8 ms·

We do, we just use it to move astonishing amounts of cargo instead of humans.

formerkrogemp 4y ago
That's a nice little take to hide the fact we can't build or run anything as competently as we used to do. Our trains aren't the fastest, or haul the most commuters, or the most extensive, or the safest, but we sure do haul some tonnage of coal. FYI 70% of goods, ie cargo, in the US are transported by trucks. Our trains suck in the US and need massive investments to become more relevant.
chrisseaton 4y ago
The US only has like 500 miles of modern rail track - between Boston and Washington.
- gumby 4y ago
  I wouldn’t call that “modern”: the “high speed” train has a top speed of 86 mph and in my experience only attains that for 15 minutes between Boston and NYC. On the NYC DC stretch, scheduled “high speed” service is only 20-30 minutes shorter than the much cheaper regular service that stops at every station.
  - chrisseaton 4y ago
    > “high speed” train has a top speed of 86 mph Wikipedia says 150, but I guess if you live there you probably know better. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acela https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acela
    - gumby 4y ago
      yes, that’s my experience, though there is a thread parallel to your comment that disputes it.
  - danans 4y ago
    > has a top speed of 86 mph and in my experience only attains that for 15 minutes between Boston and NYC. 135 to 150mph. There are plenty of YouTube videos of people independently verifying the speed either from the train using a phone speedometer app) or using a speed measurement device from alongside the track. Here is one (go to timestamp 6:13): https://youtu.be/KHF8ajhAZa8 https://youtu.be/KHF8ajhAZa8
    - gumby 4y ago
      The conductor sometimes announces it and I’ve never heard it exceed mid 80s. I also have a phone and can look how fast I’m traveling myself. I’ve never personally experienced the speeds claimed by that video on Acela. The Acela schedules for nyc-dc last week were pretty damning. Shaving 30 minutes (at best!) from a 3 hour makes-every-stop trip clearly doesn’t mean significant high speed travel. At earlier stages of my life I was a regular traveler on tgv/Thales/Eurostar, ICE, and Shinkansen. I know what a high speed train feels like.
      - deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
      - therealcamino 4y ago
        I don't think "It didn't feel that fast to me" is a basis for claiming the published speeds are a lie. You can get real time train information at https://www.amtrak.com/services/maps.trainlocation.html https://www.amtrak.com/services/maps.trainlocation.html . The first two trains I clicked on in MD and NJ were at 104mph and 124mph.
        ghaff 4y ago
        For Boston to NYC, the Acela only hits peakish speed for a relatively short part of its journey. It is faster than the regular regional train but not by all that much--maybe by 30 minutes or a bit more. (The biggest benefit to the introduction of Acela was that it required the electrification of the tracks north of New Haven which eliminated what could be a fairly long engine switch on the regular regional train.) If I'm paying out of my own pocket I usually just take the regional.
- formerkrogemp 4y ago
  Why is 70% of freight carried by trucks then?
thriftwy 4y ago
Who said you can't do both.
- WillPostForFood 4y ago
  Anyone who has ridden Amtrak and had to pull over and weight for a freight train to pass.
  - thriftwy 4y ago
    Avoiding that situation has to be Scheduling 101.
    - blibble 4y ago
      isn't it by design, given the freight companies own the railways? in the UK it's the opposite, freight trains get pushed into sidings so passenger trains can overtake (but then they don't get charged for causing delays)
      - stetrain 4y ago
        Amtrak is legally supposed to get priority but I think they can't directly sue the freight railroads for failing to meet this requirement.
        ghaff 4y ago
        My understanding is that Amtrak is supposed to get priority if the Amtrak train is on schedule. That is often not the case.
        thriftwy 4y ago
        I don't understand how a train may not be on schedule. There's two rails on which the train runs in completely deterministic matter, unlike air or car traffic.
stetrain 4y ago
Yeah at like 15mph through old track in urban areas. We do have a huge freight network that moves a lot of tonnage, but I wouldn't call it modern or world-class in track infrastructure, speeds, signaling, train control automation, or electrification.

That's a nice little take to hide the fact we can't build or run anything as competently as we used to do. Our trains aren't the fastest, or haul the most commuters, or the most extensive, or the safest, but we sure do haul some tonnage of coal. FYI 70% of goods, ie cargo, in the US are transported by trucks. Our trains suck in the US and need massive investments to become more relevant.

chrisseaton 4y ago

The US only has like 500 miles of modern rail track - between Boston and Washington.

gumby 4y ago
I wouldn’t call that “modern”: the “high speed” train has a top speed of 86 mph and in my experience only attains that for 15 minutes between Boston and NYC. On the NYC DC stretch, scheduled “high speed” service is only 20-30 minutes shorter than the much cheaper regular service that stops at every station.
- chrisseaton 4y ago
  > “high speed” train has a top speed of 86 mph Wikipedia says 150, but I guess if you live there you probably know better. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acela https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acela
  - gumby 4y ago
    yes, that’s my experience, though there is a thread parallel to your comment that disputes it.
- danans 4y ago
  > has a top speed of 86 mph and in my experience only attains that for 15 minutes between Boston and NYC. 135 to 150mph. There are plenty of YouTube videos of people independently verifying the speed either from the train using a phone speedometer app) or using a speed measurement device from alongside the track. Here is one (go to timestamp 6:13): https://youtu.be/KHF8ajhAZa8 https://youtu.be/KHF8ajhAZa8
  - gumby 4y ago
    The conductor sometimes announces it and I’ve never heard it exceed mid 80s. I also have a phone and can look how fast I’m traveling myself. I’ve never personally experienced the speeds claimed by that video on Acela. The Acela schedules for nyc-dc last week were pretty damning. Shaving 30 minutes (at best!) from a 3 hour makes-every-stop trip clearly doesn’t mean significant high speed travel. At earlier stages of my life I was a regular traveler on tgv/Thales/Eurostar, ICE, and Shinkansen. I know what a high speed train feels like.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - therealcamino 4y ago
      I don't think "It didn't feel that fast to me" is a basis for claiming the published speeds are a lie. You can get real time train information at https://www.amtrak.com/services/maps.trainlocation.html https://www.amtrak.com/services/maps.trainlocation.html . The first two trains I clicked on in MD and NJ were at 104mph and 124mph.
      - ghaff 4y ago
        For Boston to NYC, the Acela only hits peakish speed for a relatively short part of its journey. It is faster than the regular regional train but not by all that much--maybe by 30 minutes or a bit more. (The biggest benefit to the introduction of Acela was that it required the electrification of the tracks north of New Haven which eliminated what could be a fairly long engine switch on the regular regional train.) If I'm paying out of my own pocket I usually just take the regional.
formerkrogemp 4y ago
Why is 70% of freight carried by trucks then?

thriftwy 4y ago

Who said you can't do both.

WillPostForFood 4y ago
Anyone who has ridden Amtrak and had to pull over and weight for a freight train to pass.
- thriftwy 4y ago
  Avoiding that situation has to be Scheduling 101.
  - blibble 4y ago
    isn't it by design, given the freight companies own the railways? in the UK it's the opposite, freight trains get pushed into sidings so passenger trains can overtake (but then they don't get charged for causing delays)
    - stetrain 4y ago
      Amtrak is legally supposed to get priority but I think they can't directly sue the freight railroads for failing to meet this requirement.
      - ghaff 4y ago
        My understanding is that Amtrak is supposed to get priority if the Amtrak train is on schedule. That is often not the case.
        thriftwy 4y ago
        I don't understand how a train may not be on schedule. There's two rails on which the train runs in completely deterministic matter, unlike air or car traffic.

stetrain 4y ago

Yeah at like 15mph through old track in urban areas. We do have a huge freight network that moves a lot of tonnage, but I wouldn't call it modern or world-class in track infrastructure, speeds, signaling, train control automation, or electrification.