Originally Posted By RoadTrip I think Los Angeles to Las Vegas would be a good place to start. High demand route and PLENTY of space to put it.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>So far there are two proposed sections that make sense; SF to San Jose or LA to where ever!<< But the problem with those sections is that they are through exisitng urban areas, and can't be built without significant property acquisition and coordination with a multitude of local governments. And once they're up and running, they won't be running at the full 220mph. The Central Valley sections were chosen for initial construction, since the design process could be streamlined more for an early start (to fit with the ARRA timeline) and once it's built they can test the trains at full-speed. Had they built one of the urban sections first, they wouldn't be able to complete all of the testing for the entire system on it, before opening it up. >>...Acela is a steel and heavy train and normally Bullet trains are light weight and made out of aluminum, the Acela requires 3 miles of track to make an emergency stop while traveling at 150 mph. Lighter trains can stop in less distance. I would think that CA would want a shorter distance...<< The California system will also be steel-wheel-on-steel-rail, like Acela. I think part of the reasoning is that it will be operating (at least partly) in the same rail corridor as freight traffic. If a freight train were to derail, they want a somewhat sturdy passenger train to withstand more of the impact. When it's only light trains running the corridor, hitting another train wouldn't cause quite as much damage. >>I think Los Angeles to Las Vegas would be a good place to start.<< DesertXpress (largely funded by they Vegas casinos) was supposed to do this, but it now looks like they'll only be building the Vegas to Victorvill part of it. It's a start, but kind of a train to nowhere, so we'll see how effective it is. I also recently heard that a new private operator is looking to purchase the used Metrolink rolling stock (that they're currently in the process of replacing), and run trains from LA Union Station to Fullerton to Vegas. It won't be high-speed, or have a lot of weekday trains scheduled, but it has the potential to take a large portion of the traffic that travels I-15 every weekend.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom FerretAfros, obvious you folks on the west coast are Jedis at this whole thing. It is your baby! My only point is to show the merits of a preexisting high speed train, the Acela and to demonstrate that althought it is a part of Amtrak it goes through multiple states and there for lots of different folks involved. The northeast considers itself very fortunate to have the Acela. It is certainly one of the "jewels" of the Amtrak fleet. And I wish the best of luck to California in their high speed train endeavor. I believe most everyone will be pleased with the results.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA <DesertXpress (largely funded by they Vegas casinos) was supposed to do this, but it now looks like they'll only be building the Vegas to Victorvill part of it. It's a start, but kind of a train to nowhere> It's easier to drive to Victorville and jump on a train to go to Vegas than to drive all the way to Vegas. It's like here. We drive up to the Pleasanton BART station, and take the train into San Francisco. Much easier than driving all the way into the city.
Originally Posted By Manfried By the time they get all these high speed rails built we should have flying cars, infinite energy, and transporter devices.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom Not everything needs to proceed at glacial speed. From what I have read the DesertXpress is doable right now over the discontinued Amtrak line. A train could be stuck in tomorrow if they wanted to. It is intresting that you brought up BART Jim. From what I have read the ideal plan is for the DesertXpress to run down the center of the highway similar to how BART is running through Pleasanton and Dublin.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA <By the time they get all these high speed rails built we should have flying cars, infinite energy, and transporter devices.> Right. And it will require 1.21 gigawatts of power to keep it going!
