12 ms·
Brightline Orlando's first train: 125 mph from MCO to MIA [video]
- woodruffw 3y agoThis is simultaneously exciting and embarrassing: exciting because the US is finally seeing some amount of non-remedial rail investment after decades of intentional neglect, and embarrassing because the outcome is still so menial (a diesel locomotive traveling at barely HSR speeds at its peak).
- kylehotchkiss 3y agoIt proves we are in fact capable of grading a railroad to support faster speeds. We have a lot of historical tracks that never had this requirement
- woodruffw 3y ago> It proves we are in fact capable of grading a railroad to support faster speeds. In one important way, it doesn't: the majority of the Brightline Orlando route runs over the pre-existing Florida East Coast Railway[1], which was re-graded to support speeds of 110mph, not higher. That's well below even the lowest bar for HSR (i.e. 125mph). [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_East_Coast_Railway https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_East_Coast_Railway
- arcticbull 3y agoDidn’t we already prove that with the NEC?
- ulfw 3y agoIt's also going nowhere. Miami to Orlando... Airport! Not city, not Disney. Orlando Airport. Then what? Rent a car?
- woodruffw 3y agoRight. As far as I can tell, MCO doesn't have any real mass transit besides buses. Maybe they're thinking that Brightline will eventually expand into downtown Orlando itself, or will link directly to SunRail[1]? [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SunRail https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SunRail
- tssva 3y agoPhase 3 of the Brightline, the expansion to the Orlando airport from West Palm Beach was phase 2, has 3 planned stops. The Orange County Convention Center, near Disney Springs and Tampa. It will connect to the SunRail at the convention center stop.
- adolph 3y agoOr a taxi, car service, friend, family, own cat in a parking lot (already present at an airport), city bus, walking, folding bicycle, transcontinental Starship service (coming soon to MCO) . . .
- TylerE 3y agoThe airport is not exactly in town, unless you want to walk or bike 10 miles with luggage.
- mattmcknight 3y agoYou get to Orlando city center...and there's not much to do, it's very tiny part of a low density city. There is a bus terminal and an Amtrak station. I did get around town on the city busses pretty well. Pretty easy to catch a shuttle bus to Disney and local hotels from the airport. Probably more transportation from there than downtown.
- Yeul 3y agoThey call trains traveling at 200Kph "high speed" in my country but the Japanese run them at twice those speeds. It's a tiny country so it doesn't matter that much but if in the future we want to replace airplanes we need to do better.
- masklinn 3y agoNit: closer to 1.5, the Shinkansen generally run at 300 or slightly below (the N700S series which started service in 2020 runs at 300 in Taiwan and on Sanyo Shinkansen, but 285 on Tokaido Shinkansen, and 260 on Nishi Kyushu Shinkansen, it does have a design speed of 360). Japan currently has only one line rated above 300, and it’s Tohoku at 320 (and only until Morioka, though this is getting upgraded, and the line might get re-rated to 360 in its entirety once that’s done and if ALFA-X succeeds). AFAIK the only production non-maglev trains designed for 400 are the Chinese CR400 (“fuxing”) and they’re currently operated at 350.
- em-bee 3y agothey do that in germany too. it's ridiculous. wikipedia has a good overview of the reality: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-speed_rail_in_Europe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-speed_rail_in_Europe
- screye 3y ago> tiny country Japan spans the length of the US, and has more than 100 million people in it. Tiny isn't exactly what I'd call it.
- masklinn 3y agoI think by "tiny country" Yeul means their own country rather than japan.
- gertrunde 3y agoIt does remind me of the Intercity 125 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InterCity_125 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InterCity_125) - Which was introduced into service in 1976...
- perihelions 3y agoThere was a diesel-powered express passenger line [0] that ran at an average 69 mph between Chicago and Denver... back in 1936. The Florida one in the OP also averages 69 mph [1]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denver_Zephyr https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denver_Zephyr [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brightline https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brightline - "The first Zephyr service to Denver began May 31, 1936, with the trainsets of the Pioneer Zephyr and the Mark Twain Zephyr, trains 9900 and 9903. This new service was known as the Advance Denver Zephyr and operated on a 16-hour schedule." (1,109 miles / 16 hours = 69 mph (112 kph))
- rafaelturk 3y agoSeriously TSA security??
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- usr1106 3y agoOn the not so bright side [notice the pun only afterwards...] they have a very high death rate. American pedestrians and drivers obviously have not learned yet that trains can be fast. Source: https://spiegel.de https://spiegel.de a couple of days ago
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- evilkorn 3y agoNearly every week in Palm Beach County there's a story in the news about subscribe getting hit, either in person or in car. The day of the first Miami to Orlando train someone was hit by a train.
- CPLX 3y agoI mean in their defense the most important input into these numbers is the relative idiocy and sobriety of Florida residents.
- em-bee 3y agoFlorida Man...
- dougmwne 3y agoNot sure why downvoted. You are right. Nearly 100 people have been killed by this train since 2019. This is an incredibly dangerous transportation mode for the number of passengers it handles.
- Symbiote 3y ago> None of Brightline's deaths were caused by crew error or faulty equipment, but were all related to suicides or pedestrians and drivers trying to cross and beat the trains, according to law enforcement and federal reports. The article says all grade crossings have barriers, so the video showing a collision shows the car driving around the lowered barriers. However, with the size and weight of American vehicles, I'm surprised they didn't use full-barrier crossings — there's the potential to derail a train. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brightline#Deaths https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brightline#Deaths
- atlgator 3y agoAdd Naples next
- ChatGTP 3y agoAmerica and trains: the little engine that could ?
- justrealist 3y agoPassenger trains, we lead the world in freight rail. (outside China, I have no idea whether Chinese freight rail is or isn't great).
- kibwen 3y agoAmerica has removed more miles of railway than most other countries have ever had. I hold out hope that high-speed rail is still possible, at least between the major population centers in each region. The good news is that airports and flying are abjectly miserable experiences, which makes people willing to look at alternatives.
- richwater 3y agoFlying is miserable because consumers demand low prices. There is no forces that would change this when applied to trains.
- numpad0 3y agoHigh speed rail tends to be better because trains are supported not by air but by rails on the ground. Weight penalties are significantly reduced. One aspect of HSR vs air that I have bit of issues but are rarely mentioned is what car people call NVH characteristic - Noise, Vibration, and Harshness - are much worse in HSR than airplanes. It's a bit of in-between with high speed taxing, windy day in a high rise building and rollercoaster ride all the way to the destination. Airplanes are magic carpets once up there, and that can be more comfortable than trains.
- pmayrgundter 3y agoHow is this 125 mph when it's same travel time as by car? YT vid says Journey Time: 3 hr 33 min Google maps says this 3h30m by car MCO to MIA. Security overhead on the train looks medium, with TSA-style scanners but otherwise normal walk-up access when train arrives. 1h flight (tho add 1-2h for airport overhead) Price: $79 (Smart), $149 (Premium)
- t3rabytes 3y agoBrightline takes a bit of a longer path (straight to the coast and down) than can via car (more direct).
- mcculley 3y agoFor most of the route, it cannot go that fast. It is mid-speed rail, at best.
- ipnon 3y agoIf you fly or drive, it’s about the same time but you arrive feeling drained. The train is cheaper and you arrive feeling refreshed. Travel should be pleasant and enjoyable, like the golden days of aviation!
- Johnny555 3y agoThat wasn't the question -- the question was why a 125mph train takes the same time to travel as it takes a 70mph car to make the same trip from station to station? Calling it a "125mph" train (because that's its max speed) when the average speed is 68mph seems dishonest.
- em-bee 3y agothe train has to stop at intermediate stations.
- xnx 3y agoI wondered the same thing. I think 125 mph is peak, not average, speed. I think average speed is something like 70 mph.
- missingcolours 3y agoConnecting to airports as transportation hubs is interesting and makes a lot of sense - gives you access to 24/7 rental cars, air travel, and often rail connections to downtown areas. One thing with traveling on Amtrak in most of America is it plops you in a downtown with few options for getting anywhere.
- ulfw 3y agoThis is legit the first time I've ever heard someone being in favour of going to an airport outside a city by train rather than going to the city centre. If I am ending at the airport anyway I might as well fly there.
- bombas 3y agoI mean, I guess… how many visitors to Orlando actually go downtown though
- pm3003 3y agoThere are a few airports in Europe with a high-speed train station in the airport, like Roissy in Paris (sadly the trains don't go to Paris, wouldn't be French enough) or Düsseldorf and Frankfurt. It can be extremely practical to take the train to downtown wherever in the country instead of waiting 5 hours for your connecting flight to an airport 20 miles away from civilization.
- crote 3y ago
- coev 3y agoIt's $80 per person each way for a ticket from west palm beach station to orlando. That's $160 roundtrip. Even for one person, it can be cheaper to rent a car and pay the gas/turnpike tolls than to buy one roundtrip ticket, and you won't be stranded 20 minutes away from downtown and the tourist attractions over at MCO airport.
- elteto 3y agoWith current prices this could be a bit of a stretch. A 2 day rental from MIA with Enterprise is $140 for a compact (just checked). I’m sure you can find cheaper but probably no by much. So you are close to $160 all-in with gas and tolls.
- WillPostForFood 3y agoYou can do a fair amount better that that on price with a major rental company, but it still might make sense to use the train if you are solo. But if you are a duo or trio, the train pricing starts to lose big. https://i.imgur.com/uSHiZdS.png https://i.imgur.com/uSHiZdS.png If you are willing to risk using one of the lower tier car rental companies, you can really cut the price. https://i.imgur.com/iOHxxw3.png https://i.imgur.com/iOHxxw3.png
- TylerE 3y agoProblem is then you're depending on a rental, which your (alleged) reservation doesn't actually guarantee.
- WillPostForFood 3y agoYou always depend on the business to provide the service reserved whether it is plane, train or automobile. I'd worry more about the flight into/out of MIA than the car rental.
- TylerE 3y ago
- jeffbee 3y ago[flagged]
- userbinator 3y agoIn China, you need to pass through similar security checks to get on high-speed rail between cities too.
- nexus7556 3y agoExcept in China the screening process is extremely efficient. I’ve never been through an efficient TSA process
- ghaff 3y agoI don’t defend a lot of TSA procedures but with PreCheck it typically takes me 5 minutes at my home airport.
- EduardoBautista 3y agoIt also helps that people either pre-check seem to be more efficient about getting through. The regular lines appear to have plenty of first time flyers who are slow to empty their belongings into the trays.
- pm3003 3y agoEuropean high-speed trains do 195mph, no security controls except between France and Great Britain, relatively cheap, and often cheaper and faster than planes up to 600 miles, taking into account transportation to the airport and time lost waiting at the airport, since airports are often inefficient and can be quite poorly connected given the traffic.
- nexus7556 3y agoSecurity and custom checks in Switzerland. Had to go through customs and security check before boarding a train between GVA and Paris. Also had everyone’s passport checked while on a train between GVA and Milan. Not just France and GB that have stops. Can’t forget Switzerland.
- SandroB 3y agoThat's strange. I lived in Switzerland my whole life and don't remember having had a security / passport check for a boarding a train ever. So it's definitely not normal / regular to have this in Switzerland. Most of western Europe is part of the the Schengen Area, so there's no need for passport checks.
- prmoustache 3y agoI've had random checks in the train over the year between Switzerland and France and Switzerland and Italy. They are definitely not regular/mandatory though.
- HelloNurse 3y agoBetween Switzerland and Italy there are, or there used to be, foreign border agents on the train rather than checkpoints.
- addicted 3y agoSwitzerland signed the Schengen Agreement in 2008. It’s unlikely they have border controls since then although they probably did before.
- brigadier132 3y agoIve ridden it between miami and Fort Lauderdale. Its very comfortable and a much much nicer experience than driving but its not for the price conscious. It makes me wish the us had a much better rail system.
- gavinray 3y agoMy wife and I live in Miami, and she's been waiting for this for years. She's a huge Disney fan but it's a bit of a haul to drive to Orlando. Now it'll be cake to go to Disney.