What I learned today about SNCF and California HSR (2012)
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What I learned today about SNCF and California HSR (2012)
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Re: What I learned today about SNCF and California HSR (2012)
#2Does anyone know why using spurs (branch lines) is a bad thing?
For example, the BART runs a branch line to Dublin/Pleasanton (and possibly Livermore) but it's not part of the "trunk" to Richmond.
Re: What I learned today about SNCF and California HSR (2012)
#3This is a classical example of American "worst of both worlds" governance. People in Bakersfield aren't going to take the HSR to LA, at least not in enough numbers to justify connecting Bakersfield to the HSR. It'd be better to just build a straight-shot HSR and take all the money you save and give a tax break to folks in Bakersfield, or something. But our political system isn't able to achieve that result.
How do European countries deal with it? It's not like Germany and France don't have rural areas versus urban areas (vast swaths of both countries are farmland).
Re: What I learned today about SNCF and California HSR (2012)
#4This is a classical example of American "worst of both worlds" governance. People in Bakersfield aren't going to take the HSR to LA, at least not in enough numbers to justify connecting Bakersfield to the HSR. It'd be better to just build a straight-shot HSR and take all the money you save and give a tax break to folks in Bakersfield, or something . But our political system isn't able to achieve that result. How do E…
Centralized government.
Re: What I learned today about SNCF and California HSR (2012)
#5This is a classical example of American "worst of both worlds" governance. People in Bakersfield aren't going to take the HSR to LA, at least not in enough numbers to justify connecting Bakersfield to the HSR. It'd be better to just build a straight-shot HSR and take all the money you save and give a tax break to folks in Bakersfield, or something . But our political system isn't able to achieve that result. How do E…
In Germany the ICE train mostly runs on existing routes, for newly build routes you have to make the trade off between connecting cities and travel time.
But not connecting a city of almost 400,000 people is odd, it should get a stop. I don't think the Deutsche Bahn oder SCNF would be allowed not connecting those cities in their home markets.
Re: What I learned today about SNCF and California HSR (2012)
#62012
Re: What I learned today about SNCF and California HSR (2012)
#7Does anyone know why using spurs (branch lines) is a bad thing? For example, the BART runs a branch line to Dublin/Pleasanton (and possibly Livermore) but it's not part of the "trunk" to Richmond.
The route is branching, you have a route from LA to San Francisco but it is branching to Merced and later this branch gets extended to Sacramento.
It is always a trade-off, you'll never get the perfect route.
Re: What I learned today about SNCF and California HSR (2012)
#8This is a classical example of American "worst of both worlds" governance. People in Bakersfield aren't going to take the HSR to LA, at least not in enough numbers to justify connecting Bakersfield to the HSR. It'd be better to just build a straight-shot HSR and take all the money you save and give a tax break to folks in Bakersfield, or something . But our political system isn't able to achieve that result. How do E…
In Germany the ICE train mostly runs on existing routes, for newly build routes you have to make the trade off between connecting cities and travel time. But not connecting a city of almost 400,000 people is odd, it should get a stop. I don't think the Deutsche Bahn oder SCNF would be allowed not connecting those cities in their home markets.
I know quite a few folks living out there in the central valley, they are very conservative. They hate the idea of costly train being built with their tax money.
That doesn't mean they wouldn't grow to like it eventually, but it wont help ridership in its early and fragile years.
Re: What I learned today about SNCF and California HSR (2012)
#9It's interesting gossip, but someone talking about private financing in a meeting seems quite far from having a deal lined up?
Re: What I learned today about SNCF and California HSR (2012)
#10This is a classical example of American "worst of both worlds" governance. People in Bakersfield aren't going to take the HSR to LA, at least not in enough numbers to justify connecting Bakersfield to the HSR. It'd be better to just build a straight-shot HSR and take all the money you save and give a tax break to folks in Bakersfield, or something . But our political system isn't able to achieve that result. How do E…
California voters are easy to fool once a dead chicken is waved in their direction regarding "saving the environment." Once the initial funding passes, the real constituencies are politicians' friends in the public union, consulting, and construction industry. So the route basically doesn't matter as long as the money flows.