6 ms·

I think the biggest issue with CAHSR is that Florida just did it anyway.

by nimish 1y ago

bombcar 1y ago
Florida does have the advantage that the tallest mountain there is like 60 feet.
xnx 1y ago
Be careful citing the Brightline as a success. It is expensive, doesn't go to many places, has low ridership, regularly kills pedestrians and drivers, and is hemorrhaging money.
- unstatusthequo 1y ago
  "Regularly kills pedestrians and drivers" doesn't seem like the train's fault. Railroad crossings aren't hard to understand. If you're a driver or pedestrian, best to make sure you heed the lights, gate, loud sounds. Sounds like you haven't ridden it. It's the best train in the country. Sure makes you realize what train travel could be.
- levocardia 1y ago
  But, importantly, it actually exists and you can buy a ticket and ride on it. That's the bar we're talking about here. Not "did they make the best train line ever" -- just did they make a train line.
  - nimish 1y ago
    This is basically it. MVP and you can ride it!
- screye 1y ago
  > regularly kills pedestrians and drivers Ah yes, the train that seeks you out and kills. Much like all the free-soloists who are killed by the ground. Come on man. Expecting people to stay behind barriers and rail lines is a basic expectation. Brightline has killed zero people. If anything, it has reduced ~150 deaths by guiding people to a safer mode of transport. Ridership has tripled in 3 years. Brightline is a private company, so you can be sure that they are charging a decent price for each ticket, and the demand is still there. Brightline aims to make money by developing properties around this new value add (the train stations). They are making massive profits off their first few developments. The housing developments are owned by Brightline's parent company, so they don't show up on Brightline's balance sheets.
  - bombcar 1y ago
    Trains are really unpredictable. Even in the middle of a forest, two rails can appear out of nowhere, and a 1.5-mile fully loaded coal drag, heading east out of the low-sulfur mines of the PRB, will be right on your ass the next moment. Still one of the best copypastas.
rsynnott 1y ago
> Brightline's maximum operating speed is 125 mph (200 km/h) I mean, you could call it high speed rail, I suppose, but it's not really the same sort of thing.
- xnx 1y ago
  Average speed is 68 mph
  - rsynnott 1y ago
    Oof. Dublin to Cork is 66mph average, and that one's considered kind of embarrassing, and is currently being upgraded to ~85mph average. (There's separately a proposal to build a real high speed line, but it seems unlikely to happen; it'd have to be a whole new line.)

I think the biggest issue with CAHSR is that Florida just did it anyway.

by nimish 1y ago

I think the biggest issue with CAHSR is that Florida just did it anyway.

bombcar 1y ago

Florida does have the advantage that the tallest mountain there is like 60 feet.

xnx 1y ago

Be careful citing the Brightline as a success. It is expensive, doesn't go to many places, has low ridership, regularly kills pedestrians and drivers, and is hemorrhaging money.

unstatusthequo 1y ago
"Regularly kills pedestrians and drivers" doesn't seem like the train's fault. Railroad crossings aren't hard to understand. If you're a driver or pedestrian, best to make sure you heed the lights, gate, loud sounds. Sounds like you haven't ridden it. It's the best train in the country. Sure makes you realize what train travel could be.
levocardia 1y ago
But, importantly, it actually exists and you can buy a ticket and ride on it. That's the bar we're talking about here. Not "did they make the best train line ever" -- just did they make a train line.
- nimish 1y ago
  This is basically it. MVP and you can ride it!
screye 1y ago
> regularly kills pedestrians and drivers Ah yes, the train that seeks you out and kills. Much like all the free-soloists who are killed by the ground. Come on man. Expecting people to stay behind barriers and rail lines is a basic expectation. Brightline has killed zero people. If anything, it has reduced ~150 deaths by guiding people to a safer mode of transport. Ridership has tripled in 3 years. Brightline is a private company, so you can be sure that they are charging a decent price for each ticket, and the demand is still there. Brightline aims to make money by developing properties around this new value add (the train stations). They are making massive profits off their first few developments. The housing developments are owned by Brightline's parent company, so they don't show up on Brightline's balance sheets.
- bombcar 1y ago
  Trains are really unpredictable. Even in the middle of a forest, two rails can appear out of nowhere, and a 1.5-mile fully loaded coal drag, heading east out of the low-sulfur mines of the PRB, will be right on your ass the next moment. Still one of the best copypastas.

rsynnott 1y ago

> Brightline's maximum operating speed is 125 mph (200 km/h) I mean, you could call it high speed rail, I suppose, but it's not really the same sort of thing.

xnx 1y ago
Average speed is 68 mph
- rsynnott 1y ago
  Oof. Dublin to Cork is 66mph average, and that one's considered kind of embarrassing, and is currently being upgraded to ~85mph average. (There's separately a proposal to build a real high speed line, but it seems unlikely to happen; it'd have to be a whole new line.)