Now do the rest of the fucking country.

Let's see, the right of way corridors would need to be procured since the country ripped out a lot of tracks starting in the '70's (Conrail anyone?). A lot of the old right of ways were reclaimed by the original property owners or by the states for use in trail systems. It's a fantastic idea that's been kicked around for decades but there just isn't the political will on either side of the aisle.

Where are you going to put the stations? I used to take Amtrak often but the passenger trains were delayed as freight has priority.

Quote by Magical_felix

3 billion in federal funding has been approved for high speed rail from Southern California to Vegas 🔥

Picking the low hanging fruit. It's easy and economical to create that right-of-way and build it right the first time - all elevated, and all 200 mph. We need some of those Japanese manufactured trains though. Why reinvent the wheel on locomotives, just use what's available and modern and well equipped. Save a coupla billion being smart.

That 'Hi-Line' from Minneapolis to Seattle should be 200 mph elevated rail also. Don't have to bulldoze a shit ton of people's houses out of the way for that to occur.

If you build it - they will come. There's a boatload of people who can't afford cars or $75,000 pick up trucks that will never see a day's honest work. Parking prices per day/month/year in many cities along the east coast megaregion almost prohibit driving cars into the cities from the suburbs.

Of course, Covid19 did drive home to employers and corporations - "It's cheaper to have our hive bees working from their homes - spending THEIR money on heating/cooling/electricity - and just keeping up the whole working from home deal - and they can quit leasing building spaces too!

America will have hi-speed rail about 100 years before global warming innundates all the coastlines of the world, flooding all the major cities - and their hi-speed rail. But, we'll have achieved it.

Bezo's and the South African aparthied devotee's grandchildren might one day ride a 200 mph American train. But they have better odds of flying to Mars to join the America First Colony.

America fucked up super fast commuter rail over 100 years ago, hell they don't really care about superfast freight service either. Or super safe freight service.

Fuck a bunch of trains, planes and automobiles - we should be traveling via Transporter technology anyway. De and Re-moleculization is where it's at, man.

I love rail. Rode it all over Europe. We have a card that gives us Amtrak miles and now we never drive to NYC. The reason we don’t have good rail in the US comes down to corruption. Originally by the car companies with politicians and now with fossil fuel and politicians.

I was 10, traveling from Omaha to Kansas City (pretty mild human behavior patterns at the time) with my 8 year old brother. Don't remember much about the train trip, except that it took all fucking day to travel 180 miles. And all the funny or repugnant smells which seemed to fumigate our rail car. It sure wasn't Amtrak for passenger service then.

I remember the 20 minutes waiting for my folks to arrive and pick me and him up at Union Station in KC (after the sun had gone down). We got smooth-talked out of our last two ten dollar bills by a suave adult dude who appealed to - and indeed did prey upon our youthful ignorance with a two bit plea - but he did write out a personal check for $20.00 - to show us what a thankful and admirable person he really was.

I remember my father cackling when I presented him with the personal check from Richard M Nixon. My mother shrieked and grabbed both of her young sons and exclaimed, "THIS IS NEVER HAPPENING AGAIN." Dad kept that check for over 30 years, framed, above his downstairs man-cave back-bar wall.

I first rode Amtrak in 1990 from KC to bumfuck Tennessee. KC to St Louis to Bumfuck. Almost 400 miles. Took forfuckingever. Boarded the train at 11 am, got off that motherfucking slow boat to China around 10 am the next day. Dropped my first ever hit(s) of windowpane. I consumed 3 full hits of that paper. I remember starting to trip around daybreak in Carbondale, Illinois. It was still 150 miles and 6 hours to Bumfuck at that point.

I do not remember deboarding or gathering luggage or jackshit from Carbondale to the Motel 6 we had procured in Tennessee.

I never rode Amtrak again. But not because of the acid trip. That was the fun part.