5 ms·
Because competing with the airlines requires some semblance of "high speed"? California is fairly densely packed once you get away from the Central Valley and
by GeekyBear 2y ago
Because competing with the airlines requires some semblance of "high speed"?
California is fairly densely packed once you get away from the Central Valley and nearer to the coast where the people are.
- bobthepanda 2y agoThe current plan actually accounts for this; the 2:40 includes the amount of time it takes to run on the current Caltrain tracks from San Jose to SF which will not be running at the highest speeds.
- vlovich123 2y agoSaid another way, that SF/San Jose stretch accounts for 25-30% of the total time. That’s similarly true for the last stretch of LA meaning a truly engineering driven design could have done it within ~1h50. And note that the 2h40 goal is admitted as a pipe dream by everyone involved, particularly because of the last mile issues and the circuitous route.
- bobthepanda 2y agoIIRC the last stretch in LA is actually planned to be new build with Palmdale to Los Angeles taking about twenty minutes. Engineering is about optimizing and updating where you can. There aren't really high speed rail lines anywhere that go into the center of their major cities at full speed. In Europe and Japan the city-center sections are slower; China solved this problem mostly by having high speed trains skirt around built up areas.
- vlovich123 2y ago> China solved this problem mostly by having high speed trains skirt around built up areas. Which is what we should have done. Follow the 5 and build out high speed spokes to the other cities. And really unfuck the rail system in the Bay Area instead of travelling at Caltrain speeds for San Jose -> SF.
- bobthepanda 2y agoChina would have likely just stopped the rail line at San Jose, the same way the Shanghai HSR stops at Hongqiao 50 minutes away from the actual city center.
- inferiorhuman 2y agoUpgraded signaling along the Caltrain ROW is in the works, but again you've got to balance the egos of the three big stakeholders. Caltrain is a far smaller problem to CAHSR than e..g Metro North is to Acela. The big issue is going to be the approach to downtown SF — which is still a ridiculous political football.
- vlovich123 2y agoSomething something something “solve the hard problems first”.
- dragonwriter 2y agoGiving operating HSR to the Valley first, even though this isn't historically the reason for it, is probably a very good way to motivate a solution to any political problems in the urban areas around the termini.
- GeekyBear 2y agoI agree. Starting the build out from either SF or LA would have at least resulted in an initial segment that people could use.
- inferiorhuman 2y agoDisagree. Waiting for San Francisco to get its act together would potentially doom CAHSR. Building something now even if it means no downtown SF service could still reap benefits. Even Millbrae to LA would be very useful.
- dragonwriter 2y ago> a truly engineering driven design If by “engineering-driven” you mean “focussed on speed alone and not the actual project goals”, but...
- GeekyBear 2y agoSo ignore the "High Speed" part in addition to ignoring the part where you build the tracks in a location where there are people who can use them?
- johnnyanmac 2y agoYeah, I don't think people in LA or SF are worried about competing with airlines over a few dozen city miles not being 200+ mph. Avoiding the LAX is reward in and of itself.
- ta1243 2y agoAmericans tell me that public transport can't work in the America because it's not dense enough.
- dragonwriter 2y agoMost of the run for CA HSR is in the Central Valley because most of the length of California between the Bay and LA is.