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A private company called brightview (I think) built a small section of highish speed rail in Florida and is now building a line from the outskirts of LA to Vega

A private company called brightview (I think) built a small section of highish speed rail in Florida and is now building a line from the outskirts of LA to Vegas. I'm excited for it to open up

jeffbee 2y ago
You have stretched "now building" beyond the bounds of reason. But yes, Brightline has an altogether superior press secretary.
- xeromal 2y ago
  If you tell me when and where, I'll put money down on brightline's completion vs california high speed rail having any functioning sections in the next 10 years I have absolutely zero faith in california high speed rail doing anything within my lifetime while China can build hundreds of miles in a few years.
  - sroussey 2y ago
    It should have followed the 5 and by passed the towns in the Central Valley. The republicans there felt that was a terrible idea and should instead go through where there was much more built out. But stuff would have been built out from the stops, they didn’t need to swing in like that. And so many more landowners as you approach cities and the need to slow down. Such a cluster.
    - jeffbee 2y ago
      We had a statewide election to decide this. Bypassing Fresno isn't what passed on the ballot. Either the system serves Fresno or the bonds don't exist.
      - WillPostForFood 2y ago
        The ballot initiative was all lies. 220mph rail, $50 tickets, Anaheim to SF. La to San Diego in an hour. It was all BS to get votes. And the one thing they stuck to was Fresno? How about forget Fresno, and work on 220mph.
        jeffbee 2y ago
        None of those things are in the proposition. The proposition requires design speeds of 200MPH, somewhere in the system. LA to SD in 80 minutes. SF to LA in 160 minutes. Nothing about the ticket prices. You imagined all of that.
alexeldeib 2y ago
Brightline https://www.gobrightline.com/ https://www.gobrightline.com/ Never had the chance to use it, but one of the more exciting US rail developments I’ve seen recently.
whartung 2y ago
It’s going to be interesting to see. What they’ve done (as I understand it) is they’ll use common (UP, BNSF) right of way to get up Cajon Pass and out to Barstow. From there, they’re laying new rail to LV. The clever part is that they’re laying the rail down the middle of I-15, which is a divided interstate. This lets them built rail to their specifications, a dedicated rail, and also bypass no doubt a huge amount of approvals and things such as environmental studies. Most of that simply doesn’t apply to the middle of the I-15. So it’s a bit of a perfect storm that’s enabling this project. The big question is whether they can get schedule priority getting out of the Inland Empire and over the pass to Barstow. Most passenger traffic is second class on the freight lines (which is where much of the delays and low quality of modern train travel stems from). But, yea, eager to see this. Supposed to be ready for the ‘28 LA Olympics.
- xeromal 2y ago
  Yeah, using the median is pretty sweet and should hopefully bypass a lot of environment review which is the bane of building anything in CA. Even if it doesn't bypass average car speed, just the comfort of not having to drive that nasty stretch will be a godsend. My only concern is pricing. It's gonna have to be about 50$ each way to be worth it in my opinion. You can get a flight to a fro for about 150$ and that's out an airport like burbank which is very low security and easy to navigate.
- jeffbee 2y ago
  > Supposed to be ready for the ‘28 LA Olympics. Imagine believing that anyone will be willing to attend the 28 games in America.
  - bdangubic 2y ago
    $1,000 to a charity of your choice for ANY country you list here that won’t attend if you reciprocate if wrong.
    - SadTrombone 2y ago
      Pretty sure they were talking about tourists/fans from other countries, not athletes representing countries.
rayiner 2y ago
Brightline in Florida is awesome. It’s not a short line, it goes from Orlando to Miami which is the same distance as New York to DC. Florida is set up great for it, with a series of pretty dense cities along the coast.

A private company called brightview (I think) built a small section of highish speed rail in Florida and is now building a line from the outskirts of LA to Vegas. I'm excited for it to open up

jeffbee 2y ago

You have stretched "now building" beyond the bounds of reason. But yes, Brightline has an altogether superior press secretary.

xeromal 2y ago
If you tell me when and where, I'll put money down on brightline's completion vs california high speed rail having any functioning sections in the next 10 years I have absolutely zero faith in california high speed rail doing anything within my lifetime while China can build hundreds of miles in a few years.
- sroussey 2y ago
  It should have followed the 5 and by passed the towns in the Central Valley. The republicans there felt that was a terrible idea and should instead go through where there was much more built out. But stuff would have been built out from the stops, they didn’t need to swing in like that. And so many more landowners as you approach cities and the need to slow down. Such a cluster.
  - jeffbee 2y ago
    We had a statewide election to decide this. Bypassing Fresno isn't what passed on the ballot. Either the system serves Fresno or the bonds don't exist.
    - WillPostForFood 2y ago
      The ballot initiative was all lies. 220mph rail, $50 tickets, Anaheim to SF. La to San Diego in an hour. It was all BS to get votes. And the one thing they stuck to was Fresno? How about forget Fresno, and work on 220mph.
      - jeffbee 2y ago
        None of those things are in the proposition. The proposition requires design speeds of 200MPH, somewhere in the system. LA to SD in 80 minutes. SF to LA in 160 minutes. Nothing about the ticket prices. You imagined all of that.

alexeldeib 2y ago

Brightline https://www.gobrightline.com/ https://www.gobrightline.com/ Never had the chance to use it, but one of the more exciting US rail developments I’ve seen recently.

whartung 2y ago

It’s going to be interesting to see. What they’ve done (as I understand it) is they’ll use common (UP, BNSF) right of way to get up Cajon Pass and out to Barstow. From there, they’re laying new rail to LV. The clever part is that they’re laying the rail down the middle of I-15, which is a divided interstate. This lets them built rail to their specifications, a dedicated rail, and also bypass no doubt a huge amount of approvals and things such as environmental studies. Most of that simply doesn’t apply to the middle of the I-15. So it’s a bit of a perfect storm that’s enabling this project. The big question is whether they can get schedule priority getting out of the Inland Empire and over the pass to Barstow. Most passenger traffic is second class on the freight lines (which is where much of the delays and low quality of modern train travel stems from). But, yea, eager to see this. Supposed to be ready for the ‘28 LA Olympics.

xeromal 2y ago
Yeah, using the median is pretty sweet and should hopefully bypass a lot of environment review which is the bane of building anything in CA. Even if it doesn't bypass average car speed, just the comfort of not having to drive that nasty stretch will be a godsend. My only concern is pricing. It's gonna have to be about 50$ each way to be worth it in my opinion. You can get a flight to a fro for about 150$ and that's out an airport like burbank which is very low security and easy to navigate.
jeffbee 2y ago
> Supposed to be ready for the ‘28 LA Olympics. Imagine believing that anyone will be willing to attend the 28 games in America.
- bdangubic 2y ago
  $1,000 to a charity of your choice for ANY country you list here that won’t attend if you reciprocate if wrong.
  - SadTrombone 2y ago
    Pretty sure they were talking about tourists/fans from other countries, not athletes representing countries.

rayiner 2y ago

Brightline in Florida is awesome. It’s not a short line, it goes from Orlando to Miami which is the same distance as New York to DC. Florida is set up great for it, with a series of pretty dense cities along the coast.