6 ms·

This isn't about light rail. This is about allowing lighter train cars--that aren't designed to survive collisions with freight trains--on regional rail lines.

• ams6110 8y ago
  And many regional lines are also freight lines.
  • reaperducer 8y ago
    And pretty much all of Amtrak outside the Northeast.
• chrisseaton 8y ago
  > that aren't designed to survive collisions with freight trains They are designed to survive collision with freight trains. In Europe we also have freight trains on our passenger tracks. They're just designed to survive them in a different way - by deforming to absorb impact rather than being rigid to resist it.
  • gok 8y ago
    They're designed to be survivable for the humans on the trains cars, as opposed to the cars themselves :)
    • mcv 8y ago
      Exactly. Nobody cares about the cars, it's about the contents. And a train that cannot deform, will come to a very sudden stop when it hits an unmovable object, which is not going to be good to the occupants. Crumple zones are generally better. Downside is that that's probably where the train driver is. Preventing collisions is definitely the better approach.
      • kpil 8y ago
        The procedure is to slam the emergency brake, then run as hell, as far back as you can get.
  • ak217 8y ago
    > They are designed to survive collision with freight trains Do you have a source?
    • chrisseaton 8y ago
      The article says it.
      • ak217 8y ago
        You're right. It does, unfortunately without citing any sources of its own. In Europe, freight rail is less than a quarter that of the US, while passenger rail is much higher than in the US. Where tracks are shared, passenger rail generally takes priority in EU, and vice versa in the US. When reading about European railcar crash standards, I found no evidence that modern design standards include any requirements on crashing into freight trains. Just generic crumple zone requirements.
  • reaperducer 8y ago
    In Europe we also have freight trains on our passenger tracks. This is not unique to Europe. The vast majority of America's passenger rail infrastructure is on active fright rail trackage.
    • virmundi 8y ago
      I think the arrow points the other way in Europe. Their passenger rails are smooth for a nice ride. They run cargo over the smooth rails. In the US, once you leave the East Coast, you're on freight rails which are bumpy and annoying.
      • reaperducer 8y ago
        In the US, once you leave the East Coast, you're on freight rails which are bumpy and annoying. Yeah. In a few spots, it's OK, but the majority of it is pretty bad. I take a lot of long-distance Amtrak trips, and sleeping can be hard if you haven't done it in a while and you're not used to it. I was surprised to find that the Shinkansen in Japan is a pretty rough and unstable run, too. Americans on the internet like to imagine Japan and its technology as perfect in every way, but the HSR between Tokyo and Kyoto can be almost sea-sickness worthy. I don't think this is because of bad rails so much it is that the infrastructure is so heavily used, and aging, since Japan was a pioneer in this arena.
        • lovemenot 8y ago
          I have used that particular Shinkansen route at least thirty times in each direction. Admittedly not so much recently. I have also traveled by high speed rail in Northern Europe, for comparison. Your experience on the Shinkansen is very different from mine. The only explanation I can imagine is that your train was travelling slowly, which can happen - rarely - in typhoon season. Otherwise, which high speed lines have you used that did not induce seasickness in you?
          • reaperducer 8y ago
            It wasn’t the slow train. I had my wife with me so I splashed out for the fastest train available. It was around 7am, so I assume it was rush hours. I’ve taken a few high speed routes around the world. KTX between Seoul and Busan. The entire Eurostar route. Others I can’t remember off the top of my head. The best experience so far has been Trenitalia between Rome and Naples.