Acela thread?
Man, I wish that the NEC had gotten it's overhaul, and the South-East High-Speed corridor had been built.
Say what you will about Acelas and their stats, but I think they're a fucking sexy looking train set. Would have loved to see them running between Atlanta and Boston.
Literally why
>>910012
Because we're fucking autists who like choo choo trains.
>>910011
> between Atlanta and Boston
That route makes no sense.
>>910049
Sure it does, extending the NEC from D.C. to Atlanta makes a ton of sense. Of course most people won't ride all the way from Atlanta to Boston but Atlanta to Charlotte and Charlotte to D.C. would be pretty well ridden corridors if you think about it.
Of course it will never happen and if it does we will probably all be dead by the time it breaks ground.
They're literally concrete slabs on wheels. A fucking travesty the X2000 or ICE1 wasn't adapted off-the-shelf
>>910069
>They're literally concrete slabs on wheels
This, the FRA needs to fuck off with their pants on head retarded collision regulations. This is a fucking railroad not highway.
>>910072
That's what you get for running freight on commuter lines.
>>910072
They are still working on modernizing their passenger rail regulations and they have been handing out of waivers in the meantime. If Kawasaki can get their shit together then the new Superliners will be the first ultra light passenger cars in the US.
>>910089
There's a ridiculously small amount of freight that still runs on the NEC. The line mostly consists of passenger traffic nowadays.
Lurking for any new info on NEC. Hopefully it's good news.
So this was done three years ago, and it looks like it went alright. Is it just not done yet because it's filled with commuter trains outside of late night? Or are they waiting for the Acela II?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Vs1IXGbxG4
>>910066
I think the extension to Richmond and then Charlotte will happen soon enough. From what I understand NC wants it bad and is willing to drag Virginia along to get it.
>>910170
All that sparking is going to massively increase wear on the centenary. It's no use increasing operating speed +10 if maintenance costs increase hugely disproportionately.
Would probably need to upgrade the wires again to cope with higher speeds.
>>910177
There is no evidence to support your claims.
>>910177
There has been work in NC and Virginia about increased passenger rail frequency and speed but nothing in those projects shows or predicts any kind of electrification of tracks outside of an extension to Norfolk possibly (but I highly doubt this will happen in the first place).
>>910089
German runs freight on the same tracks their ICEs reach 250 km/h.
Southeast Corridor: http://www.sehsr.org/
From DC to Atlanta. Everything still seems to be moving along, all be it painfully slow. Looking at some of the maps in the EIS for D.C. to Richmond is encouraging, though I know Georgia will be the last ones to pull their own heads out of their own asses yet again. This, unless the glorious lead Deal can find a way to make money off the whole thing.
>>910247
>http://www.sehsr.org/
Nothing in any of those studies indicating there will be any electrified track south of Richmond or Hampton. All they are doing in NC, VA, and SC are just some track and crossing work, which Norfolk Southern has fought tooth and nail to prevent from happening, and will fight even harder against electrification of their tracks.
![cc4b79a71579593eaf798652f150d79e_f16[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/hKM4Afu.jpg "cc4b79a71579593eaf798652f150d79e_f16[1].jpg")
>>910247
Map for the hell of it.
RR.net thread for the hell of it.
http://railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=137&t=90990
DC to richmond website
http://dc2rvarail.com/
>>910283
>http://www.sehsr.org
Here's the full map.
>>910209
You've got it backwards. The ICE services mostly run on normal mixed-use mainlines, which is why they're prone to delays. The only way to do HSR is to it like the Japanese and French did it: by building dedicated corridors.
>>910247
>Everything still seems to be moving along
Where do you see that? They haven't broken ground on a single one of these corridors.
>>910323
I meant that everything still seems to be moving at a god-fucking-awful snails pace of environmental studies. The studies, however, are moving along.
>>910328
Yeah but prior proposals did reach this stage. They typically die after the environmental evaluation stage.
>>910323
Technically NCDOT is already working on track and crossing upgrades in the Piedmont region between Charlotte and Raleigh. Don't know how VA is doing and I bet Georgia won't put a dime in state dollars towards it (but of course they will beg the feds for 2-4 billion dollars just to replace a single fucking interstate interchange),
>>910011
The NEC overhaul is happening as we speak. It's just on a 50-year timeline unless individual states pony up the money to make it happen faster. So far, only CT has done that. A huge roadblock was Christie killing the ARC tunnels back in 2011, but Gateway is coming along albeit it's another five years when we could have had better tunnels now.
SEHSR is still technically happening as the respective states involved are still doing the necessary environmental reviews for it. Only issue is that VRE couldn't get a tax increase back in 2010, but CSX is double tracking and deepening their tunnel that goes through southern DC on their own so there's still a net improvement.
>>910049
It makes perfect sense if you look at a population map. The Crescent runs along most of the NEC anyway down to New Orleans, which connects to the Sunset Limited.
>>910089
It's literally just a half mile of track right next to Washington Union Station that CSX uses to supply a power plant with coal. Or so is my knowledge.
>>910089
The garbage trains run at night when only the 66 runs the overnight to Boston from Newport News.
Americans are the most pants-on-head retarded, politics wise.
The benefits of HSR are known since, pretty much, the 80s. Yet one of the richest countries in the world has precisely 0 miles of HSR network.
However, when, invariably, Russia opens HSR trassib and Erytrea connects to Morocco via HSR, USA government is going to wake up and build hsr ERRYWHERE, even if it does not make any sense.
Essentially, USA builds stuff on the "bruised ego" principle, not an actual need.
If Acela was faster, similar to Japan/France, I think a NY-Chicago route might also be feasible. It's currently one of the most heavily traveled short haul air routes in the US, AKA could be big bucks if Amtrak gets these customers instead.
>>912209
Getting across the Appalachian mountains would be difficult. There are too many sharp carves on the tracks that do exist and tunneling through the mountains just simply isn't an option.
Travel times from NYC to Chicago would be 5-6 hours at best, and unless the price is dirt cheap (it wouldn't be) it wouldn't come close to competing with air travel.
>>912216
Actually, it is feasible. The deal is, that HSR works so well because high power/weight ratio allows higher gradients. I guess that 5% would be feasible - even if the speed on the most difficult sections would dip to ~160mph.
Besides, you can get a decent corridor from NY to Chicago ( or even Milwaukee ), and build it in sections.
Say - upgrade NEC to its maximum operable speed ( 150+ mph at least ), then branch off from DC to Pittsburgh, Columbus, Indianapolis and Chicago and Milwaukee at 200mph.
Sure - the whole Chicago/NYC would take some time to complete, but you also make an emergent market of connections between major urban centers, so the whole thing would run at capacity anyways.
A good deal of people would choose HSR even from Chicago to NYC just because it is on ground, thus safer and more convinient.
>>912221
>I guess that 5% would be feasible - even if the speed on the most difficult sections would dip to ~160mph.
I don't think you read my post. I'm not talking about gradients (although that may be an issue) I talked about the very sharp curves on the mountain pass. Doing anything more than 50mph on these tracks would be extremely dangerous, also the amount of freight that runs on these tracks would pose a serious problem (especially with scheduling).
>upgrade the NEC to it's maximum operation speed
Useless. Way too many stops for 150mph to be useful. Curves are too sharp and too close together. You would need to widen the curves (the NEC is very curvy as well) and space out the tracks more because the current trains can't go into full tilt because of it. 150+mph wouldn't be feasible also due to the heavy commuter rail traffic on many portions of the track, especially between Baltimore and NYC. There is a reason why Amtrak has suggested realigning the corridor. The NEC has reached capacity and doing the steps necessary to upgrade the track to those kind of speeds would require well over $100B which they damn sure aren't getting from congress. And it would not do very much to shorten the travel times as you might think.
>Branch off from D.C. to Pittsburgh
Why? Electrifying and extending the keystone service from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh would be much easier and cheaper. GL getting NS to agree to that though.
>>912161
>HSR trassib
all of my kek. This is absolute bullshit, and will never happen.
You HSR dicksuckers should learn once and for all that HSR makes no fucking sense to go through the middle of nowhere, even less so for days on end. Why the fuck would you spend gazillions in building an HSR line that will still be slower than taking an airplane, and with no intermediate stops to make it useful?
With people like you defending trains they won't need any enemies. Idiot.
> I don't think you read my post.
HSR done right equals new ROW, new track and new alignments. Which allows for 5% gradient, thus easier passage through mountains.
>Useless. Way too many stops for 150mph to be useful.
Absolutely not. The main long distance services, run, say each 15 minutes @ 150 with slower 125 and below services would trasfer benefits of HSR along nicely. Anyhow - NEC will need to be upgraded and realigned anyways.
Besides - there is not going to be HSR in the US in the next 20 years anyways - there is simply not enough political goodwill to do so. We are talking about "doing it right" :)
> Why?
I am just tracing points on the map. HSR, as I said before, is new ROW anyways, thus you can design a complete system from the start.
>>912243
> implying russian politics makes sense
> implying there were transsib HSR projects by russia and china
Stay mad.
>>912246
>implying you're not a dumb piece of shit
stay stinky
>>912216
Fuck climbing. Do the Japanese thing like they're doing with the Chuo Shinkansen and its 90% tunnel and punch right through
So, has anyone in this thread actually ridden on the Acela? Whenever I'm traveling between BOS/NYC/PHL I always take the bus or plane, never Amtrak, since it's neither as fast as flying nor as cheap as the bus.
>>912287
I took the Acela from Boston to DC last July. I don't really have much to compare it to as the only other HSR I've ever been on was the Eurostar and I was too young to remember any of it, but it was one of the comfiest travel experiences I've ever had. If you can shell out the cash for it, it's definitely worth it IMO.
>>912287
I've only taken the Regional since it's only about a half hour longer, and half the price.
Here's the problem with all of these HSR projects that everyone's talking about. They're all way too big. If Amtrak were to instead do it in small, incremental amounts, it would be much more economically feasible. For instance, a lot of people are talking about a NYP-CHI high speed rail line. Currently, the only line that is directly from NYC to Chicago is the Lake Shore Limited, so if Amtrak were to make small, incremental improvements along that route, say, start by electrifying from NYC to Albany (this would also be good, because then Amtrak would have no need for the P32AC-DM's anymore, so they can sell them to NJT and MTA) and then proceeding west towards Chicago. Of course, this is a much longer process, and it would also be a somewhat longer route than just going directly, but it would also be cheaper at the start.
The same can also be done to the south, start at DC (where the electric lines currently end) and go down to, say, Charlotte, then continue on, stopping at major cities until you get to, say, Miami. It may take forever, but eventually you can have all of the US electrified.
>>913510
They're already doing small incremental improvements and no one outside of that one idiot (possibly that Milwaukee Road austist) is seriously suggesting a full on HSR corridor between NYC and Chicago. Amtrak can't install wires over rails which they don't own though so the lines would have to be purchased which would make incremental electrification expensive.
>>913515
>possibly that Milwaukee Road austist
b...but muh little Joe
>>910264
North Carolina has ownership of the NC Railroad, and leases it to Norfolk Southern. They can bitch all they want, but it is ultimately up to NC if they want to electrify their tracks. Also worth mentioning that both VA and NC are looking at using the barely used/abandoned CSX S-Line between Raleigh and Petersberg. It would take billions to upgrade, but at least travel times would be shorter, and passenger trains won't have to deal with freight traffic.
OP here.
Wow... 22 days and counting.
If this thread makes it to one month, theres going to be a GIANT Acela pic dump.
>>916078
It will. This is /n/ afterall.
>>916078
Do it now you lazy faggot
>>912216
>tunneling through the mountains just simply isn't an option
I didn't used to think that Americans were inherently stupid, but you seem to be trying to prove me wrong.
The Appalachians are a series of mostly parallel folds, especially through Pennsylvania and Virginia, so a set of fairly short tunnels (none longer than a couple of miles) will do the trick. The rest of the time you'd use gaps or existing valleys. You know, a lot like the existing Pennsylvania Turnpike, which follows about the right route. I'd guess you'd be looking at not having too many stops between the Harrisburg area and Pittsburgh, but as long as the stations between are not on the main track, it doesn't matter too much.
The rest of the route is only tricky because of existing land ownership, and that's solvable with money and arm-twisting.
>>910179
The arcing suggests hard spots and an incorrectly tensioned contact wire. It shouldn't do that else, as you said, it'll be a maintenance nightmare.
I would love to try Acela but NE Regional is already so much more expensive than a bus, it's hard to justify the cost. Do they ever have ticket deals?
On a semi-related topic, how does the Northeast Regional compare to the Acela? It's not as fast obviously, but how is it in terms of comfort?
>>918051
It's comfier than an airplane and way comfier than a bus. I took my friend on Amtrak for the first time from NYC to Philly and I guess he was expecting something like the LIRR because he was surprised.
>>918051
Comfort in NEC trains is largely dictated by how many dirty students and families with kids are traveling
The great thing about Acela is that they're delightfully missing, so unless you're stuck not in the quiet car, Acela is most comfy of all
>>918051
I have done business class from Newport News to Boston. If you have the time its super comfy, well worth it, I slept halfway, and worked on my PC for the other halfway.
>>910209
I still find mixed lines terrifying. Until they can figure out a good way to get high-speed freight to be a reasonable idea (atleast in the US), I suggest they keep passengers off urban lines, even for low speed passengers.
>>916078
It's time.
>>916078
Damn, 22 days goes fast. My life is a blur.
Post pics fgt
>>918113
Literally, entire world can do it, yet somehow amercans cannot?
>>918678
Yeah, you got me. America is stupid.
>>918051
Seats are decent and recline a good amount. In my experience (travelling twice a month for the past 3 years either on NE Regional, Keystone, and occasional Vermonter). If you are leaving from a non-shithole station (read: any station beside NYP) that allows you to queue before the train arrives, you can be one of the first to board and get any seat you want. Numerous times I've had no one sitting next to me the whole trip. Wifi is not great (also doesn't allow video streaming) and there are cellular (3G/4G) deadzones in a lot of places so download your videos beforehand.
Buses suck because you will get stuck in traffic leaving and entering the cities. Bolt says 2HR from PHL to NYP. What a joke. Took 30 minutes just to get out of Philly during an off peak time. Standard tickets on any Amtrak NEC trains excluding Acela are a moderate price. The longer the distance the higher price. Usually no delays but rain/snow storms can cancel and/or delay trains for hours. Overall, it's a good way for travelling the corridor.
>>918744
Good to know, thanks. I'm doing the full route from Boston to DC and back this summer and I'm weighing my options. I'd like to take Acela both ways but I don't think I can afford that.
>>912243
>the only REAL MURRIKA Is the middle of nowhere
Yeah we understand you oxycontin-addicted hillbillies prefer to live thousands of miles from the nearest sign of civilization, but the parts of the US that actually matter happen to be populated.
Active tilt a shit.
>>918719
Anon is right. Look at how far trump has gotten. Just goes to show you that the Republican party is what others have suspected for a long time: it's full of racist, backwards thinking idiots that are holding this country back.
I'm seriously considering leaving this place for another country if it gets any worse.
/rant
Bumping because fuck bikes.
