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I'd agree in terms of distance and traffic between the two cities. However, the long, relatively severe winters would probably add some complications to high sp

I'd agree in terms of distance and traffic between the two cities. However, the long, relatively severe winters would probably add some complications to high speed rail.

wirrbel 6y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Siberian_Railway https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Siberian_Railway Snow isn't an obstacle to trains (unless you don't want trains to be a reality).
- fredophile 6y ago
  The trans siberian railway isn't high speed. There are plans to make some of it high speed but the only article I could find was from 2018 and at that time it was still only in the early planning stages and expected to cost billions of USD [0]. [0] https://www.railway-technology.com/features/moscow-kazan-high-speed-rail/#:~:text=The%20trains%20will%20have%20an,maximum%20speed%20of%20440km%2Fh https://www.railway-technology.com/features/moscow-kazan-hig.... (Edited to fix an autocorrect correction from my phone)
  - go_blue_13 6y ago
    >trans siberian railway >edmonton to calgary I think think there's a slight difference between the things we're comparing
- refurb 6y ago
  It certainly makes things more difficult. You need to clear tracks, build shelters where there is avalanche risk.
inter_netuser 6y ago
Check out the rail to Bergen, in Norway. Shot in 4K. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atyvdC15HFA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atyvdC15HFA
- fredophile 6y ago
  A quick search on Google tells me that train goes at 160 km/h. Not exactly high speed. It looks like they don't run into too many problems with weather related cancelations or delays though [0]. [0] https://www.globalrailwayreview.com/article/74614/norway-railways-fight-against-snow/ https://www.globalrailwayreview.com/article/74614/norway-rai...
  - closeparen 6y ago
    Amtrak generally averages about half that, so it seems pretty good.
    - fredophile 6y ago
      The Edmonton to Calgary route is straight, flat, and has a mostly sparsely populated path. I'd hope that high speed rail under those conditions could do significantly better. I also looked up Amtrak's speeds and found a report from 2016 saying that over half of their trains had a top speed of 160 km/h or greater.
      - xyzzyz 6y ago
        > I also looked up Amtrak's speeds and found a report from 2016 saying that over half of their trains had a top speed of 160 km/h or greater. This sentence can be interpreted in multiple ways. Maybe they mean that half of their trains could theoretically ride at 160 kph, but that doesn’t mean that they ever actually reach such speeds on their routes. Or, maybe, that half of their trains reach 160 kph on some fraction of their route, maybe very small one. What I would be more interested in is their average speed according to schedule, weighted by the frequency of trains on a given segment, and same average but for actual ride times, including delays etc.
      - jcranmer 6y ago
        Most of Amtrak's routes are likely to be on the NEC, where the top speed is I believe 140 mph (~200 km/h). Outside the NEC, the newest of the diesel fleet can probably reach 100mph (or 160 km/h), but the actual routes are unlikely to support that kind of speed with any amount of routine. Instead, the effective speed limit (again outside NEC) is going to be closer to ~60-70mph.
Clewza313 6y ago
There are plenty of high-speed services (up to 350 km/h) in northern China, Korea, Japan and Russia, all of which have severe winters and (on the west coast of Japan) some of highest snowfalls on the planet.

I'd agree in terms of distance and traffic between the two cities. However, the long, relatively severe winters would probably add some complications to high speed rail.

wirrbel 6y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Siberian_Railway https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Siberian_Railway Snow isn't an obstacle to trains (unless you don't want trains to be a reality).

fredophile 6y ago
The trans siberian railway isn't high speed. There are plans to make some of it high speed but the only article I could find was from 2018 and at that time it was still only in the early planning stages and expected to cost billions of USD [0]. [0] https://www.railway-technology.com/features/moscow-kazan-high-speed-rail/#:~:text=The%20trains%20will%20have%20an,maximum%20speed%20of%20440km%2Fh https://www.railway-technology.com/features/moscow-kazan-hig.... (Edited to fix an autocorrect correction from my phone)
- go_blue_13 6y ago
  >trans siberian railway >edmonton to calgary I think think there's a slight difference between the things we're comparing
refurb 6y ago
It certainly makes things more difficult. You need to clear tracks, build shelters where there is avalanche risk.

inter_netuser 6y ago

Check out the rail to Bergen, in Norway. Shot in 4K. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atyvdC15HFA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atyvdC15HFA

fredophile 6y ago
A quick search on Google tells me that train goes at 160 km/h. Not exactly high speed. It looks like they don't run into too many problems with weather related cancelations or delays though [0]. [0] https://www.globalrailwayreview.com/article/74614/norway-railways-fight-against-snow/ https://www.globalrailwayreview.com/article/74614/norway-rai...
- closeparen 6y ago
  Amtrak generally averages about half that, so it seems pretty good.
  - fredophile 6y ago
    The Edmonton to Calgary route is straight, flat, and has a mostly sparsely populated path. I'd hope that high speed rail under those conditions could do significantly better. I also looked up Amtrak's speeds and found a report from 2016 saying that over half of their trains had a top speed of 160 km/h or greater.
    - xyzzyz 6y ago
      > I also looked up Amtrak's speeds and found a report from 2016 saying that over half of their trains had a top speed of 160 km/h or greater. This sentence can be interpreted in multiple ways. Maybe they mean that half of their trains could theoretically ride at 160 kph, but that doesn’t mean that they ever actually reach such speeds on their routes. Or, maybe, that half of their trains reach 160 kph on some fraction of their route, maybe very small one. What I would be more interested in is their average speed according to schedule, weighted by the frequency of trains on a given segment, and same average but for actual ride times, including delays etc.
    - jcranmer 6y ago
      Most of Amtrak's routes are likely to be on the NEC, where the top speed is I believe 140 mph (~200 km/h). Outside the NEC, the newest of the diesel fleet can probably reach 100mph (or 160 km/h), but the actual routes are unlikely to support that kind of speed with any amount of routine. Instead, the effective speed limit (again outside NEC) is going to be closer to ~60-70mph.

Clewza313 6y ago

There are plenty of high-speed services (up to 350 km/h) in northern China, Korea, Japan and Russia, all of which have severe winters and (on the west coast of Japan) some of highest snowfalls on the planet.