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Re: High Speed would be good, just maybe not this fiasco?
Author: mook
Date: 02-01-2014 - 11:37
The Fresno segment would, if BNSF were allowed to use it, largely do what Fresno has wanted for decades: combine the two railroads through town in one alignment and get BNSF out of the middle of town. Nobody has had the money needed to do that. HSR might, and the result would have value even if the rest of the system never happens.
The line formerly known as Desert Xpress (from whom we've heard little since the FRA loan ran into a Congressional buzzsaw) was called HSR, but was designed for theoretical top speed around 180mph (300 km/h - similar to older TGV or Shinkansen) and normal speeds of 130-150. So it's not a CHSRA clone - more like Acela with track it can actually use at speed. IIRC they were looking at using some off-the-shelf European EMU trains. You can argue with the business case, but the engineering and route planning were sound. They completed a project-level EIS, not just one for route selection. CHSRA, if not constrained by the unrealistic criteria in the bond, might be better served by that kind of approach.
The line formerly known as Desert Xpress (from whom we've heard little since the FRA loan ran into a Congressional buzzsaw) was called HSR, but was designed for theoretical top speed around 180mph (300 km/h - similar to older TGV or Shinkansen) and normal speeds of 130-150. So it's not a CHSRA clone - more like Acela with track it can actually use at speed. IIRC they were looking at using some off-the-shelf European EMU trains. You can argue with the business case, but the engineering and route planning were sound. They completed a project-level EIS, not just one for route selection. CHSRA, if not constrained by the unrealistic criteria in the bond, might be better served by that kind of approach.
