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> An airport runway can handle far more people than a rail line. Definitely false. The most efficient runways (say Gatwick) manage 8-9,000 pax per hour, with a

> An airport runway can handle far more people than a rail line. Definitely false. The most efficient runways (say Gatwick) manage 8-9,000 pax per hour, with a huge chunk of departures delayed due to runway congestion. The Tokaido Shinkansen line manages more than 20,000 per hour and most are on-time (and could run at night because noise is less of an issue). It helps that 750-pax trains take a minute to board and can be run every 3-4 minutes if needed.

sandworm101 7y ago
Not bullet trains. As speeds increase, the safe distance between trains (both in time and space) must also increase. No rail line (line, not station) can handle one bullet train every minute. A large railway station can indeed handle more than a single runway, but apples and oranges. A rail station can have multiple rail lines just as an airport can run multiple runways.
- ericd 7y ago
  Maybe not every minute, but in Japan, the same track can handle a new bullet train every few minutes, like clockwork. The throughput is enormous. And the footprint of a track is much, much smaller than a single runway, so it's not uncommon for even modest rail stations to have 15+ tracks. Chicago O'Hare has the most runways of any airport in the US, at 8, and they aren't all usable at the same time, since they intersect, and wind direction varies. And that's an enormous facility.
- athenot 7y ago
  But in the same area for 1 runway + required buffer, you can fit A LOT of train platforms (also including required buffer, which is essentially nil).
Gibbon1 7y ago
I was thinking BART ten car trains carry as many passengers as two 747's or five 737's.
- masklinn 7y ago
  high-speed trains generally have lower capacity (and better seating), usually 300~600 though they're normally designed to be coupled (you can pair two trainsets) into a "single train", passengers can't move from one to the other but the sets are solidly linked and behave as a single train for density purposes). The N700 shinkansen is the big exception with >1300 seats 16-cars trainsets, though it's on the slow side (tops out at 285km/h). The CR400 comes close with 1200 seats 16-cars trainsets (and an operational speed of 350, which should eventually be increased to the design speed of 400).

sandworm101 7y ago

Not bullet trains. As speeds increase, the safe distance between trains (both in time and space) must also increase. No rail line (line, not station) can handle one bullet train every minute. A large railway station can indeed handle more than a single runway, but apples and oranges. A rail station can have multiple rail lines just as an airport can run multiple runways.

ericd 7y ago
Maybe not every minute, but in Japan, the same track can handle a new bullet train every few minutes, like clockwork. The throughput is enormous. And the footprint of a track is much, much smaller than a single runway, so it's not uncommon for even modest rail stations to have 15+ tracks. Chicago O'Hare has the most runways of any airport in the US, at 8, and they aren't all usable at the same time, since they intersect, and wind direction varies. And that's an enormous facility.
athenot 7y ago
But in the same area for 1 runway + required buffer, you can fit A LOT of train platforms (also including required buffer, which is essentially nil).

Gibbon1 7y ago

I was thinking BART ten car trains carry as many passengers as two 747's or five 737's.

masklinn 7y ago
high-speed trains generally have lower capacity (and better seating), usually 300~600 though they're normally designed to be coupled (you can pair two trainsets) into a "single train", passengers can't move from one to the other but the sets are solidly linked and behave as a single train for density purposes). The N700 shinkansen is the big exception with >1300 seats 16-cars trainsets, though it's on the slow side (tops out at 285km/h). The CR400 comes close with 1200 seats 16-cars trainsets (and an operational speed of 350, which should eventually be increased to the design speed of 400).