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Show HN: Trains.fyi – a live map of passenger trains in the US and Canada

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Re: Show HN: Trains.fyi – a live map of passenger trains in the US and Canada

#31

Post by kjkjadksj »

ska wrote: post #30
kylecazar wrote: post #27

Wow, I don't know why I thought there would be... Way, way more trains active at a given time. I suppose I overestimated passenger rail popularity in this country.. I knew it wasn't relatively huge, but there's several hundred miles in some cases between trains.

The passenger rail coverage [edit: service] in most of North America is basically pathetic, for systemic reasons.

Coverage is actually surprisingly wide, just the service level is something out of the 1870s for a lot of stations. The siting for a lot of stations is usually pretty poor as well with terrible/nonexistent walkshed considerations (see the Palm Springs station, try walking to your hotel from that).

Re: Show HN: Trains.fyi – a live map of passenger trains in the US and Canada

#32

Post by chrisfosterelli »

thomasahle wrote: post #3

I didn't know there was a trans-Canadian railroad. Did anyone try it?

It's a big part of the country's history; the project was a key bargaining chip to get BC to join Canada. Development started with the first prime minister and the actual construction was incredibly expensive and filled with controversy over bribes and exploding construction costs, causing gov turnover and bringing the federal gov into significant financial risk a few times. But they did push onward to completion and it became the core pathway for the further settlement of western Canada, which was instrumental to the country's expansion. Nowadays it's primarily a freight railway, the passenger traffic is very minimal and tickets are very expensive; it's more of a tourism attraction than practical method of passenger transport.

Re: Show HN: Trains.fyi – a live map of passenger trains in the US and Canada

#33

Post by Tiktaalik »

In contrast have a look at a snapshot of air travel the other day.

https://x.com/Rainmaker1973/status/1729195110888620057?s=20

If we're looking for some low hanging fruit around how to possibly lower CO2 emissions, well folks here it is.

The solutions to our climate problem have been staring us in the face since the 1900s.

Re: Show HN: Trains.fyi – a live map of passenger trains in the US and Canada

#34

Post by reactordev »

I believe there was a quote from a railroad exec that Passenger rail traffic accounts for only 3% of the overall rail traffic in North America. If true, the map would be covered with Locomotives if freight was included (GP-40's are my favorite).

Re: Show HN: Trains.fyi – a live map of passenger trains in the US and Canada

#36

Post by rangestransform »

oldpersonintx wrote: post #11
h1fra wrote: post #7

Looking at the speed of the trains is a bit depressing. USA had so much potential to built the best high-speed railway network...

it already has something much more sophisticated - a high-speed air network think your train is efficient? a plane can fly in a straight line between any two points in the US! beat that! ever see a train cross one of the great lakes? no challenge for a plane! rerouting a rail line can cost billions...but only a tiny bit of fuel to reroute a plane...not to mention I can go coast to coast in five hours on a plane but t…

in the northeast I still prefer to take acela over being dehumanized by the TSA

Re: Show HN: Trains.fyi – a live map of passenger trains in the US and Canada

#37

Post by mtalantikite »

stickfigure wrote: post #23
h1fra wrote: post #7

Looking at the speed of the trains is a bit depressing. USA had so much potential to built the best high-speed railway network...

Speed would be nice, but speed is not the problem. If the trains just ran on time, 50mph would be just fine. The problem with Amtrak is frequent multiple-hour delays that stack up. The schedule is totally unpredictable.

For me it's also cost. I have family in the Boston area and often traveling from NYC on Amtrak is at least as expensive -- and usually more expensive -- than flying.

But I'd also love if we could go faster than 50mph. TGV in France, which launched 41 years ago, travel between 167mph and 198mph [1].

[1] https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/TGV

Re: Show HN: Trains.fyi – a live map of passenger trains in the US and Canada

#38

Post by rsynnott »

oldpersonintx wrote: post #11
h1fra wrote: post #7

Looking at the speed of the trains is a bit depressing. USA had so much potential to built the best high-speed railway network...

it already has something much more sophisticated - a high-speed air network think your train is efficient? a plane can fly in a straight line between any two points in the US! beat that! ever see a train cross one of the great lakes? no challenge for a plane! rerouting a rail line can cost billions...but only a tiny bit of fuel to reroute a plane...not to mention I can go coast to coast in five hours on a plane but t…

High speed rail is most competitive with short and medium range air. Say you want to go from SF to LA. That’s a 90 minute flight. Plus a few hours of getting to and from the airports plus faffing around within the airports. Or it’s a 6 hour drive. Or, with a top-quality high-speed line it’d be a little under two hours on the train, handily beating any current option.

High speed rail wouldn’t be all that competitive for going coast to coast in the US, definitely.

Re: Show HN: Trains.fyi – a live map of passenger trains in the US and Canada

#40

Post by ska »

kjkjadksj wrote: post #31
ska wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The passenger rail coverage [edit: service] in most of North America is basically pathetic, for systemic reasons.

Coverage is actually surprisingly wide, just the service level is something out of the 1870s for a lot of stations. The siting for a lot of stations is usually pretty poor as well with terrible/nonexistent walkshed considerations (see the Palm Springs station, try walking to your hotel from that).

Fair enough, I was using "coverage" for actual trips, not nominal rail extent. "Service" is a better description. Your point about siting is very true.
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