5 ms·

If I never had to fly domestically again it would be too soon, high speed rail ftw!

mothballed 1y ago
Don't worry, if high-speed rail displaces flight they'll have the federal gropers jobs program for that too. Soon enough it will suck just as much as flying "for your security."
- oblio 1y ago
  I recently saw that Canadian passenger railways have security checks and bag check-in just like airlines :-)) They're like aliens seeing humans preparing food but not understanding what taste is.
  - JadeNB 1y ago
    > I recently saw that Canadian passenger railways have security checks and bag check-in just like airlines :-)) It's probably harder to drive a train into something than it is to fly a plane into something, but a bomb on a train could do a lot of damage even if it wasn't as cinematic as a bomb on a plane. And, having traveled on Amtrak and seen what people try to cram in to the limited space available, it's not clear to me that some sort of baggage control is automatically a bad thing. (Don't get me wrong, I like not having to go through those airport-style controls, but it's a tragedy of the commons sort of thing, where abuse of it by a few renders it unpleasant for everyone.)
    - oblio 1y ago
      > but a bomb on a train could do a lot of damage even if it wasn't as cinematic as a bomb on a plane Same for a bus, tram, funicular, metro, ferry. At what point does the insanity stop? A crowded bus in Bucharest probably has 200 passengers and at peak times it could drive near stops and streets where hundreds, if not thousands of other people, are in a 100m radius.
      - arccy 1y ago
        you could be like india where even going to the metro requires a bag scan
        bluGill 1y ago
        Metro, the mall, your hotel room. India has terrorism problems. I wonder how much / if this helps. (India also has a lot of cheap labor and this might just be a jobs program for attendants of the machines)
    - 2OEH8eoCRo0 1y ago
      The rails are also a target though. I'm surprised we don't see more bad actors sabotaging high speed passenger rail tracks.
      - hdgvhicv 1y ago
        Think what a bomb on a freeway bridge would do. Clearly need to grope everyone before they get in their car.
        supertrope 1y ago
        Traffic fatalities are like 10 9/11s a year. Think of the children!
        tim333 1y ago
        Of course that happened with the Crimea bridge but seems less of a problem elsewhere.
    - supertrope 1y ago
      In 2020 a train engineer intentionally drove a train off the end of the tracks because he believed a Covid-19 conspiracy theory about a nearby hospital ship. https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/san-pedro-train-engineer-pleads-guilty-terrorism-charge-intentionally-derailing https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/san-pedro-train-enginee...
      - BobaFloutist 1y ago
        Ok, but that's 1. More like if the pilot of a plane lost his mind, which all the horses and men in TSA couldn't fix, and, 2. He didn't exactly drive it into the Pentagon, did he?
  - nunez 1y ago
    Nothing at all like the TSA Experience
    - oblio 1y ago
      Yes, there is more room available at the bottom of the barrel.
- rsynnott 1y ago
  Security of that sort for high speed rail is extremely unusual, possibly non-existent. Spain does x-ray baggage, I think, but even that is pretty weird.
0xy 1y ago
It'll only cost $10 trillion dollars and still be slower than planes.
- techblueberry 1y ago
  Sold!
- Zambyte 1y ago
  "Slower" only if you consider yourself to be the only individual that matters. High speed trains move way more people per mile per hour. Plus train stations can be located in much more convenient locations (directly in city centers), so even though your time in the air may be less time than you would be on a train, door-to-door home-to-destination may be faster.
- supertrope 1y ago
  Realistic HSR is regional. Connecting Boston through DC at 300 km/hr. Sacramento to San Diego. Chicago St. Louis Kansas City. Running track through states with more cattle than people would be a waste of capital. Flights from NYC to DC are barely long enough to get to cruising altitude. HSR would be great for that segment.

Don't worry, if high-speed rail displaces flight they'll have the federal gropers jobs program for that too. Soon enough it will suck just as much as flying "for your security."

oblio 1y ago
I recently saw that Canadian passenger railways have security checks and bag check-in just like airlines :-)) They're like aliens seeing humans preparing food but not understanding what taste is.
- JadeNB 1y ago
  > I recently saw that Canadian passenger railways have security checks and bag check-in just like airlines :-)) It's probably harder to drive a train into something than it is to fly a plane into something, but a bomb on a train could do a lot of damage even if it wasn't as cinematic as a bomb on a plane. And, having traveled on Amtrak and seen what people try to cram in to the limited space available, it's not clear to me that some sort of baggage control is automatically a bad thing. (Don't get me wrong, I like not having to go through those airport-style controls, but it's a tragedy of the commons sort of thing, where abuse of it by a few renders it unpleasant for everyone.)
  - oblio 1y ago
    > but a bomb on a train could do a lot of damage even if it wasn't as cinematic as a bomb on a plane Same for a bus, tram, funicular, metro, ferry. At what point does the insanity stop? A crowded bus in Bucharest probably has 200 passengers and at peak times it could drive near stops and streets where hundreds, if not thousands of other people, are in a 100m radius.
    - arccy 1y ago
      you could be like india where even going to the metro requires a bag scan
      - bluGill 1y ago
        Metro, the mall, your hotel room. India has terrorism problems. I wonder how much / if this helps. (India also has a lot of cheap labor and this might just be a jobs program for attendants of the machines)
  - 2OEH8eoCRo0 1y ago
    The rails are also a target though. I'm surprised we don't see more bad actors sabotaging high speed passenger rail tracks.
    - hdgvhicv 1y ago
      Think what a bomb on a freeway bridge would do. Clearly need to grope everyone before they get in their car.
      - supertrope 1y ago
        Traffic fatalities are like 10 9/11s a year. Think of the children!
      - tim333 1y ago
        Of course that happened with the Crimea bridge but seems less of a problem elsewhere.
  - supertrope 1y ago
    In 2020 a train engineer intentionally drove a train off the end of the tracks because he believed a Covid-19 conspiracy theory about a nearby hospital ship. https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/san-pedro-train-engineer-pleads-guilty-terrorism-charge-intentionally-derailing https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/san-pedro-train-enginee...
    - BobaFloutist 1y ago
      Ok, but that's 1. More like if the pilot of a plane lost his mind, which all the horses and men in TSA couldn't fix, and, 2. He didn't exactly drive it into the Pentagon, did he?
- nunez 1y ago
  Nothing at all like the TSA Experience
  - oblio 1y ago
    Yes, there is more room available at the bottom of the barrel.
rsynnott 1y ago
Security of that sort for high speed rail is extremely unusual, possibly non-existent. Spain does x-ray baggage, I think, but even that is pretty weird.

0xy 1y ago

It'll only cost $10 trillion dollars and still be slower than planes.

techblueberry 1y ago
Sold!
Zambyte 1y ago
"Slower" only if you consider yourself to be the only individual that matters. High speed trains move way more people per mile per hour. Plus train stations can be located in much more convenient locations (directly in city centers), so even though your time in the air may be less time than you would be on a train, door-to-door home-to-destination may be faster.
supertrope 1y ago
Realistic HSR is regional. Connecting Boston through DC at 300 km/hr. Sacramento to San Diego. Chicago St. Louis Kansas City. Running track through states with more cattle than people would be a waste of capital. Flights from NYC to DC are barely long enough to get to cruising altitude. HSR would be great for that segment.