As I see it, the price of rail tickets will be pretty high.whats stopping the price of flights from being halved in the next couple of decades and killing this train service too?
As I understand it, aeroplane tickets are already very low-margin.
High-speed rail taking shape even as opponents seek to kill it
141–150 of 297 posts
Re: High-speed rail taking shape even as opponents seek to kill it
#142Earlier quoted context omitted.
That assumption is: plane with current on-time arrival percentage vs train with mythical 100% on-time arrival. There are a whole host of additional problems that affect rail travel that you never have to think about with air-travel. Currently, Amtrak OTA is 80% - so that means 1/5 of your trips will experience a delay of some sort.
Where right-of-way is shared with freight, freight has priority.
This is the problem with the stupid American capitalist system. You have these sorts of problems.
If it were all controlled by the Government, like it is in other countries, nobody would need to have 'priority'. You just schedule the trains properly.
Re: High-speed rail taking shape even as opponents seek to kill it
#143Earlier quoted context omitted.
> since those who want to go direct between SF and LA will always have a direct flight as an option Therein lies the problem. The cost of the line can't be justified unless it provides a viable alternative to flying between SF and LA, because that's the only conceivable way to get enough ridership. The problem is the distance between SF and LA means being competitive with flying in terms of travel time is incredibly…
NYC to Boston is 230 miles, about 3.5 hours by "fast" train. It's about an hour flight. A lot of people still take the train. If you can get the trains to take you directly into the city center, it can often be a better option.
Plus with a train you don't have all the stupid security that you do on a plane.
Re: High-speed rail taking shape even as opponents seek to kill it
#144$64B just in startup costs, for a slower trip than flying. Why this infatuation with a technology that hasn't been leading edge since the 1800s?
Flying has lots of externalised costs - noise, pollution, requires use of fossil fuels etc.
Re: High-speed rail taking shape even as opponents seek to kill it
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
Another potential concern is that it runs through some good farmland, which CA has some of the best of in the world. I would love to have an HSR along the coast however. When I was in Taiwan it was amazing being able to get to the bottom of the island in a couple hours.
>some good farmland, which CA has some of the best of in the world. Is that a joke? California is a terrible place to be farming. Farming in California is only viable because farmers are allowed unfettered access to water, depriving it from residents (who are told they should turn off the water in the shower while farmers are pouring untold millions of gallons on crops that could be grown somewhere actually suited to…
Not just residents, but also states around it, as well as Mexico.
Re: High-speed rail taking shape even as opponents seek to kill it
#146Earlier quoted context omitted.
Another potential concern is that it runs through some good farmland, which CA has some of the best of in the world. I would love to have an HSR along the coast however. When I was in Taiwan it was amazing being able to get to the bottom of the island in a couple hours.
>some good farmland, which CA has some of the best of in the world. Is that a joke? California is a terrible place to be farming. Farming in California is only viable because farmers are allowed unfettered access to water, depriving it from residents (who are told they should turn off the water in the shower while farmers are pouring untold millions of gallons on crops that could be grown somewhere actually suited to…
Re: High-speed rail taking shape even as opponents seek to kill it
#147Earlier quoted context omitted.
Europe or Japan were nice, but China was amazing. No pre-paid ticket, no planning just show up at the Shenzen train station the morning, arrive in Beijing in the evening on the other size of the country.[1] Imagine freedom, the innovation, the improvement in quality of life if we could hop on a train in the morning NYC and arrive in SF at night for ~$100. I found the trains so much more comfortable than even flying f…
I get your point, but that's a slightly inconvenient comparison. Shenzhen - Beijing is ~1200 miles, SF - NY is ~2600 miles. At the highest passenger rail speeds out there, the trip would probably end up being 12-18 hours.
I'd take an 18-hour train ride from SF to NY. Hell yeah. That sounds amazing. Much better than driving it.
Re: High-speed rail taking shape even as opponents seek to kill it
#148One thing that nobody has mentioned - autonomous cars. Close to the time this will be completed, I assume I'll be able to sit in my vehicle and be shuttled from SF to LA in 5 hrs in the comfort of my own vehicle.
Re: High-speed rail taking shape even as opponents seek to kill it
#149Earlier quoted context omitted.
>some good farmland, which CA has some of the best of in the world. Is that a joke? California is a terrible place to be farming. Farming in California is only viable because farmers are allowed unfettered access to water, depriving it from residents (who are told they should turn off the water in the shower while farmers are pouring untold millions of gallons on crops that could be grown somewhere actually suited to…
Wine yo. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_wine
80% of California's water is used by agriculture.
Re: High-speed rail taking shape even as opponents seek to kill it
#150Earlier quoted context omitted.
>some good farmland, which CA has some of the best of in the world. Is that a joke? California is a terrible place to be farming. Farming in California is only viable because farmers are allowed unfettered access to water, depriving it from residents (who are told they should turn off the water in the shower while farmers are pouring untold millions of gallons on crops that could be grown somewhere actually suited to…
Wine yo. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_wine
For the most part, that's a completely different part of the state.