Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Caltrain's new electric trains

fastcompany.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

111–120 of 140 posts

Re: Caltrain's new electric trains

#111

Post by jonp888 »

kkfx wrote: post #84

Being from the EU for me all trains are electric (except many in Germany only) so I do not feel any special excitement but observe a thing: the idea of all wagon individually powered is ancient, very ancient, like monorails. Both ideas never get spread simply because they are too expensive instead of cheap, in practice. Electric motors are not expensive as diesel one, they are much more compact etc etc etc but are st…

> the idea of all wagon individually powered is ancient, very ancient, like monorails. Both ideas never get spread simply because they are too expensive instead of cheap, in practice. > it sound extra added complexity for little to no return

What on earth are you going on about?

The vast majority of all current and new passenger trains in the EU are multiple units with no power car, because they are pretty much better in every possible way. They are cheaper to build and cheaper to operate(mainly due to being lighter overall) and can be shorter without reducing passenger capacity. Only a couple of the wagons are powered, more is not needed.

> hyper-fast accelerations are not much welcomed by passengers

Passengers want to get where they are going quickly. No train accelerates at a speed which causes discomfort to passengers.

Re: Caltrain's new electric trains

#112

Post by creer »

deathanatos wrote: post #85
solardev wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As seen in the timeline graphic, allowing the step to deploy and retract while the train is in motion would remove this wasted dwell time. It's interesting... I wonder if extending the step while the train is in motion has the potential to knock people down who's currently on the platform and standing too close to the train. > since the step itself does not extend over the platform (it reaches only 63.5 inches from…

> Maybe the more relevant question is how was it done before? Did the old train also have slowly-extending steps? Fixed, non-moving stairs. IIRC, the bombardier model was 2 steps (one step up to a metal stair, one more step into car) and fairly easy, and the older gallery models were a bunch of stairs and a pretty steep climb. > How is it handled in other countries with functional train networks? Level boarding, no?…

They are ingenious, and can make even level boarding slow. See Muni.

Re: Caltrain's new electric trains

#113

Post by creer »

jez wrote: post #103
dekhn wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about the horns? I heard that they are much worse in the new trains.

The one electric Caltrain I rode recently played an ear shattering tone inside the trains when the doors were about to open and close. With any luck and enough complaints, it should be easy enough to dial that back or drop it entirely. I don’t remember the old trains ever playing a noise as loud when the doors open and close.

The old trains have the PA volume at completely random level from one car to the next. Often extremely loud. The staff is happy with it being just how it is (no intent to adjust it, no intent to report it to maintenance.) You travel on Caltrain or Bart with earplugs - necessary also because some cars are extra noisy and some cars have no sound insulation left.

Re: Caltrain's new electric trains

#114

Post by creer »

aeternum wrote: post #89
zbrozek wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was really hoping the end of Chevron deference might mean Caltrain might get to kill off horns and bells. Alas, I don't think so. The optional noise (horns and bells, especially near the level crossings) is obscene and I don't know why we put up with it. Everywhere the trains go, people plug their ears to avoid hearing damage. It's a miserable failure of government.

The worst part is the horns and bells don't even work. Many people die each year from being hit by Caltrain. Computer vision has come a long way and PoE cameras are now super cheap, would be nice if they installed cameras as part of the electrification project that could continually verify whether crossings /track was clear ahead. It could prevent at least the accidental collisions much better than a horn+bell.

Are any significant number of them accidental?

Re: Caltrain's new electric trains

#115

Post by creer »

guyzero wrote: post #21
browningstreet wrote: post #8

I was just looking at Caltrain routes yesterday wondering how there’s a route from Sunnyvale to SF that takes over 2 hours. Driving (at times) should be about 45 minutes. Didn’t make sense to me.

"Driving (at times) should be about 45 minutes" Most people aren't commuting to work in the city at 2 AM on a Sunday. It can be considerably slower at peak times.

Of course, but only because of equally self-inflicted mismanagement. Caltrain can also be considerably slower. All the way to "okay, we are lucky this train stopped in a station and let's switch to Lyft." Exactly similar to "between 45 minutes and youll-never-get-there" for the freeway.

(If you wonder about "lucky", it's because sometimes the crew will announce an indefinite delay when parked carefully in-between stations, where you can't even get off. My latest one like that on BART. So, same caveat with BART.)

Re: Caltrain's new electric trains

#116

Post by creer »

Schiendelman wrote: post #107
akira2501 wrote: post #75

They're better for the environment. They're better for the environment. THEY'RE BETTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT! also.. they're less comfortable and less rider friendly than the old trains.. so if your goal is to get more people onto them you're probably going to fail.

How do you find them less comfortable or rider friendly? They're certainly easier to board, and the knee room between seats is far better.

The seats, some seats? are very stiff and unexpected shape.

Re: Caltrain's new electric trains

#117

Post by plorkyeran »

dkga wrote: post #51

I’d be interested to hear about how these trains (and others) would behave in an earthquake. I remember a work colleague who lived through the Loma Prieta going from Berkeley to San Francisco and I’m sure it wasn’t pretty. PS.: huge fan of trains and public transportation here, hopefully other places in North and South America would follow suit!

For what it's worth, BART ran 24/7 service for a while after Loma Prieta because it was completely undamaged while multiple freeways collapsed.

Re: Caltrain's new electric trains

#118

Post by piva00 »

kelnos wrote: post #86
rootusrootus wrote: post #46

A few weeks ago I was visiting UK & France, and had several opportunities to experience both LNER and Eurostar trains. I have no illusions that the US is ready for actual HSR, and we'd probably subject it to TSA security as bad or worse than what the Eurostar has now. But LNER ... now that is something I'd like to see here. Not HSR, but 125 mph is still half again as fast as most Amtrak trains. No security hassle, ju…

> ... as bad or worse than what the Eurostar has now I was just on a Eurostar train from Antwerp to Paris last month (connecting from a local train from Boom), the week before the olympics, even, and security was nonexistent. Didn't even have to go through a metal detector, just walked through the fare gates and boarded. I guess maybe stations are inconsistent with their security level? What did you have to go throug…

I believe security checks on Eurostar only happen when crossing the Channel Tunnel (leaving from St. Pancras or Gare du Nord).

Re: Caltrain's new electric trains

#119

Post by bryananderson »

charlie0 wrote: post #93

>Because the trains are now quieter both onboard and in adjacent neighborhoods, it also might mean that more people are willing to live near the tracks. Wait a minute, aren't these tracks shared with commercial trains?

Yes, unfortunately, but the freight traffic (which will needlessly stay diesel) is small, just a couple trains per day. It’s not the 1940s anymore when huge amounts of freight came ashore in San Francisco and propagated down the Southern Pacific line. There are only a couple freight customers left on the Peninsula. Caltrain actually owns the line and previously had the right to kick Union Pacific freight off, but at some point (the 90s?) this right was given up.

Regardless, there’s no excuse for the remaining freight (which operates in off-peak hours) to use diesel. Electric freight locomotives are perfectly common in countries where railroading isn’t still stuck in the 1800s.

Re: Caltrain's new electric trains

#120

Post by hashmush »

inferiorhuman wrote: post #52
grvbck wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same! Glad to see it wasn't just me. Trains here have been electric since 1920… EMU units have been a staple since 1990, though some routes still have locomotives of course. There is no lack of stupidity, however, at the system level. The state owns the rails and procures service from private actors who then manage the traffic more or less successfully. The booking systems are chaotic, the prices are high. It is some…

Where's here? The UK and most of Europe, for instance, still has plenty of diesel service.

Sounds like Sweden, except the chaotic booking system.

I don't think I've ever seen a diesel train, ever. In fact, for a long time I was (blissfully) unaware of their existence and the fact that they do exist still surprises me...

Post reply on HN