Amtrak Acela at Top Speed

Amtrak Acela at top speed

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• train
• highspeed
• fast
• bullet

[andyjay729]

Given California's terrain and money problems, it'll probably take a very long time to build though.

[CBass1307]

The train is not french. It was designed specifically for amtrak and was built in the US, by Bombardier.

[TahreyUK]

@FullMentalPanic or walk, or take a folding bike, or hop onto a local connecting train... amazing how some people think, isn't it.

however it can be rather inconvenient and difficult to plan your onward trip in an unfamiliar town, even in this age of mobile internet and the like. Had that experience whilst rescuing my broken down motorbike from the next-but-one city recently (took a spare wheel out on train... local bus services were poor and badly signed... so had to pay £££!! for a taxi ride)

[dsindc]

Oh, by the way, I admit I'm a bit partial to trains. My office is on the 7th floor of a building that overlooks the rail-yards behind Union Station. The windows offer an awesome sight of trains of ALL kinds going in and out every minute. Acela, Amtrak reglionals, commuter trains, and the metro. It's awesome to watch all the activity. We'll hope for the best in California.

[dsindc]

I have noticed here in the D.C. area, development has followed the Metro. A 5 billion extension is being built to Dulles airport. It will go under a huge development (Tysons Corner) has more sq. footage than downtown Denver. O commuter lines do go as far south as Fredericksburg (50 miles), and West Va. ( about 70 miles), and about 800,000 people take the subway each day. So, it CAN be done but it takes a lot of work - especially politically. I love Cali and have family there. Best of luck.

[dsindc]

The problem is that "like before" is gone. L.A. had an excellent streetcar system. The auto industry managed to kill it. Very sad. You're absolutely right about dedicated lines. We HAVE to have them in the Northeast. I think when gas goes back to 2008 prices, and beyond (and it will), cities will have to be re-configured. Sprawl will just not be feasible. That I think will ultimately be an excellent development. We're on the same page, and I hope nothing by the best for California. (cont)

[dsindc]

FullMentalPanic, you make some excellent points. Sadly, most cities outside the Northeast corridor were built for cars. For a significant number of people to use high speed rail in say, L.A. (which has a total area population of 15 million), there will never be enough busses, rental cars, or taxis. A huge advantage to rail is that it can deposit its passengers at terminals in downtown areas. People generally love that. BUT, unlike airports, parking will be prohibitively expensive (cont).

[FullMentalPanic]

>>dsindc [part 2]

"So, a train gets you to a city, then what?"

Seriously?...umm...taxi? bus? rent a car? arrange for a ride ahead of time, like we do before airplane flights?

I really don't understand why my fellow Americans on the East Coast think CA is so undeserving or unfit for high-speed rail. We have a very crowded air corridor between LA-SF, and we have the second most popular Amtrak corridor between San Luis Obispo, LA, and San Diego. We're building this whether you like it or not.

[FullMentalPanic]

>>dsindc [part 1]

Tilting trains do indeed allow higher speeds on older not-so-straight track, but even those technologies have their limits. Basic physics will reveal that true high-speed operation requires straight paths because of centripetal force. Another reason why dedicated track is preferred is so trains don't have to share track with slower traffic or freight. Track sharing in CA will mostly be limited to the dense Bay Area peninsula, very small compared to the entire system.

[dsindc]

No that's not true. This train is sometimes referred to as a "high speed tilt train". It was built for quick use, and minor track work. The only thing it requires is rail ties made of concrete (i.e. a bit of modernization. In any case, from my town (DC) to Boston is only 440 miles. Within that stretch 50 millions life and all major cities, D.C., Baltimore, Philly, NYC and Boston ALL have subways, commuter and light rail. Calif. has very litte. So, a train gets you to a city, then what?

[davids5a2]

slowly but surely

[demexii1]

Only if they can convince the FRA to let them go over 150. The Acela can go over 150 but can't due to regulations.