In praise of ...... High-Speed Rail

[marmar]

I've ridden the TGV in France, the Eurostar from London to Paris, the AVE in Spain, the Thalys from A'dam to Brussels, and the ICE in Germany, and am eager to travel to Asia and ride the bullet trains. It really is THE best way to travel.



Japan


Spain


France


Netherlands/Belgium/France/Germany


South Korea


UK/France/Belgium


Germany

[Captain Hilts]

1. Just giving Amtrak dedicated track would make a world of difference. nt

[harmonicon]

4. true....

but if updating the system, why just update to an outdated system?

[Captain Hilts]

6. Acela runs on a lot of standard track. nt

[A HERETIC I AM]

10. What section of the line the Acela runs on also handles freight traffic?

From DC to Boston, do you have any idea how much of that line also handles freight?

It's all "standard" in that is is the same gauge as all other rail, but I don't think very many miles, if any at all handle heavy freight trains.

I'm asking in all honesty. I rode the Acela from DC to Providence about 9 years ago and the only section it gets to it's top speed of 150 mph is in eastern CT into Rhode Island, and it only does that speed for a relatively short time. That section, if I am not mistaken, is dedicated line for passenger trains only, just like the vast majority of the right-of-way from DC to Boston.

[Captain Hilts]

12. MOST of the track carries freight. I know the CT stretch pretty well. nt

[liberal N proud]

2. I have tickets for the TGV in couple of weeks

Kind of excited to experience the ride.

For me at this point, its like my first commercial plane rid all over again. And the company is paying for this ride, first class and all.

Who said you have to grow up.

[izquierdista]

3. All that costs money

Years and years worth of money.
Here's what America did with all her money.

[harmonicon]

5. all of these places also have effective highway systems

The difference is not that, but the other thing you see in that picture: sprawl. The real difference is not the methods of long-range transportation, but how and where people live their daily lives. Here in England I live in a city of about 150,000 people. I can walk anywhere I need to. If something is really far - I would say over a 30 minute walk is far - I can take a bus. The train station is about a 15 minute walk away. I can be from my house to London in 3 - 4 hours because of this. I don't have to first go somewhere else to get somewhere like I would if I lived in a sprawling suburb or metropolis without public transportation. If I had a car I could also be in London rather quickly - it would take maybe 5 hours - but I would have to pay 10 pounds to drive my car (if I had one) into the city center.

[Captain Hilts]

7. Very civilized. I was shocked by how expensive the tube from

Chiswick into London was. It wasn't that far.

[harmonicon]

9. yeah, it's expensive

It's expensive because it's good - that doesn't come free. London in general is insanely expensive - it makes New York look tame. The thing is, places are laid out more logically, so most people aren't using the tube all the time - they can get what they need close to where they live like they could in a small town. Small town living doesn't mean having to drive 20 minutes to a massive store to do your shopping, get the kids to school, etc. - people live in small towns because things like that are easier.

I don't know if it's "civilized", just common sense and tradition at work. Here there was no conspiracy between Standard Oil and GM to rid cities of light rail like in the US.

[izquierdista]

11. Different highway system, too

One thing about driving in Europe, there aren't many traffic lights. Rotaries take the place of what in America would be done with traffic signals, which aren't cheap. If you took all the money spent on traffic lights in one year, you could put in lots of rail track.

[Captain Hilts]

8. 'The Mixing Bowl' south of DC costs more than the Amtrak subsidy!!

[jtrockville]

13. We've always referred to that mess as "The Meat Grinder".

[Captain Hilts]

14. I try to avoid it if I can't get into the HOV lanes. Hey Rockviller...

I am pretty impressed by how quickly the over/underpass at Montrose Road was done.

[jtrockville]

17. IS it done? I haven't been there in a week or so.

[FormerDittoHead]

16. Exactly. We couldn't have WARS if we just spent all the money on stuff like that!

Of course, :sarcasm: it's the first rule of being American:

What other people in the world think and do is naturally inferior to anything we do because we're Number ONE!

[Taverner]

15. Yes - and not only will it reinvigorate travel, it will open up parts of the US

Parts where the necks have "gone off the grid"

[LeftishBrit]

18. k&r; I much prefer Eurostar to the plane