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How far can you go by train in 5h?

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Re: How far can you go by train in 5h?

#161

Post by Scoundreller »

jrockway wrote: post #109
chrisfinazzo wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't really have a preference, but having done my first couple flights in close to 20 years in the past 3 months, I was struck by how much has changed in that time. PreCheck and Global Entry weren't around when we went to Bermuda in August 2001. It was a trip notable not only for its proximity to 9/11 - by chance, my bag was searched either before we left L.F Wade in St. George's or on arrival back in Newark, but…

They've been trying to implement passport control before boarding the train between NYC and Montreal for a while, but nothing seems to have come of it. It was an Obama-era priority. I haven't taken that train in many years, but they basically stop the train at the border and immigration agents board and check everyone's passport. It's scheduled to take 2 hours. Really stupid. It's a 45 minute flight, and you go throu…

Vancouver’s station does that: preclearance and then sit in a sequestered cage to get on the train.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Central_Station

There are some disadvantages, such as not being able to pickup anymore passengers until crossing the border. Probably a non-issue with Vancouver close to the border.

Re: How far can you go by train in 5h?

#162

Post by nickbauman »

andjd wrote: post #154
qalmakka wrote: post #22

As a European it boggles my mind seeing how trains are basically non-existent in the USA (just look at Houston station), given how dominant the whole "Wild West" railroad rush is in everybody's immagination. Railroads are super ubiquitous here, and we've to work with a pretty hostile terrain - Italy has lots of mountains, hills, rivers, and yet has one of the best networks in the world. Most of the USA are basically…

The USA has a world-class _Freight_ rail network, and almost all existing track in the country is owned by the freight operators, who manage the track to optimize it for freight operations. In many cases, they are openly hostile to passenger service on their tracks. On top of this, most cities in the USA were built (or destroyed and rebuilt) for private cars being the primary mode of transportation. In Europe, one of…

No it doesn't have a world class freight rail network. The North American rail infra is incredibly primitive. Most of it is "dark territory" (no track sensors), unlike Europe. I used to write rail automation software for a German firm. They were appalled at the state of affairs here. One of the most lucrative rail systems in the US had an average speed of their trains in the single digits MPH!

Re: How far can you go by train in 5h?

#163

Post by ClumsyPilot »

scythe wrote: post #147
Robotbeat wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fact the US is basically empty means the cost to build a HSR route to go between population centers is super high because of the sheer distances involved. You’re talking like 1000 miles, not 200. The places which are closer together, like the East Coast, do have some passenger rail but they’re also much denser, like Europe, and so they have the same kind of constraints (or worse). The US has a lot of freight rail…

> the cost to build a HSR route to go between population centers is super high The cost is high, but more painfully, the cost per-mile is higher than for the same distance of railroad in Europe or East Asia. That's not a result of pure geography. Also, while the cost is high, it's not actually that large in comparison to the overall DoT budget, which is projected at $142B for FY2023. You could build a lot of train fo…

> the cost per-mile is higher than for the same distance of railroad in Europe

how does this make any sence, we have to deal with tonneling under or demolishing existing densely populated real estate along the route, literal mountains in the way, etc.

HS2 in UK caused an outrage, someone's farm was cut in half, houses had to be demolished, etc

Re: How far can you go by train in 5h?

#165

Post by wgnmstr12 »

There is a lot of what-if here, but the reality is that most people in the USA prefer the flexibility and speed of (1) Driving wherever and whenever and carrying all your stuff with you, and then (2) flying to your destination for speed. You can cross the east coast in 3 hours or the go to the west cost in 6 on a convenient red-eye.

Taking the train is more a novelty, and unclear who would actually use it regularly because it takes much longer (10 hours east cost, 20 hours coast to coast), transport on either endpoint requires you to park or taxi, and you lose all flexibility.

We like the idea of the train more than the reality of the train. I've lived in various places around the world where you had to take mass transit always, and all it does is add one to two hours to your commute when I would have much preferred to drive.

Re: How far can you go by train in 5h?

#167

Post by cbm-vic-20 »

dahart wrote: post #139
aj7 wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I regularly travel Tucson Ft. Lauderdale. 2100 miles. Including ground transport, door to door is 10-12 hours.

Wow, crazy! On Amtrak?

On Amtrak, that's a 102 hour trip that takes you through Chicago and DC. Not an exaggeration. Given usual delays, that 102h is wildly optimistic. Coach seats: $387.

Re: How far can you go by train in 5h?

#169

Post by hnov »

why-el wrote: post #123

The app is currently non-functioning, I suppose the HN kiss of death (I assume the whole graph was too big to store in the browser?)

The app spams requests as you hover, but should be trivial to slap a cache-control: public, max-age=600 so it's served out of edge.

Re: How far can you go by train in 5h?

#170

Post by mwint »

cridenour wrote: post #70
WaitWaitWha wrote: post #14

I delight in isochrone maps[0]! There used to be some open source, web interfaces but they all became commercial. An isochrone map is one of the best tools for weekend get-aways, job hunting, and finding a home location. OpenStreetMap[1]! Add it to your site, it will be great hit, in my opinion. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isochrone_map [1] https://www.openstreetmap.org

I ran a home search startup in 2015 and I will always remember the moment my searching finally came up with the name "isochrone" and the explosion of research and data that came with that. Our home search went from "we'll send you an email when its done" to adding fake loading bars to make it seem like it was doing more.

By 2015 Zillow was already well entrenched, what was your differentiator?
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