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The existing rail system is very efficient for heavy freight. High speed intercity rail needs a new railway system. There can't be any grade crossings with hig
by Merrill 7y ago
The existing rail system is very efficient for heavy freight.
High speed intercity rail needs a new railway system. There can't be any grade crossings with highways - a 200 mph train hitting a flatbed semi with a bulldozer on it is not something you want to have happen. The railway has to have curves of much larger radius that are banked correctly for high-speed operation. High-speed rail can have steeper grades, since the locomotives are powerful and the cars are light. High-speed rail is electrified with overhead catenaries, while freight is diesel with high clearance for double-stacked container cars.
- Gibbon1 7y agoMost of what the California high speed rail project is doing in the central valley is grade separation work for the existing freight rail and the future high speed rail line. In the past I've mentioned you could build a high speed rail from Chicago -> St Louis -> Kansas City -> Denver -> Colorado Spring for about $100 billion. Probably.
- Merrill 7y agoThey are starting in the flat and rural Merced to Bakersfield segment. The hard parts are getting from Merced to San Francisco and from Bakersfield to Anaheim.
- Gibbon1 7y agoI think the tunnel through the Diablo Range isn't a big deal except for money. There is already an aqueduct running through the same section. San Gabriels are more difficult.