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Plans develop for high-speed rail in the PNW

southseattleemerald.com

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Re: Plans develop for high-speed rail in the PNW

#191

Post by ryanSrich »

NegativeLatency wrote: post #7
sfpotter wrote: post #3

Amtrak Cascade has trains that can do 125 mph but are throttled to 78 mph because of low quality tracks, as I understand it. Amtrak also recently just started running many more trains per day between Seattle and Portland. High speed rail is great, but maybe a good starting point would just be… fixing the tracks. Get 3 1/2 hours from SEA to PDX down closer to 2…

Even just reliability, I regularly make this drive for visiting family and it would be preferable to be able to kick back and relax instead of driving, but currently it’s just too snow and infrequent to be a viable option for me.

Exactly. I also do this drive every few months and still can’t believe driving is more efficient than taking the train. It’s the absolute perfect setup for a train too.

Re: Plans develop for high-speed rail in the PNW

#192

Post by erik_seaberg »

hx8 wrote: post #66

If you were to pick a dozen likely stops on this train, you'll likely end up with a name collision. Vancouver, Washington and Vancouver, British Columbia. It's fun to think about how they would handle this. Would they use the full names in all documentation. Would they give one of the locations a nickname, such as "Southern Washington" or "British Columbia". I also wonder what would be the largest mishap that could h…

I’m reminded of an ad in a thick Jersey accent:

“Here’s your non-refundable ticket to Auckland.”

“You mean Oakland.”

“That’s right, Auckland, New Zealand.”

Re: Plans develop for high-speed rail in the PNW

#193

Post by sbierwagen »

carabiner wrote: post #79
CSMastermind wrote: post #70

For those unaware allow me to present The Seattle Process: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_process Otherwise known as "decision making through exhaustion" where everyone tries to stop progress as much as possible until the other people get so sick of arguing with you that they give up and you get your way. The Seattle region might be the part of the country least capable of building infrastructure. I'll believe…

lol California would disagree. I am amazed at how much is being built here. I wouldn't be surprised if Seattle is the fastest building urban metro area in the US. I still think WA has a libertarian streak (hence no income tax) that moves things along.

>I wouldn't be surprised if Seattle is the fastest building urban metro area in the US.

It's tied for fastest building Democrat MSA along Minneapolis. (6.5 permits per capita). SF is at 3.4. Orlando is at 11.

https://twitter.com/mnolangray/status/1682489858881884160

Re: Plans develop for high-speed rail in the PNW

#194

Post by euroderf »

denimnerd42 wrote: post #159
ojbyrne wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My favorite name collision is Ontario, CA (city, state) and Ontario, CA (province, country).

I had a friend from Ontario tell me she was going to school in London. That was confusing initially.

Then she met her Waterloo.

Re: Plans develop for high-speed rail in the PNW

#195

Post by sbierwagen »

Balero wrote: post #178
SllX wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eugene -> Albany -> Salem -> Woodburn -> Wilsonville -> Tigard -> Portland -> Vancouver WA -> Woodland -> Long View -> Castle Rock ->Centralia -> Grand Mound -> Olympia -> Lacey -> DuPont -> Tacoma -> Federal Way -> Seattle-Tacoma International Airport -> Burien -> White Center -> Seattle -> Shoreline -> Lynnwood -> Everett. You could keep going, but that gives you the spine of the populated places between Seattle an…

That route at the top would make any high speed rail pointless. You would never get up to a speed to make it worth while. All to stop at places like Castle Rock population 2500. Going down to Eugene and Salem would make sense, but with the intent that they places would aim to grow in size considerably. Places like Gresham to Forest grove are better for the Portland tram network, they are just part of the one metro ar…

Big HSR systems have a mix of express and local trains, like in Shinkansen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinkansen#Service_names Not every train stops at every stop.

Re: Plans develop for high-speed rail in the PNW

#196

Post by andbberger »

forrestthewoods wrote: post #154
andbberger wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I quite frankly just don’t see the value is connecting Portland and Seattle by high speed rail. Who gives a shit? Spend billions of dollars so that hundreds, perhaps even a whole thousand, of people can take a weekend trip that is slightly faster than a 3 hour drive dramatically faster. travel time between portland and seattle along a realistic route is on the order of 90m with a few stops and 60m non-stop. about a…

High-speed rail isn’t really for daily commuters. Shinkansen tickets are quite expensive. We’re talking $100 each way. I don’t see trains having a huge advantage over a clean grid and EV fleet. And the latter is much easier and faster to build.

aha, this must be critical urbanism's orange website alt

there is no inherent reason why high speed rail isn't suited to commuting, pricing is a policy choice. and i too can name random prices, i paid 25€ to get from paris to geneva on a TGV a couple of weeks ago. total carbon emissions for that trip: 2kg

other commenters have rightfully bashed you over the head for your pro-car comments. let me pile on. in embodied carbon alone, this is a ludicrous prospect. cars also fare dramatically worse in terms of specific energy. and in mortality rate, and comfort, and ...

Re: Plans develop for high-speed rail in the PNW

#197

Post by peyton »

afavour wrote: post #158
peyton wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I highly doubt Amtrak will suddenly run on time if enough people write Congress like their video suggests. The delays are egregious. Can’t they just pay for priority?

> Can’t they just pay for priority? With what money? Oh, the extra money they could be allocated by… Congress?

Amtrak sells tickets.

Re: Plans develop for high-speed rail in the PNW

#198

Post by chrisandchris »

Lammy wrote: post #110
sfpotter wrote: post #3

Amtrak Cascade has trains that can do 125 mph but are throttled to 78 mph because of low quality tracks, as I understand it. Amtrak also recently just started running many more trains per day between Seattle and Portland. High speed rail is great, but maybe a good starting point would just be… fixing the tracks. Get 3 1/2 hours from SEA to PDX down closer to 2…

> because of low quality tracks, as I understand it Relevant: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Washington_train_derailme...

> Preliminary information from the data recorder showed that, when the incident happened, the train was traveling at 78 mph (126 km/h),[4] nearly 50 mph (80 km/h) over the speed limit.

In what sense relevant?

Re: Plans develop for high-speed rail in the PNW

#199

Post by p_l »

euroderf wrote: post #187
dredmorbius wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Adding to this, there's a pretty interesting paradox of transportation infrastructure as relates to land values, and a characteristic I've noticed of many high-speed rail systems. The creation of transportation infrastructure can convert land from low-value (as reflected by market prices) to high, and this has very often occurred. The US Transcontinental Railroad, completed in 1869, was seen by many as a boondoggle,…

I have read elsewhere that there are ways for rail development to capture some of the increase in land value, in order to offset the cost of the development. I do not have any pointers though.

A common example is railroads in Japan, which own the land around the station and either run or profitably lease buildings and services on them, with stations in densely populated areas doubling as shopping centers, hotels etc

Re: Plans develop for high-speed rail in the PNW

#200

Post by johngladtj »

AlotOfReading wrote: post #104
scarab92 wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amtrak are freeloading on privately built and maintained railways. If they want better track alignments, or prioritisation over other users, they should come to a commercial agreement with the infrastructure owners like anyone else. Alternatively, they can build their own infrastructure.

Railroads in the US run through land donated by the government, on tracks given to the railroads by the government, supported with funds from the government. Despite all that aid, the government has had to step in with additional funding to ensure they don't go bankrupt many times, especially in the 1920s, 1930s, 1970s, 2000s, and during COVID. Fulfilling their legal obligations to Amtrak is the least they could do.…

It was sold by the government in return for the railroad being built. Every bankruptcy was the direct result of government intervention.

The railroads did their part, in spite of being hamstrung at every step by the government.

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