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Re: Serious new proposal for Altamont hsr route
Author: Michael Mahoney
Date: 05-06-2010 - 17:23
Just so we're clear:
(1) The TGV from Paris to Lyon leaves Paris on the same track as all the other trains, and goes no faster than the other trains. When it gets out into the countryside it switches to the high speed line, accelerates to 3 miles per minute or so, and continues for a couple of hours until it nears Lyon, where it slows down, returns to the standard ROW and comes into Lyon at the same speed as the other trains. The CHSR can't do this, so has to build all its track from San Francisco to LA from scratch.
(2) The original idea was to provide an attractive alternative to air service between northern and southern California. Critics have argued that (a) The two metropolitan areas are too spaced out -- three airports at the northern end and five or so at the southern -- to allow this and (b) The distance (435 miles) is a stretch. However, setting those issues aside for the moment, that was the idea. Early on, however, Central Valley politicians hijacked it and turned it into an upgrade of the Amtrak San Joaquin.
(1) The TGV from Paris to Lyon leaves Paris on the same track as all the other trains, and goes no faster than the other trains. When it gets out into the countryside it switches to the high speed line, accelerates to 3 miles per minute or so, and continues for a couple of hours until it nears Lyon, where it slows down, returns to the standard ROW and comes into Lyon at the same speed as the other trains. The CHSR can't do this, so has to build all its track from San Francisco to LA from scratch.
(2) The original idea was to provide an attractive alternative to air service between northern and southern California. Critics have argued that (a) The two metropolitan areas are too spaced out -- three airports at the northern end and five or so at the southern -- to allow this and (b) The distance (435 miles) is a stretch. However, setting those issues aside for the moment, that was the idea. Early on, however, Central Valley politicians hijacked it and turned it into an upgrade of the Amtrak San Joaquin.
