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Re: Are you trolling?
Author: FUD
Date: 09-19-2021 - 21:22
Questions you don't like to see can be functionally equivalent to trolling. So in that sense, yes, I'm a troll. But I'm not Russian.
It's actually a legitimate question. Brightline does not run at 110 in the urbanized area along the Atlantic coast; it runs at 79. They intend to run at 110 in the more open area between the coast and Orlando, yes, with some grade crossings but not many. So the situations are not fully comparable. Caltrain is more like the LIRR than Brightline. So I don't see, realistically, HSR running through Caltrain at 110 mph. I also see, realistically, the need for full or near-full grade separation to run the kind of service that Caltrain will ultimately want to run (especially if BART someday gets involved).
Anyway, yes, Caltrain has a plan. That's good. It's not fully funded. That's not good. San Mateo was a key piece of what's ultimately needed, and it's now done. That's good. And the plan that exists will still have some grade crossings. I think that HSR will run into a roadblock, or a serious slow order, over that.
As a practical matter, HSR on Caltrain won't happen for a long time - probably 10, 20, or more years. So this isn't something that has to be dealt with yesterday, or even the day after tomorrow. But it'll eventually have to be dealt with.
It's actually a legitimate question. Brightline does not run at 110 in the urbanized area along the Atlantic coast; it runs at 79. They intend to run at 110 in the more open area between the coast and Orlando, yes, with some grade crossings but not many. So the situations are not fully comparable. Caltrain is more like the LIRR than Brightline. So I don't see, realistically, HSR running through Caltrain at 110 mph. I also see, realistically, the need for full or near-full grade separation to run the kind of service that Caltrain will ultimately want to run (especially if BART someday gets involved).
Anyway, yes, Caltrain has a plan. That's good. It's not fully funded. That's not good. San Mateo was a key piece of what's ultimately needed, and it's now done. That's good. And the plan that exists will still have some grade crossings. I think that HSR will run into a roadblock, or a serious slow order, over that.
As a practical matter, HSR on Caltrain won't happen for a long time - probably 10, 20, or more years. So this isn't something that has to be dealt with yesterday, or even the day after tomorrow. But it'll eventually have to be dealt with.
