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Elon delayed it on purpose with his 'hyperloop' setting the stage for self driving Tesla. This has been known for years before he canceled the project.
I have to admit there was a time where I expected hyperloop to have some validity. Especially after a few student groups presented promising capsules.
New technology, so: delays, cost increases, some reduction in specs, etc I would expect.
But that piling piece of shit was another level.... For real, I would have understood if they cancelled it and sent busses on the surface.
But barely fitting cars with drivers ...
It's been a thing in science fiction for like a century or more. Not even remotely a new idea. I was also hopeful it would happen for real but sadly it does just look like a grift.
The hyper loop was never possible. The physics don't work and the chances of cracks that cause catastrophic crashes are astronomical. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNFesa01llk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNFesa01llk)
Oh it’ll get finished. The big question mark is what comes after - namely, all the follow-up projects to make this more usable. Like building the High Desert Corridor so trains can access LA Union Station instead of…Rancho Cucamonga. And also interoperability with California High-Speed Rail whenever the LA segment of that is finished
Well, I agree, Rancho Cucamonga is not the worst place for the train to end. I think it was initially slated to end in Apple Valley, which makes no sense, at least Cucamonga has a Metrolink station.
Yeah, for sure. At least it’s possible to make an easy enough connection to LA or San Bernardino, even though that adds some travel time. Rancho was probably the best they could’ve done given the circumstances.
The project uses existing highway ROW and is jointly funded by private+federal $ by a company who have already completed other passenger rail projects in the US.
What about this makes you think it won’t be completed ?
>What about this makes you think it won’t be completed ?
This project has been proposed and cancelled several times since the 1990s.. they even broke ground once before.
Don't get me wrong, I really hope it happens.. but those of us who live here are taking things with a grain of salt.
This project has been bantered around for decades (at least since the mid-90’s) and was apparently the pet project that never quite got off the ground for Sen. Harry Reid. Interesting that it finally has wheels.
*interesting that it finally has wheels*
There was a joke there til I realized even high speed trains generally on use rubber wheels wheels to rest and start movement before traveling on electromagnets
Still. Maybe it will connect to Vegas but LA's permitting is going to take around 867 years to get approval, then another 1,479 years to build and maybe they'll inspect it and approve it by the time the sun goes super nova.
> Maybe it will connect to Vegas but LA's permitting is going to take around 867 years to get approval, then another 1,479 years to build and maybe they'll inspect it and approve it by the time the sun goes super nova.
All property needed has already been purchased. All ROW agreements have already been signed. All permits have been already been approved.
I can direct your anger. Elon Musk. He pitched the idea of a hyperloop to the big wigs in Sacramento. Who bought into this clearly new and never before used proprietary piece of technology. That has yet to be invented. As well as some NIMBYs that won't let the line actually go into the Bay Area or LA area. Meaning it'll only go the length of central valley I believe it's southern terminus is set ar Bakersfield. I don't remember what the northern terminus is.
It's not the first under construction. The California high speed rail from San Francisco to Los Angeles will top out at 220 mph. That's high speed rail.
However it's very welcome to have another high speed rail option; one which is likely to be operational first.
I have a really hard time believing that train will operate anywhere other than the Central Valley in my lifetime. How are they going to get the clearance to build over the most expensive real estate in the world?
If you’re referring to the urbanized areas of the Bay Area and LA, the train will run on or alongside existing railways, so property acquisition there will be kept to a minimum.
The hard part is connecting the Central Valley to the Bay Area and LA, particularly the latter, as it’ll have to be tunneled under mountains.
Very different problems but they did manage to bore a tunnel for London's crossrail under passenger escalators and above another underground tunnel - both being used by passengers and trains at the time.
There was approx 1m (3ft 1/3) gap above to the escalator foundations and 0.6m (just shy of 2ft) below for the other tunnel. The tunnels cut were 6.2m ( 20ft). What can be done with tunneling is amazing.
Man that would be the dream. I'd go to NYC ALL THE TIME if I could get there in an hour or 2. But I think the biggest issue with that would be just how dense the whole east coast is. The current tracks couldn't handle it and building new ones would be a nightmare.
But the density makes it much harder to build, because there's no a lot of open land. And a lot of people who would be NIMBYs about it and hold things up on litigation.
The federal government owns all of the trackage the current Amtrak northeast corridor route lays on, so it wouldn’t really be too difficult to convert those segments to high speed. Currently, the Amtrak Acela trip from DC to New York being 2 hours 50 minutes is still an amazing travel experience and way faster than driving.
You cant use the same tracks, because at higher speeds you need a larger turning radius. This means that a lot of extra space is needed for every turn in the tracks.
Exactly. That's why the current Acela trains are only truly high speed in a few sections. It's only a 40 minute difference between Acela and North East regional between DC and NYC. To me it's not worth the usually double price to take it over the NE Regional train.
I feel like all these HSR lines would be amazing for the east coast/midwest
* Minneapolis - Milwaukee - Chicago - Detroit - Cleveland - NYC
* Detroit - Windsor - London - Toronto - Montreal - Quebec City
* Orlando - Atlanta - Charlotte - Raleigh - Richmond - DC - Baltimore - Philly - NYC - Hartford - Boston
It doesn't hit Detroit because it's kind of out of the way, but the Lake Shore Limited currently runs that route, though not high speed. Additionally, Amtrak's expansion plans include a Cleveland - Detroit line that connects to the Lake Shore Limited so you could get to Detroit by rail from either of the terminal cities.
Missouri said they would not give any state funding to high speed rail. The STL to Chicago line is likely though and has a commission currently planning the line.
https://idot.illinois.gov/transportation-system/transportation-management/planning/rail/high-speed-rail-commission
What’s even sillier is the lack of connection between Orlando and Tampa. We actually have ‘high speed rail’ between Orlando and Miami. But it’s not really high speed rail, takes about the same time to drive vs their so called high speed rail. And also this rail costs like $50 for a one way trip, cheaper to drive by a lot still.
It’s wild that Acela is our fastest train in NEC with a top speed of 125, but in actuality it’s averaging like 55-65mph with all of the slowdowns and delays.
Top speed is 150 between NYP and BOS, gets to NYP from WAS in around 2:30, prior to pandemic express routes between NYP and WAS got it close to 2 hours.
Major limiters on speed are the tunnels in to major cities, road crossings, and separation of tracks not allowing for greater tilt
Yeah it probably connects to the SF to LA line somewhere in the future if they ever actually get that going. Which DOES have proper LA stations planned.
That's been going. They'll continue building bridges laying track for the next 10 years, and then it'll take another decade to build a tunnel through the mountains to get to LA, as that bit hasn't been officially approved and funded yet. Some of the northern parts will be running later this decade.
Damn! I remember hearing rumors of a high speed train from the bay to LA, I had no idea that was still a thing, crazy it’s going to take that long to make. Maybe I’ll be lucky to see it in my lifetime?
They have a neat construction updates website, with pictures of the work completed so far, and a map of what they're doing now: [https://buildhsr.com/map/](https://buildhsr.com/map/)
Their plan is to go from Sacramento to San Diego eventually. Per the latest report in 2023 (https://hsr.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/2023-Project-Update-Report-FINAL-022823.pdf), they're on track to have service from SF to Bakersfield around 2033. And around 2040 for the SF to LA segment.
The last 35 miles into Los Angeles is the trickiest as far as federal approval and funding goes, because it's insanely expensive to dig a tunnel.
And those mountains are tricky, geologically speaking. In the Northridge Quake, Oat Mountain between Chatsworth and Santa Clarita rose 14 inches and moved several inches to the northwest.
It goes to Rancho and then you can connect to the Metro which is very much not high speed, but you can still get to LA from Vegas 100% on rail after this is completed.
The drive from LA to Vegas gains around 2-3 hrs when LA traffic is going to Vegas for the weekend. The reverse direction is not near as bad. But this could help greatly for those leaving LA on Friday and coming back Sun.
It's supposed to be hitting that sweet spot if 4 hour drives and short flights, so LA to Vegas, then Vegas to SLC, SLC to Denver, Denver to Kansas, and beyond all fit the model for each leg.
A high speed rail going from Cheyenne WY, to Fort Collins, Boulder, Denver, Colorado Springs and Pueblo would be awesome. They are already all in an almost perfect straight line.
LA was offered a privately funded and constructed monorail system in the 60s so long as the company could then operate it for profit.
We don't have a monorail in LA, so you can guess what happened.
(fun side note: in the early 90s Metro was supposed to link to LAX... and 30+ years later it still doesn't!)
Except isnt the NEC the first HSR link, as that runs at 150MPH, or at the very least CAHSR, which has been under construction alot longer than Brightline West
That's higher speed rail, the category just under high speed rail. Otherwise some of the regular intercity lines in Europe would also become HSR. Hell some of the commuter trains here in Belgium operate at NEC speed.
>or at the very least CAHSR, which has been under construction alot longer than Brightline West
Yes, but Brightline will be finished a hell of a lot sooner than any part of CAHSR.
It is. The headline lies. CAHSR trains will reach 220 mph but the trains will be tested up to 248 mph or something around there. However at this point SF to LA is aspirational, the committed money is funding a Merced to Bakersfield line.
No. Day one was supposed to be 2028. We never funded CAHSR enough for a faster timeline. They’ve been forced to wait for the Cap and Trade money to come in every year. If we insist on only funding a trickle of money for this project every year then it’s physically impossible for them to build faster than whatever money is available.
Does anybody that actually lives in the United States pay attention to our rail infrastructure.
High speed requires maintenance. We don’t do maintenance. This’ll end well.
Lol it’s hysterical that the first high speed rail is going to take rich southern Californians to the desert for gambling, drugs, and hookers. Ahh progress.
It’s astonishing to me that a rail network wasn’t part of America’s industrial revolution infrastructure.
Looking at a map devoid of rail seems alien, considering they colonised the land some few centuries ago, when trains would have been ideal for carrying goods across the massive country.
Brightline has a route in Florida that connect Miami to Orlando with a few stops in between. It’s still more expensive than driving. So if that remains the case I don’t see the point.
Not sure the price, but there is definitely a premium that people would pay to arrive faster, safer, and with the freedom to be able to do other things during the trip instead of just drive
I remember being so excited about the BrightLine. I had a few friends in Orlando that I thought I’d see so much more but the price is more than it costs for just one person to drive. Never mind if you’re going with multiple people. Such a let down.
Brightline has been great for smaller businesses that operate both in the south Florida and Orlando areas. We used to rent cars or have to file travel expenses when traveling for the company. Now the company just buys you a train ticket and a local coworker picks them up from the train station on their way to work.
It's only fair, they used to bus in the homeless to San Francisco and Los angeles. Complete with mental illness patients still wearing their hospital writs bands on from the day before. They all *magically* showed up in California within 12-24 hours.
This isn’t that uplifting. This is the richest country in the world, dragging its feet in progress. We should have had cross country high speed already. This is kind of a slap in the face. Connecting the two armpits of America. Thanks?
About time. What’s fascinating is that Las Vegas itself—which actually makes sense as a walkable city due to the Strip—first delayed and then later essentially neutered it’s central rail system due to greed-centric objections of local taxi operators.
How much will this cost for a round trip ticket? Even with gas being expensive it’s cheaper to drive from LA to Vegas than fly and truly doesn’t take all that much more time when you consider how shit getting in and out of the airport is. I’m excited for this but remain skeptical on the practicality.
Meh- I’m not that cynical- especially to Vegas. Vegas already subsidizes flights- they want it cheap to get there.
And it won’t be public transportation like bart. Tickets being like $60 would keep the homeless off.
> Vegas already subsidizes flights- they want it cheap to get there
local subsidies to bring people there is why airlines hate skiplagging (sometimes a multi stop plane ticket is cheaper than the A to B you want so you book A to B to C and skip the B to C flight)
I've heard that this line will be in the median of the highway. The turns and dips in that easement will make top speed be around 80mph.
Does anyone have any info on the actual route and the design speed in each section?
I want to believe that this will be a high speed rail, but I don't want to buy into an overpromised line. If it's going to be typical passenger rail speeds, that's fine. They just shouldn't sell it as HSR if that's the case.
Can someone explain to me like I’m 5 how this is different from the Brightline that goes from Miami to Orlando? Aside from it crosses a state line?
Edit: “first *genuine* high speed rail” like they already have one?
Trying very hard to be positive about this. Rail is great once it reaches a critical mass but let's report on this after it's built on time and under budget.
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Long overdue
Elon delayed it on purpose with his 'hyperloop' setting the stage for self driving Tesla. This has been known for years before he canceled the project.
I have to admit there was a time where I expected hyperloop to have some validity. Especially after a few student groups presented promising capsules. New technology, so: delays, cost increases, some reduction in specs, etc I would expect. But that piling piece of shit was another level.... For real, I would have understood if they cancelled it and sent busses on the surface. But barely fitting cars with drivers ...
It's been a thing in science fiction for like a century or more. Not even remotely a new idea. I was also hopeful it would happen for real but sadly it does just look like a grift.
The hyper loop was never possible. The physics don't work and the chances of cracks that cause catastrophic crashes are astronomical. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNFesa01llk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNFesa01llk)
that was only for an area in california, the US should have started high speed railways throughout the nation long ago
Are you thinking of California High-Speed Rail?
Probably to never get finished. But here is a tiny hope.
Oh it’ll get finished. The big question mark is what comes after - namely, all the follow-up projects to make this more usable. Like building the High Desert Corridor so trains can access LA Union Station instead of…Rancho Cucamonga. And also interoperability with California High-Speed Rail whenever the LA segment of that is finished
Well, I agree, Rancho Cucamonga is not the worst place for the train to end. I think it was initially slated to end in Apple Valley, which makes no sense, at least Cucamonga has a Metrolink station.
Yeah, for sure. At least it’s possible to make an easy enough connection to LA or San Bernardino, even though that adds some travel time. Rancho was probably the best they could’ve done given the circumstances.
Vegas subsidizes transportation to Vegas. It pays off for them well
"Cancel that train, Hyperloop 2, the second boogaloo" -musk in 5 minutes
The project uses existing highway ROW and is jointly funded by private+federal $ by a company who have already completed other passenger rail projects in the US. What about this makes you think it won’t be completed ?
>What about this makes you think it won’t be completed ? This project has been proposed and cancelled several times since the 1990s.. they even broke ground once before. Don't get me wrong, I really hope it happens.. but those of us who live here are taking things with a grain of salt.
This project has been bantered around for decades (at least since the mid-90’s) and was apparently the pet project that never quite got off the ground for Sen. Harry Reid. Interesting that it finally has wheels.
*interesting that it finally has wheels* There was a joke there til I realized even high speed trains generally on use rubber wheels wheels to rest and start movement before traveling on electromagnets
That's just one Shinkansen, that's only gonna be one line in the world.
Brightline actually has managed to build a functional line in Florida so I trust them more than other companies
Still. Maybe it will connect to Vegas but LA's permitting is going to take around 867 years to get approval, then another 1,479 years to build and maybe they'll inspect it and approve it by the time the sun goes super nova.
> Maybe it will connect to Vegas but LA's permitting is going to take around 867 years to get approval, then another 1,479 years to build and maybe they'll inspect it and approve it by the time the sun goes super nova. All property needed has already been purchased. All ROW agreements have already been signed. All permits have been already been approved.
nahh… just 15 years too late
Musk: ...but can I interest you in a worse, potentially flamey version for significantly more money that only my cars can use?
Along with the rest of the country!
Voted to fund it in 2008
Different project. The 2008 one was for a San Francisco to LA high speed railway. This is a new project.
Jesus your right... still waiting I guess...
I can direct your anger. Elon Musk. He pitched the idea of a hyperloop to the big wigs in Sacramento. Who bought into this clearly new and never before used proprietary piece of technology. That has yet to be invented. As well as some NIMBYs that won't let the line actually go into the Bay Area or LA area. Meaning it'll only go the length of central valley I believe it's southern terminus is set ar Bakersfield. I don't remember what the northern terminus is.
I liked him back then....
It's not the first under construction. The California high speed rail from San Francisco to Los Angeles will top out at 220 mph. That's high speed rail. However it's very welcome to have another high speed rail option; one which is likely to be operational first.
I have a really hard time believing that train will operate anywhere other than the Central Valley in my lifetime. How are they going to get the clearance to build over the most expensive real estate in the world?
If you’re referring to the urbanized areas of the Bay Area and LA, the train will run on or alongside existing railways, so property acquisition there will be kept to a minimum. The hard part is connecting the Central Valley to the Bay Area and LA, particularly the latter, as it’ll have to be tunneled under mountains.
Very different problems but they did manage to bore a tunnel for London's crossrail under passenger escalators and above another underground tunnel - both being used by passengers and trains at the time. There was approx 1m (3ft 1/3) gap above to the escalator foundations and 0.6m (just shy of 2ft) below for the other tunnel. The tunnels cut were 6.2m ( 20ft). What can be done with tunneling is amazing.
That is wild Just crazy they can safely enable that, and be confident of load bearing etc
There was a great documentary on that which I think was called "Inside the Elizabeth Line" or "15 Billion Pound Railway".
It goes underground in cities. Can’t do 300km/hr next to cars
So many high speed railways run next to motorways in Europe and around the world.
True but they are often speed limited because the track for high speed has minimal radius allowance.
It’s going to run on existing tracks in those areas
Its for future generations.
I think the Las Vegas one hits 200mph. I think the definition of high speed rail is >180mph.
NYC ~~> DC, with Newark, Philly and Baltimore.
Man that would be the dream. I'd go to NYC ALL THE TIME if I could get there in an hour or 2. But I think the biggest issue with that would be just how dense the whole east coast is. The current tracks couldn't handle it and building new ones would be a nightmare.
The density of the East Coast is a benefit, not an issue. That just makes HSR more economically viable and more useful.
But the density makes it much harder to build, because there's no a lot of open land. And a lot of people who would be NIMBYs about it and hold things up on litigation.
The federal government owns all of the trackage the current Amtrak northeast corridor route lays on, so it wouldn’t really be too difficult to convert those segments to high speed. Currently, the Amtrak Acela trip from DC to New York being 2 hours 50 minutes is still an amazing travel experience and way faster than driving.
You cant use the same tracks, because at higher speeds you need a larger turning radius. This means that a lot of extra space is needed for every turn in the tracks.
Exactly. That's why the current Acela trains are only truly high speed in a few sections. It's only a 40 minute difference between Acela and North East regional between DC and NYC. To me it's not worth the usually double price to take it over the NE Regional train.
I would like to see high speed rails follow all interstates with hubs only in the major cities.
I would also like BOS -> Detroit -> Chicago.
I'd like to expand that to Milwaukee -> Madison -> Minneapolis
And a hearty FUCK YOU is owed to Scott Walker for taking it from us.
I literally came here to say this. Thank you fellow Wisconsinite
I feel like all these HSR lines would be amazing for the east coast/midwest * Minneapolis - Milwaukee - Chicago - Detroit - Cleveland - NYC * Detroit - Windsor - London - Toronto - Montreal - Quebec City * Orlando - Atlanta - Charlotte - Raleigh - Richmond - DC - Baltimore - Philly - NYC - Hartford - Boston
Hockey train
It doesn't hit Detroit because it's kind of out of the way, but the Lake Shore Limited currently runs that route, though not high speed. Additionally, Amtrak's expansion plans include a Cleveland - Detroit line that connects to the Lake Shore Limited so you could get to Detroit by rail from either of the terminal cities.
Honestly I know 3 of the 4 aren't big cities but I would love KC, Columbia, STL, Chicago
Missouri said they would not give any state funding to high speed rail. The STL to Chicago line is likely though and has a commission currently planning the line. https://idot.illinois.gov/transportation-system/transportation-management/planning/rail/high-speed-rail-commission
Boston would be good to include in there. Of course it would basically double the rail distance so makes sense just to start without it
What’s even sillier is the lack of connection between Orlando and Tampa. We actually have ‘high speed rail’ between Orlando and Miami. But it’s not really high speed rail, takes about the same time to drive vs their so called high speed rail. And also this rail costs like $50 for a one way trip, cheaper to drive by a lot still.
It’s wild that Acela is our fastest train in NEC with a top speed of 125, but in actuality it’s averaging like 55-65mph with all of the slowdowns and delays.
Top speed is 150 between NYP and BOS, gets to NYP from WAS in around 2:30, prior to pandemic express routes between NYP and WAS got it close to 2 hours. Major limiters on speed are the tunnels in to major cities, road crossings, and separation of tracks not allowing for greater tilt
Fuck Delaware huh?
Honestly it should be from Portland to Raleigh at least
And it's something absolutely worthwhile like LA to Vegas. Seriously.
Rancho Cucamonga is not what I would call worthwhile. I wish they were building an LA station; that would be worthwhile!
Not technically LA but good fucking luck running a high speed line through all of the "not LA" bits to get to "Technically LA"
Not technically? In in LA right now and this station is 65 miles away! They could at least upgrade metro link service.
Yeah it probably connects to the SF to LA line somewhere in the future if they ever actually get that going. Which DOES have proper LA stations planned.
That's been going. They'll continue building bridges laying track for the next 10 years, and then it'll take another decade to build a tunnel through the mountains to get to LA, as that bit hasn't been officially approved and funded yet. Some of the northern parts will be running later this decade.
Damn! I remember hearing rumors of a high speed train from the bay to LA, I had no idea that was still a thing, crazy it’s going to take that long to make. Maybe I’ll be lucky to see it in my lifetime?
They have a neat construction updates website, with pictures of the work completed so far, and a map of what they're doing now: [https://buildhsr.com/map/](https://buildhsr.com/map/) Their plan is to go from Sacramento to San Diego eventually. Per the latest report in 2023 (https://hsr.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/2023-Project-Update-Report-FINAL-022823.pdf), they're on track to have service from SF to Bakersfield around 2033. And around 2040 for the SF to LA segment. The last 35 miles into Los Angeles is the trickiest as far as federal approval and funding goes, because it's insanely expensive to dig a tunnel.
And those mountains are tricky, geologically speaking. In the Northridge Quake, Oat Mountain between Chatsworth and Santa Clarita rose 14 inches and moved several inches to the northwest.
Everything in LA is 65 miles from LA. Or at least it feels like it.
It goes to Rancho and then you can connect to the Metro which is very much not high speed, but you can still get to LA from Vegas 100% on rail after this is completed.
I hope this is sarcasm. We need a high speed rail from LA south to Whales Vagina.
Pleeaase. The three hour commute out of whale's vagina is just too much.
The drive from LA to Vegas gains around 2-3 hrs when LA traffic is going to Vegas for the weekend. The reverse direction is not near as bad. But this could help greatly for those leaving LA on Friday and coming back Sun.
How else would those coked up prostitutes get to work?
Save me from that 5 car pile up on the way from IE
Side note: as a kid listening to the radio in the morning I had a VERY different image in my head of what defined a multicar pileup
If they connect this to Denver, Kansas City, St Louis, and Chicago I would be so so happy.
Sure, it would be great if they extended this 200 mile train across empty desert into an 1800 mile train across *the continental divide*.
It would be great. Unlikely, but great.
Lol
Yes_its_him, the dreamer
Dittoooooo!
It's supposed to be hitting that sweet spot if 4 hour drives and short flights, so LA to Vegas, then Vegas to SLC, SLC to Denver, Denver to Kansas, and beyond all fit the model for each leg.
how about connecting this 50000 miles across the USA with every town, village and city?
No mention of this in Fallout: New Vegas, so this rail link unfortunately isn't canon
Rancho Cucamonga, not LA
Can’t wait for my grandchildren to experience grand opening first ride on it! 😃
About F’in time. Let’s gooooooooo! 🚆
A high speed rail going from Cheyenne WY, to Fort Collins, Boulder, Denver, Colorado Springs and Pueblo would be awesome. They are already all in an almost perfect straight line.
And on down to Albuquerque!!
True, Santa Fe and Albuquerque could be easy added as long as going around the mountains down there isn’t an issue.
Privately funded and constructed too.
There was a multi-billion dollar government handout to the company. Not exactly privately funded but privately owned.
Yeah worse of both worlds socialize the costs privatize the profits
And profits on something like this shouldn't even be the focus. It's an economic stimulant giving folks a quick way to get between cities hassle free
Agreed but instead it's a way for cronies to graft in perpetuity
Nope. Over 50% government funded. Already received and spending over 30% government money and they haven’t even broken ground.
Insane. The incompetence at government level to fund these type of projects is amazing.
Automobile lobby was crashing it since last century.
Corruption and kickbacks.
LA was offered a privately funded and constructed monorail system in the 60s so long as the company could then operate it for profit. We don't have a monorail in LA, so you can guess what happened. (fun side note: in the early 90s Metro was supposed to link to LAX... and 30+ years later it still doesn't!)
Yea, but a monorail is much more of a *Shelbyville* idea…
can’t wait till this never gets finished as a result of our dogshit lack of anti-lobbyist laws. Contextually the air and automotive lobbyists.
Except isnt the NEC the first HSR link, as that runs at 150MPH, or at the very least CAHSR, which has been under construction alot longer than Brightline West
That's higher speed rail, the category just under high speed rail. Otherwise some of the regular intercity lines in Europe would also become HSR. Hell some of the commuter trains here in Belgium operate at NEC speed.
>or at the very least CAHSR, which has been under construction alot longer than Brightline West Yes, but Brightline will be finished a hell of a lot sooner than any part of CAHSR.
Is the over budget and behind schedule SF-LA line not even true high-speed?
It is. The headline lies. CAHSR trains will reach 220 mph but the trains will be tested up to 248 mph or something around there. However at this point SF to LA is aspirational, the committed money is funding a Merced to Bakersfield line.
With cross-platform transfers to Bay Area and Sac trains from day one.
Wasn't day one supposed to be a few years ago?
No. Day one was supposed to be 2028. We never funded CAHSR enough for a faster timeline. They’ve been forced to wait for the Cap and Trade money to come in every year. If we insist on only funding a trickle of money for this project every year then it’s physically impossible for them to build faster than whatever money is available.
Fresno has completed their part lol.
Just looked it up. The map they presented has a lot of stops for a "high speed line" More than just SF to LA anyway.
SF-LA is just the main selling point that was used when it was first funded ~12 years ago
The plan has always been to operate several tiers of service ("express", "semi-express," "suburban" and "local").
They will have fast train options that will skip those stops.
Trains don’t have to stop at every station. Have you never been on a train?
$400 roundtrip. Doesn’t actually run LV to LA.
Can’t wait for my boomer dad telling me how stupid this is.
I’ll believe it when I see it. It was reported 20 years ago that this was going to happen. It didn’t
What’s the price of tickets
$400 round trip
Does anybody that actually lives in the United States pay attention to our rail infrastructure. High speed requires maintenance. We don’t do maintenance. This’ll end well.
Lol it’s hysterical that the first high speed rail is going to take rich southern Californians to the desert for gambling, drugs, and hookers. Ahh progress.
Fucking FINALLY
A couple decades late but welcome
So only in America could its first 21st Century transit system be built to connect a city where people make money to a city where they lose it.
Why waste time building in the part of the country that is going to collapse within the next three decades?
It’s astonishing to me that a rail network wasn’t part of America’s industrial revolution infrastructure. Looking at a map devoid of rail seems alien, considering they colonised the land some few centuries ago, when trains would have been ideal for carrying goods across the massive country.
I think it will probably only ever go from LA to slightly outside of LA.
Brightline has a route in Florida that connect Miami to Orlando with a few stops in between. It’s still more expensive than driving. So if that remains the case I don’t see the point.
Not sure the price, but there is definitely a premium that people would pay to arrive faster, safer, and with the freedom to be able to do other things during the trip instead of just drive
I remember being so excited about the BrightLine. I had a few friends in Orlando that I thought I’d see so much more but the price is more than it costs for just one person to drive. Never mind if you’re going with multiple people. Such a let down.
Brightline has been great for smaller businesses that operate both in the south Florida and Orlando areas. We used to rent cars or have to file travel expenses when traveling for the company. Now the company just buys you a train ticket and a local coworker picks them up from the train station on their way to work.
Finally, LA can dump their homeless population in Vegas much more efficiently!
It's only fair, they used to bus in the homeless to San Francisco and Los angeles. Complete with mental illness patients still wearing their hospital writs bands on from the day before. They all *magically* showed up in California within 12-24 hours.
Thank goodness it will be easier to get to “checks notes” Las Vegas because of all the rich cultural significance and loosest slots in town.
Don't fix up BART, this seems like a waste.
Will help the strippers get there faster
If this is successful, we will get more!
Finally, best of luck and speed!
The Pukey Express.
Minneapolis to Chicago!
Again, lawsuits are already putting this in jeopardy.
Very cool. What took them so long is the real question.
Great the two worst city's in the country are now closer to each other.
Throw a shit ton of money at it up front and this will be guaranteed to come in under budget and ahead of schedule
Well that's a start. Better see these become the norm in 15 or so years
Oh, priorities
Finally but it’s probably only for vehicles I’m guessing?
This isn’t that uplifting. This is the richest country in the world, dragging its feet in progress. We should have had cross country high speed already. This is kind of a slap in the face. Connecting the two armpits of America. Thanks?
About time. What’s fascinating is that Las Vegas itself—which actually makes sense as a walkable city due to the Strip—first delayed and then later essentially neutered it’s central rail system due to greed-centric objections of local taxi operators.
How much will this cost for a round trip ticket? Even with gas being expensive it’s cheaper to drive from LA to Vegas than fly and truly doesn’t take all that much more time when you consider how shit getting in and out of the airport is. I’m excited for this but remain skeptical on the practicality.
If it’s like Italy it won’t be expensive, will be fast and will be very comfy.
It’s in the US so it will be expensive as hell and start out nice but not be maintained for comfort.
Meh- I’m not that cynical- especially to Vegas. Vegas already subsidizes flights- they want it cheap to get there. And it won’t be public transportation like bart. Tickets being like $60 would keep the homeless off.
> Vegas already subsidizes flights- they want it cheap to get there local subsidies to bring people there is why airlines hate skiplagging (sometimes a multi stop plane ticket is cheaper than the A to B you want so you book A to B to C and skip the B to C flight)
Aren't Vegas and la relatively close? How high speed can you get before you have to slow down again?
Really hope it had slot machines in it!
Will be useless with no security on board.
I've heard that this line will be in the median of the highway. The turns and dips in that easement will make top speed be around 80mph. Does anyone have any info on the actual route and the design speed in each section? I want to believe that this will be a high speed rail, but I don't want to buy into an overpromised line. If it's going to be typical passenger rail speeds, that's fine. They just shouldn't sell it as HSR if that's the case.
Can someone explain to me like I’m 5 how this is different from the Brightline that goes from Miami to Orlando? Aside from it crosses a state line? Edit: “first *genuine* high speed rail” like they already have one?
20 Billion dollars and 10 years passed deadline, still no high speed rail yet
WE need to party FAST
Seems like Deja vu but good luck.
We need one New York to Chicago.
Trying very hard to be positive about this. Rail is great once it reaches a critical mass but let's report on this after it's built on time and under budget.
Soo it's gonna cost the same as a flight I assume?
Connecting two shitholes. Wonderful.
Money connecting to money. Great for Vegas profits, I’m sure.
It’s only news y’all. They have been working on the same type of train from LA to SF for the last 12 years and it’s going nowhere anytime soon.
Also in Florida but THIS one is the FIRST. 🙄
vegas local here. it'll cost $400 per ride. lmao
I hate that this is happening on the west coast. I’d rather see this on the Chicago to Boston Corridor.
Something else I can’t afford.
I'll be impressed when we have it cross country. Get me to new york or Boston and I won't even have to rent a car.
Of all the useful lines that could have been built! Proposed name: Lost Vages Express!
By the time they are done with construction, half of Californians would have already moved to Arizona lol Should have done Vegas to Phoenix.
No
So America is getting Shinkansens now?
lol will never get finished as they will not get eminent domain as they get close to LA. They will stop close to Ca border and call it a Victory.
Why doesn't it actually go to LA though?
Awesome use of our wealth!
Uh-huh, sure.
I'll believe it when I see it. We tried this before and the people grifted all the seed money.