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Urban light rail is almost universally electric. NYC, Chicago, DC, LA, BART, Seattle, Portland, etc. Sounds like a few places need to contemporize still, but i
by drzaiusapelord 11y ago
Urban light rail is almost universally electric. NYC, Chicago, DC, LA, BART, Seattle, Portland, etc. Sounds like a few places need to contemporize still, but in a lot of cities, electric has been the norm for a long time and we can trivially add more tunnels and not worry about exhaust.
- TylerE 11y agoUrban light rail is such a small blip in terms of overall rail traffic that it probably barely even registers in ton/mile terms. It's like saying you could build all roads in tunnels because Tesla sells cars.
- bobthepanda 11y agoUrban rail in general tends to lean more electric than diesel, especially if you go by passenger/mile. Something like 2/3s of US rail riders live in the New York metropolitan area, which runs mostly electric trains. In terms of intercity traffic, unless there is a compelling reason to tunnel it should be level or slightly raised, with the road crossings going over or under (since road vehicles are better at accelerating and decelerating when climbing or going down grades).
- TylerE 11y agoPassenger traffic in general is a tiny fraction of freight. Freight drives the conversation.