Great work, Sam! I'm glad there are intelligent and passionate men like you that are becoming the forefront of this movement to bring passenger rail to first-world status in the US. Best summary on all the HSR projects thus far, even better than ours! :-D
Brightline is not a high speed rail network, HSRs are supposed to operate at a minimum speed of 250km/h(155 mph/h) for a new line. Please come to Asia and take a look before making these type of videos.
@@dogguy8603 glad to tell what I experienced from SF to Orange county. And how was it? IT WAS SH*T. boring, outdated, no tv screens(basically the same as boring but you will say screens are bad for you). and the view wasn't enjoyable(just get a drone) and the wait sucks at the airport. and I have my ears aching from the landing.
@@frostystallie8736 no it won't, takes a 737 bout an hour to get there, and a hsr 2-3 hours at least, and with the high cost of hsr it would cost quite a bit
The Tokaido Shinkansen didn't take 5 years to build, it actually took more than 20 years from start to finish: land reclamation and tunnel construction was started in the late 30s and by 1944 most tunnels had already been dug (including half of the New Tanna Tunnel). The war interrupted construction for a few years, but it wasn't as easy and fast as people think.
It's pretty simple: in America the railroad has to at least break even. This means cutbacks in service frequency, routes, trains used, populations served and so on. In the rest of the world it is accepted that railroads can operate at a loss. This is only possible because trains are seen as an indispensable service to society which is helped by local or national governments. This mindset also helps to gather support on infrastructure upgrades and maintenance of schedule that serves everyone.
Ironically, auto and airline travel are insanely subsidized in the US. So we're actually still subsidizing transportation but we do it for less efficient modes that are more expensive to subsidize. That's why I like California. It's more Europe than America. If it makes sense, California just does while the other states continue chewing on their straightjackets and drooling into their oatmeal.
well, sadly in 1992 DB was amde into a Comapny with all shares beeing hold by the state, but as such it has to make profit. which resulted in drastic cuts of losses such as demolishing around 6000km of rails which was roughly 15%. Some of the most important and most used railroads are single track in each direction such as between Frankfurt. also germany doesnt have a dedicated high speed rail network. for the DB to be fit for the future it needs to be nationalized again. cause now the only way for DB to break even is through Transporting Goods with Trucks. DB has over 500 subsidies that have nothing todo with Trains. Its most profitable subsidie is DB Schenker, a logistics company that manages large and complex supply chains for multinationals such as Apple, Procter & Gamble, Dell, ASML, BMW and many more.
@@Ginkoman2 you are telling me nothing new. DB Schenker is insanely profitable and every year the DB mentions it's role on the press releases. It doesn't however clash with a sound business model of providing a better rail experience for passengers and cargo. People always blame the DB for everything, but most projects take a long time to even start due to bureaucracy and public initiatives from ill informed residents telling there is no point in allowing a high speed rail if they aren't getting a station out of the deal...
@@almerindaromeira8352 yeah, but in my opinion the state should provide Transport like it does with building roads. And thus DB should be nationalized again or should be allowed to operate on a loss. Germany NEEDS better rails infrastructure. Desperatly. cuurently the strategy is to just let it rot. because DB has to pay for repairs all by them selves while new tunnels and bridges get public funding. thats not a good way to do things. Also DB should buy more 25kV capable trains cause switching is never gonna happen. In short DB should focus more on what it is suposed to do. Trains. Both for public transit but also for cargo. most of germanys cargo is tranported by trucks.
@@Ginkoman2 well we are getting the new trains. There is an order for many ICE3neo (BR408). And also the ICE L is locomotive hauled so it's easy to employ them outside of DACH. I also agree that nationalised railways are a good thing, but I wouldn't go as far as to say they are necessary. I think that DB Netz should indeed be 100% independent from the group and should operate at break-even. Private railway services do work. Look at Flixtrain or Italo. Is just a matter of better circumstances.
The only correction I’d make is Amtrak; if the infrastructure bill passes, will massively expand service all over the country and expand service on already successful corridors. Most will be just 79mph, but some busier corridors will get to 110.
@@ronclark9724 you deserve Fast service at 200 mph especially to replace existing lines and new cross lines like an Indianapolis to Minneapolis via Iowa and central Illinois running every hr or 30 mins
@@qjtvaddict Money. No one is funding a high-speed rail system in the midwest except for the people who want to the people and you will pay for by paying for outs then well pay for yours you're route is not profitable at the moment due to the lack of population density
Over in Japan yeah. While such a train would definitely be a fantastic addition here in the U.S., you definitely won’t get that same level of cleanliness and I doubt the same punctuality either. But we’ll know for sure if and when it comes to fruition
I prefer to name the original Acela, Acela I and the Avelia Liberty, Acela II. Just like how Amtrak names their coaches, example being Amfleet, Superliner, and Viewliner.
At 150 mph it puts it in the minimal category of high speed trains according to the 2018 annual report of the International Union of Railways. That's still much faster than a car going 80 mph on the freeway.
@@CreatorPolar Most highways in my area have a speed limit of 65, but 70 and 75 speed limits are not uncommon, especially in rural areas. The highest speed limit IIRC is 85 on a highway in Texas, though I may be wrong
I watched the entire video, thank you Sam and all involved in this presentation. I’ve been hearing about high speed rail in the USA all my life with very little to show in the finished product. I’ll believe it when I see it, if I’m still alive that is!
An amazing overview of the US situation for US Europeans. Good luck with the passenger rail! Am I right to assume that those individual HSR lines in the US will not be interconnected even if the network expands? The rolling stock and infrastructure are not interchangeable?
The LA to Las Vegas line should extend all the way up the valley to Salt Lake City, connecting Bryce and Zion to the network with a north rim Grand Canyon spur.
There is one thing many people don't seem to understand about Amtrak. While the long distance trains can't compete with airlines, they actually can currently compete with driving. Taking Amtrak from Chicago to Los Angeles, Via the Southwest Chief takes 43 hours because the train just keeps going all day and all night. Driving from Chicago to Los Angeles can take twice as long as you have to spend the night in hotels. I also found out that you actually don't save much money when driving for the long haul. A roomette on the Southwest Chief coast about 900 dollars, and all you meals are included in that price. When driving, you have to pay for the hotel, food and gasoline which I figure out in all is actually 400 dollars more expensive a roomette on Amtrak and more if you book more luxurious hotels. With that, the long distance trains should get more ridership than they get when they're traveling in a way other than flying.
Amtrak really has many corridors to upgrade the tracks to 110-125mph and use their new diesel-electric locomotives on both ends like brightline does. Or then attract private companies to operate those routes because they usually do it cheaper and faster than corrupt politicans. Just look what brightline did for relatively cheap. They used existing rail corridors and just buit new tracks and made better grade crossings.
These routes include bay area-sacramento which is very flat mostly, the surfline which could be hard to make fast in the LA metro area because of freight traffic and also the hiawatha service could be easily made 125 outside of chicago
Keep in mind that most of the railroads Amtrak uses actually belong to freight companies, and Amtrak is just borrowing them. Because of this, freight trains get priority and Amtrak trains get delayed.
No, Amtrak gets delayed because their locomotive break down and they lose their time slot. Amtrak engines break down because they were supposed to have new engines by now, but the Sprinters are defective so the order was stopped. So, the poor Genesis break down, a LOT.
Great work and appreciate all the research you did. Just a small issue though, if you could slow down your narration in future it would be appreciated! You talk fast haha. It makes it feel rushed. Other than that it was really good
Railroad is infrastructure. National railroad does not have to make a profit 1st and foremost. Its job is to make the economy run efficiently. That has to do with delivering people to places regularly, on time, affordably, and comfortably. And a long distance trains are more a function of the state department and the Department of Transportation. They promote this country. Again, they should not be held to for-profit standards. If the interstate highway system had been held to this standard, we would not have an interstate highway system.
Your right that most people think if Amtrak as a slow, expensive and outdated way to travel, but the way people think of Amtrak today isn't always true as Amtrak isn't alway slow and more expensive than driving. I did some calculations that Amtrak is actually better in terms of timing and for a solo travel is slightly cheep than driving. This may not be the case for shorter trips but it maybe for longer trips. To get from Chicago to Los Angeles, Amtrak's southwest chief takes about 43 hours if on time, where as driving on route 66 or interstates 40 involves spending 4 night in hotels. When taking the train, you only have to the pay for the roomette and all you meals are included. When driving, you have to pay for each hotel room, food and gasoline. Add those up, its cost about 1200 dollars to drive from Chicago to LA compared to 900 dollars for a roomette. So while people say simply that Amtrak is more expensive, it's not always true.
I hope one day soon rail travel in the U.S. becomes just as routine for the average person as air travel. Once it becomes cheaper than air travel, I suspect we will see a huge shift in demand from short haul flights to rail travel. Don't get me wrong, I am in no way disillusioned to the fact that air travel is going nowhere anytime soon. Air travel still has its benefits, especially the time benefit for longer trips. But if we can get the price of rail travel down to about half if not less the price of a plane ticket for the same starting and ending location the demand will soon shift. Hopefully one day we can get to the point where it is not uncommon for someone to wake up in Cincinnati, catch the train to work in Columbus, catch a high speed train to Toledo for a meeting, and still be back in Cincinnati in time for dinner.
The subway in Japan might be sophisticated but it seemed to me extremely complicated and confusing - several companies running the trains in Tokyo, different tickets...
Amtrak is smart to partner with Texas Central. And despite NIMBY, etc., it seems the most likely to succeed so far, even with Virgin Florida now operating.
Texas Central has NOT partnered with Amtrak... Amtrak has had 50 years to provide a daily train service between Dallas and Houston. Amtrak has failed TEXAS!
@@ronclark9724 More like the US has failed Amtrak. The creation of Amtrak let private railroad companies off the hook for passenger travel. That should have never happened. They should have let passenger train travel die as the private companies wanted to put pressure on the whole of the US citizens to do something about passenger rail service after it being abandoned by private rail companies that had provided for decades and then bailed when it was no longer profitable for them. A national disgrace! BTW, didn't the federal government help to build the intercontinental rail network?
@@blitzkrieg634 Yeah, I guess you don't travel much abroad where people travel in cars, planes, and TRAINS all the time. They aren't mutually exclusive.
@@qjtvaddict Yes, but in order to have faster train routes, you have to fund it to do that. It doesn't happen by magic. All the countries who have much faster trains or HSR have significant government support because it's seen as a public good, and not a for profit entity just like our national highway system.
@@CreatorPolar I understand what you mean, but Amtrak is getting more funding from the infrastructure bill that will be funded by making sure companies pay their fair share of taxes because many huge companies don't pay any federal taxes as it stands now. That's a start. Reducing military spending needs to happen as well.
two good corridors would be Washington DC-Atlanta corridor with cities such as Richmond, Charlotte, Greensboro, Durham and Greenville, as well as from Chicago to south via Indianapolis, Louisville, Bowling Green, Nashville and all the way to Memphis if wanted or link it with Atlanta via Chattanooga
Have you seen Atlanta's pitiful railway station? I have seen larger Greyhound depots... Face it, the New Yorkers consider the rest of America as fly over country. You don't count...
Amtrak made a terrible engineering mistake with the Acela, which is why it's so slow. Just about the time the Acela was being built, the German ICE crash cause the FRA to freak out and order the structure of the Acela stiffened. Unable to change the bulk of the design, the maker added 6" of extra material to the outside. No one batted an eye, until the trains were finished. Turns out, the wider cars could possibly sideswipe a non-tilted train, such as one stopped in a station. Limits were put on the tilting so that this couldn't happen, which in turn slowed the trains WAY down. There are only a few short segments that are straight where the train can reach it's designed speed. The extra weight caused other problems. The brakes, which were unchanged, failed shortly after the now heavier trains entered service. Far later, the drawbar of one of the coaches failed as it had been flexed beyond it's design over the years. The new Avelia are finally the correct width to tilt correctly, and will bring far faster speeds on the same infrastructure. Catenary, which was allowed to deteriorate over the decades of slow trains, is being realigned for fast speeds. As soon as every single defective Acela is sent to the elephant graveyard, speeds will jump (Amtrak asked to start immediatly faster speeds, but was turned down flat). Of course, the Avelia has to get past Pueblo testing, which is being a LOT more careful this time, to prevent another catastrophe.
Efficient but slow. You can fly three round trips a day between city pairs, but an Amtrak train takes three days to do a one way trip. That's a LOT more ticket sales, and is called the Boeing 707 effect after the plane that killed off passenger trains.
Hi Sam, You did an excellent job on this, I would like to make a suggestion for another chapter. I am a huge fan of the new Hydrogen fuel cell trains coming from France & Germany, I read England is going to buy some and use them in place of doing electrification of a whole route, with a huge cost savings and not having to see electric over head wires, this would be a great thing for USA ! DRG from NH
Why we don't have HSR systems except in the Northeast Corridor of America? It's called Bus, Airline, Automotive, Construction, Utility, and Petroleum Lobbies - along with Greedy Politicians!
i love the intro to every single part of American High Speed Rail week what did you use for the intro and what video editor do you use keep up the good work
Brightline bigger than Amtrak? Only when it spans the country which is unlikely. It would likely have to buy Amtrak from the government, with all that entails.
Did I understand this properly: Texas Central will not be interoperable with the other (so far) insular networks? They might get connected one day, so wouldn't it make sense to standardise the overall approach to constructing such lines - ie use if not identical, so at least compatible technology on all sections? You really need to overcome your fear of reasonable standardisation, even if this will probably also make way for metric system and 24-hour clock .)
Agreed. That is what CA HSR is doing. They are building to the European standard which is more expensive which is why private companies like in Texas and Florida don't. They are in it for profit first, and service second. CA HSR is building their line as a public transit infrastructure service first.
I take 528 2-3 time a week they are making great progress that rail will be very straight and very little home along the way and fewer crossings. I wonder what speeds it will reach
Sam, what a great job summing up the history and challenges of building HSR in the US! In the mid- '80's I worked for the TGV Company in Washington led by Bob Blanchette (he created Amtrak and was also the FRA Administrator under Reagan). We were tasked by Alsthom to build a HSR system somewhere, anywhere, in the US. At the time Florida was the only state moving on HSR. We were instrumental in creating the HSR Commission there and Brightline is using the mechanisms that were created at that time correctly. Alas, grade separations for the FEC portion is prohibitive. Maybe the new infrastructure bill, soon to be law, will help. As for Texas that team should look at the old , unused, Rock Island right of way. It's a longer route but it's there and has Waco right in the middle. Someone needs to talk to the Burlington Northern people to see what they want for it. Maybe a savvy legislative guy (not me anymore as I am retired) could get them a huge tax break to gift it to Amtrak. When is a subsidy not a subsidy...when it's a tax break! Then the operator team could lease it from Amtrak. Ha ha, wouldn't that be a turn around or better put a bite in the ass! LA to Vegas shows promise. Will monitor that. As for other corridors (CA in particular) they should be put on hold until the first full line is completed. Looking forward to your update after the dust settles on the new infrastructure bill. Thanks again for a job well done.
Wow, great video. Let’s hope that president Biden has the foresight to make some of these projects happen. As an Aussie in Melbourne, we have debated whether to build high speed rail between Melbourne and Sydney for years and years. Had the government’s and private sector gone ahead with the project it would have probably been paid off by now! Well done, great research and well presented.
@@tonyburzio4107 wasted money is the only way some politicians know how to operate. Spend the money on BS and political lobbying with nothing left for the actual project. Make the decision, allocate the funds and get the project done. Too many peripheral issues get way too much attention as the reality begins to lose attention.
The US did build an air cushion test train in the 1970a. Google - Rohr Industries’ Aerotrain, Grumman’s Tracked Levitated Research Vehicle (TLRV), and Garrett’s AiResearch Linear Induction Motor Research Vehicle
It is no one but the drivers fault if a train collides with a car, yet the news casters won't admit that to push their stupid agenda. Otherwise great content and information, I learned a lot from this video.
Never going to happen when you have to deal with dozens of gate crossings and hopefully there isn't some idiot trying to beat the train to get across. That's what you get when trying to build faster trains on the cheap because it'a about profit first and not service.
I find it funny how the fastest that you said that the fastest train in America goes is only 150 mph or 241 km/h. If Australia had trains that fast we would be golden. But instead the fastest train in Australia goes 100 mph or 160km/h even though the train set Australia’s rail speed record of 210 km/h or 130 mph. But anyway good video I hope America and Australia can both get there high speed rail soon.
Track in NY and CT is largely owned by Metro North and they have no reason to improve it. So unless Amtrak pays them a lot of money it will never happen.
Interesting video. Do you follow the higher speed rail projects in the Midwest focused on Chicago? I believe there is a route to St. Louis and South Bend, Indiana that are higher speed rail. There are also upgrades from Chicago to Milwaukee.
Here's a question: LA Union Station is filled with nothing but bi-level cars used by Metrolink and Amtrak Pacific Surfliner. How exactly does Brightline intend on placing electric rails on a track made with bi-level trains without disturbing any of Metrolink or Amtrak services? Digging under won't work, because there's already the Los Angeles Metro Red Line and Purple Line occupying that spot. And track 14 is a spare track used in case Union Station is overflowing with Amtrak trains. If possible, please let me know how they plan to handle that part.
Amtrak is mostly unprofitable due to the government and all the oddball and expensive requirements they impose on the company. It doesn’t help that the last few transportation secretaries have been anti rail in any form. If Amtrak had dedicated rails that avoided grade crossings, and was allowed to manage their own routes, and fares without any gov oversight and control, we most likely would have better service and speed. Notice that the only high speed train is in an area that serves the people of the federal government? Coincidence? I think not.
Maybe in 50 years there might be HSR to Los Angeles... Starting to build it in the Central Valley is the largest mistake in American HSR history. A high speed rail line to nowhere...
If they only own 6-8% of the track (can’t remember exactly) are they responsible for the cost of track upgrades/maintenance anyway or only on their owned track? I’d imagine the freight rail companies would benefit from the upgrades/faster trains as well, wouldn’t they? Just curious.
The United States is the 3rd largest country in the world with huge land mass, high speed rail is not always applicable with electric rail, diesel is a must to cover the wide expanse of our Country. Apples to Oranges.
higt speed trains work on top on medium (200km and large distance 700km) whit zero or few stops (max 5 on the longest one) only the majors city, to reduce traffic this city need to have a good pubblic trasportation system to reach this station.
very well done!!! hopefully we'll see high speed rail become a reality in the U.S. seems it's not embraced much here compared to other countries as airlines have always been the leader, but not everyone like to fly for different reasons
We will see HSR in California, Texas, Florida, Illinois, and along the northeast corridor, but I doubt whether any of the rest of the USA will ever see HSR... America is not a tiny nation one can drive across in a single day.
@@ronclark9724 HSR is used in other parts of the world to travel hundreds of miles between places. China has lines that even go 1500 miles. There are many good sized cities that fall in the zone between around 200-1000 miles
@@theexmann chinas high speed rail is more political than economical in a lot of places, so a lot of their rail lines extending westward in the country are neither profitable nor reasonable in most senses.
Amazing Documentary, I'm sure it took you a lot of your time, but well done! Everything is basically said and I am pretty amazed by how Brightline camouflaged the Siemens Charger into a aerodynamic train
@@blitzkrieg634 again, domestic planes are horrible in terms of comfort, and are a hassle, having to get up 4 hours early to get to the airport. So we add +4 hours for the hassle. So we get 4-6 hours of waiting at the airport, only to ride a flying bus that is even MORE unsafe than an actual bus? Aw helllllllll nawwwwwwwwwww, you probably haven’t rode a high speed train in your sad life, (and so haven’t I, but I will soon), but according to other people, HSR is better than flying. Besides, who will use supersonic planes in domestic flights?
@@tankman_tv9332 i have taken the shinkansen tgv and even Eurostar many times each Theyre nice Yes, for Europe and asia, they're not practical nor needed for 90% of the USA. Also go fuck yourself for supporting eminent domain when it comes to California and Texas
Hi Sam, love your train videos and your work putting them together BUT could PLEASE NOT TALK SO FAST....I have given up trying to listen to your commentary because u talk to fast and we can't keep up with u or keep track of your comments.....your videos are really really good and much appreciated...thank you from Greg
Just the high speed rail won´t be enough. The whole public transport system needs to be updated. Otherwise you wont get around vegas very quickly if you arrived via train...
The IFeds did a terrible job of giving money to railways to modernize their signal network to color light which was required for 100mph operations. Hence why we have this situation today
One of the main problems that the United States is decades behind other nations on high-speed rail is because of politics and money. America has relied on cars for far too long. Time to cut down the pollution on highways and let the high-speed trains take over America.
only dictatorship will make HSR possible in USA. the only problem is kicking out people from their land and houses. it's not question of money or technology.
@@davidjacobs8558 you know eminent domain is how all the highway projects in America were constructed, right? Has nothing to do with dictatorships. If the US wants to it can construct high speed rail lines and forcibly relocate people, it has before and did so without any qualms. It comes down to the project being extremely expensive and being one without strong political and public backing. Sure some people would like to have high speed trains, but the general population doesn’t really know or understand what that means and - in all honesty - I can’t find it in me to blame them for such. The vast majority of the US doesn’t have good public infrastructure (i.e. buses, trains, subways and - as is the case here - high speed rail) so they don’t actually know what a big difference it would make if it’s implemented. Even in the Northeast corridor, the Acela service is so bad, I often found myself debating spending several hundred more dollars to fly instead of take the train. Now, if you took every American and brought them to a place like the BeNeLux region or really anywhere in Japan and showed them that with good public infrastructure you wouldn’t even need to own a car (in some scenarios) there would be a much greater support for investing in public infrastructure. I think a public information campaign explaining to people the benefits to their own lives would have to be a prerequisite for getting the ball rolling on the improvements to public infrastructure that the US needs.
@@aydinsengun5088 eminent domain is easier said than done. There will be lawsuits galore. and politician will over turn decisions made by previous adminitration.
@@davidjacobs8558 yet the interstate system was largely completed. my point remains that when there is public and - especially- political will to complete something, it can be done without going into the ‘only a dictatorship can do this’ argument. Many democratic countries have expansive high speed rail system, the US doesn’t because the will to construct it has not reach a point in either the political space nor in the public discourse that would will it so.
@@aydinsengun5088 yes, because it was planned and the lands purchased in the 1950's. When there were much fewer people living in suburb, fewer people to kick out.
Be better to have a train station behind the Aria, Bellagio, Caesar Palace. The Rio is directly next to existing train tracks. They are thinking about renovating the Rio? There is a big Rio parking lot next to the tracks. Build a station there, have some sort of underground connection, subway, walkway under the 15 to Caesars, Bellagio .. The Strip. Get people excited the moment they get off the train, not so much worried about transportation at the heart and soul of Vegas. A Victorville station is ridiculous. I do the trip from Long Beach to Vegas often. Silly to go to Victorville. I take Amtrak to Santa Barbara and San Diego. It’s fun. Getting a connection to Victorville would not be so much fun. Amtrak has a new and perfect train station in Anaheim or ARTIC. It’s glitzy Vegas style. Get you in the mood for Las Vegas seeing the station a mile away. I think the new train station in Anaheim would be the perfect place to leave for Vegas. Or those living in Vegas to go to the LA area or with their kids a day at Disneyland.
Well here in California it's been announced that the train will be done in 2033. All this for something that very few in the state will actually use, guess tourists and commuters will use it
It will happen with CA HSR that will be built with a truly dedicated grade separated track from the ground up. Not half assing it like Brightline using existing track with a bunch of grade crossings.
@@No-le9qf No, it's the truth. My point is that when you don't completely grade separate a track, you can't operate a train at true HSR speeds. Building true HSR routes like you have in other parts of the world, where trains go 200mph, is just too expensive to private industry to do alone so they make these huge compromises like Brightline to get a somewhat faster train service up and running. That's fine, but don't call it HSR.
@@theexmann It's actually higher-speed rail, and keep in mind, this is the only good intercity rail project that we have (I'm not too confident in CHSR). And besides, more grade crossings in the future could be replaced by bridges or just removed entirely. One other thing, the SCB-40, more commonly known as the Siemens Chargers, can only reach 125 mph, so while not as fast, it's impressive for us.
Great work, Sam! I'm glad there are intelligent and passionate men like you that are becoming the forefront of this movement to bring passenger rail to first-world status in the US. Best summary on all the HSR projects thus far, even better than ours! :-D
You should collab with him and RM tranist
But who is Conrail?
Brightline is not a high speed rail network, HSRs are supposed to operate at a minimum speed of 250km/h(155 mph/h) for a new line. Please come to Asia and take a look before making these type of videos.
@@powerlinkers We all know that, but relatively speaking in the U.S. it is good to see new rail development happening.
I just drove from SF to LA and San Diego, god how I wish we had high speed rail
So you want to pay more money, to get there slower, and still need a car to get around? Just fly its cheaper and easier
@@dogguy8603 glad to tell what I experienced from SF to Orange county. And how was it? IT WAS SH*T. boring, outdated, no tv screens(basically the same as boring but you will say screens are bad for you). and the view wasn't enjoyable(just get a drone) and the wait sucks at the airport. and I have my ears aching from the landing.
@@dogguy8603 You would still need a car too, and the train is way more comfortable so less stressful.
@@dogguy8603 a train would be faster and much cheaper.
@@frostystallie8736 no it won't, takes a 737 bout an hour to get there, and a hsr 2-3 hours at least, and with the high cost of hsr it would cost quite a bit
The Tokaido Shinkansen didn't take 5 years to build, it actually took more than 20 years from start to finish: land reclamation and tunnel construction was started in the late 30s and by 1944 most tunnels had already been dug (including half of the New Tanna Tunnel). The war interrupted construction for a few years, but it wasn't as easy and fast as people think.
Don't forget that the project exceeded the budget by double
@@hamanakohamaneko7028 That's usually most high speed rail projects, they end up spiraling out of control in terms of price
@@Racko. most projects, tbh.
they understated their budget to win the bid or loan.
@@RFi731 I Agree, it comes down to finishing the job, and once it service will make up for the money sunken into the projects usually
Plus post war, civil projects was the only work in town and many cities needed a total rebuild
The acela actually clocked 172 MPH back in 2012 when they we're tested in NJ
Where?
@@qjtvaddict At Princeton Junction.
nj best state
The Acela could reach over 220 if every inch of rail had the infrastructure concrete ties etc I'm just sad that it's getting replaces
@@stefanochiodi8800 I live there and sir that is false as hell
I'm a train and I approve this video!
Bruh
I'm Long Island Railroad, you pleb
I’m Metro North
Later on to become: Amtrak
Amtrak: shows Bank of America logo 😂😆
Amtrak: still confused why their logo is a bank login and not a RailRoad logo
It's pretty simple: in America the railroad has to at least break even. This means cutbacks in service frequency, routes, trains used, populations served and so on.
In the rest of the world it is accepted that railroads can operate at a loss. This is only possible because trains are seen as an indispensable service to society which is helped by local or national governments. This mindset also helps to gather support on infrastructure upgrades and maintenance of schedule that serves everyone.
Ironically, auto and airline travel are insanely subsidized in the US. So we're actually still subsidizing transportation but we do it for less efficient modes that are more expensive to subsidize. That's why I like California. It's more Europe than America. If it makes sense, California just does while the other states continue chewing on their straightjackets and drooling into their oatmeal.
well, sadly in 1992 DB was amde into a Comapny with all shares beeing hold by the state, but as such it has to make profit. which resulted in drastic cuts of losses such as demolishing around 6000km of rails which was roughly 15%.
Some of the most important and most used railroads are single track in each direction such as between Frankfurt. also germany doesnt have a dedicated high speed rail network.
for the DB to be fit for the future it needs to be nationalized again. cause now the only way for DB to break even is through Transporting Goods with Trucks. DB has over 500 subsidies that have nothing todo with Trains. Its most profitable subsidie is DB Schenker, a logistics company that manages large and complex supply chains for multinationals such as Apple, Procter & Gamble, Dell, ASML, BMW and many more.
@@Ginkoman2 you are telling me nothing new. DB Schenker is insanely profitable and every year the DB mentions it's role on the press releases.
It doesn't however clash with a sound business model of providing a better rail experience for passengers and cargo.
People always blame the DB for everything, but most projects take a long time to even start due to bureaucracy and public initiatives from ill informed residents telling there is no point in allowing a high speed rail if they aren't getting a station out of the deal...
@@almerindaromeira8352 yeah, but in my opinion the state should provide Transport like it does with building roads. And thus DB should be nationalized again or should be allowed to operate on a loss.
Germany NEEDS better rails infrastructure. Desperatly. cuurently the strategy is to just let it rot. because DB has to pay for repairs all by them selves while new tunnels and bridges get public funding. thats not a good way to do things.
Also DB should buy more 25kV capable trains cause switching is never gonna happen.
In short DB should focus more on what it is suposed to do. Trains. Both for public transit but also for cargo. most of germanys cargo is tranported by trucks.
@@Ginkoman2 well we are getting the new trains. There is an order for many ICE3neo (BR408). And also the ICE L is locomotive hauled so it's easy to employ them outside of DACH.
I also agree that nationalised railways are a good thing, but I wouldn't go as far as to say they are necessary.
I think that DB Netz should indeed be 100% independent from the group and should operate at break-even.
Private railway services do work. Look at Flixtrain or Italo. Is just a matter of better circumstances.
The only correction I’d make is Amtrak; if the infrastructure bill passes, will massively expand service all over the country and expand service on already successful corridors. Most will be just 79mph, but some busier corridors will get to 110.
Rejoice! The infra bill has passed and Amtrak got gobs of money!
you should do a video about the Chicago-St. Louis 110mph project
The folks of the northeast consider the Midwest as fly over country. We are not entitled to Amtrak services, only they are...
@@ronclark9724 well we're profitable so once we get ours our revenue will pay for yours there is just more people
@@ronclark9724 you deserve Fast service at 200 mph especially to replace existing lines and new cross lines like an Indianapolis to Minneapolis via Iowa and central Illinois running every hr or 30 mins
@@dantelove4606 why not everyone all at once?
@@qjtvaddict Money. No one is funding a high-speed rail system in the midwest except for the people who want to the people and you will pay for by paying for outs then well pay for yours you're route is not profitable at the moment due to the lack of population density
Dang dude u aced this series. Great work
Love your video man
So ONE IDIOT DRIVER, the train speed limit was drastically reduced. Darwin Award winner.
Pretty much
Facts
Its your average day in Florida. What the hell were you expecting?
Where does it talk about this?
Rail overpass...
The Texas Central project, a Shinkansen, is exciting. I've ridden the Shinkansen and it's great! So comfortable, clean and super punctual.
Over in Japan yeah. While such a train would definitely be a fantastic addition here in the U.S., you definitely won’t get that same level of cleanliness and I doubt the same punctuality either. But we’ll know for sure if and when it comes to fruition
Hopefully brightline learns from past railroads that expanding two quick would be a disaster for instance the Milwaukee road pacific system.
Brightline!!! I have heard of it. It’s a diesel-electric train is it not?
Bright line won’t make it for several reasons .. at least not in our lifetime
I prefer to name the original Acela, Acela I and the Avelia Liberty, Acela II. Just like how Amtrak names their coaches, example being Amfleet, Superliner, and Viewliner.
At 150 mph it puts it in the minimal category of high speed trains according to the 2018 annual report of the International Union of Railways. That's still much faster than a car going 80 mph on the freeway.
If I’m not mistaken the highway speed limit on America is only 60/65mph
@@CreatorPolar Most highways in my area have a speed limit of 65, but 70 and 75 speed limits are not uncommon, especially in rural areas. The highest speed limit IIRC is 85 on a highway in Texas, though I may be wrong
@@CreatorPolar some highways has a speed limit of 80 mph
@@No-le9qf like you said only some, and you won’t even be going 50 because of traffic
Not when it’s only for 20 miles
I watched the entire video, thank you Sam and all involved in this presentation. I’ve been hearing about high speed rail in the USA all my life with very little to show in the finished product. I’ll believe it when I see it, if I’m still alive that is!
An amazing overview of the US situation for US Europeans. Good luck with the passenger rail! Am I right to assume that those individual HSR lines in the US will not be interconnected even if the network expands? The rolling stock and infrastructure are not interchangeable?
I am still waiting for the European HSR line from Paris to Istanbul... The Europeans aren't even planning that HSR line...
Some can be but many don’t need to
I Love You Amtrak Acela Express Trains ❤️🚆❤️
The LA to Las Vegas line should extend all the way up the valley to Salt Lake City, connecting Bryce and Zion to the network with a north rim Grand Canyon spur.
Who the fuck gonna take a train from Vegas to salt lake lmao
There is one thing many people don't seem to understand about Amtrak. While the long distance trains can't compete with airlines, they actually can currently compete with driving. Taking Amtrak from Chicago to Los Angeles, Via the Southwest Chief takes 43 hours because the train just keeps going all day and all night. Driving from Chicago to Los Angeles can take twice as long as you have to spend the night in hotels. I also found out that you actually don't save much money when driving for the long haul. A roomette on the Southwest Chief coast about 900 dollars, and all you meals are included in that price. When driving, you have to pay for the hotel, food and gasoline which I figure out in all is actually 400 dollars more expensive a roomette on Amtrak and more if you book more luxurious hotels. With that, the long distance trains should get more ridership than they get when they're traveling in a way other than flying.
Amtrak really has many corridors to upgrade the tracks to 110-125mph and use their new diesel-electric locomotives on both ends like brightline does. Or then attract private companies to operate those routes because they usually do it cheaper and faster than corrupt politicans. Just look what brightline did for relatively cheap. They used existing rail corridors and just buit new tracks and made better grade crossings.
These routes include bay area-sacramento which is very flat mostly, the surfline which could be hard to make fast in the LA metro area because of freight traffic and also the hiawatha service could be easily made 125 outside of chicago
Keep in mind that most of the railroads Amtrak uses actually belong to freight companies, and Amtrak is just borrowing them. Because of this, freight trains get priority and Amtrak trains get delayed.
No, Amtrak gets delayed because their locomotive break down and they lose their time slot. Amtrak engines break down because they were supposed to have new engines by now, but the Sprinters are defective so the order was stopped. So, the poor Genesis break down, a LOT.
NIMBY says "I don't like train horns. Slow down to 79 MPH Speed Limit." So much for HSR in south FL.
Even though cars are much louder
Great work and appreciate all the research you did. Just a small issue though, if you could slow down your narration in future it would be appreciated! You talk fast haha. It makes it feel rushed. Other than that it was really good
First time I watched one of your vids, glad I did! Very informative and a delight to watch... keep up the good work...
Even more surprising is where lines are electrified, many passenger trains are still diesel
Railroad is infrastructure. National railroad does not have to make a profit 1st and foremost. Its job is to make the economy run efficiently. That has to do with delivering people to places regularly, on time, affordably, and comfortably. And a long distance trains are more a function of the state department and the Department of Transportation. They promote this country. Again, they should not be held to for-profit standards. If the interstate highway system had been held to this standard, we would not have an interstate highway system.
If they wouldn't have messed up the design of the Acela so badly (it's too wide), we would already have far more high speed trains.
Your right that most people think if Amtrak as a slow, expensive and outdated way to travel, but the way people think of Amtrak today isn't always true as Amtrak isn't alway slow and more expensive than driving. I did some calculations that Amtrak is actually better in terms of timing and for a solo travel is slightly cheep than driving. This may not be the case for shorter trips but it maybe for longer trips. To get from Chicago to Los Angeles, Amtrak's southwest chief takes about 43 hours if on time, where as driving on route 66 or interstates 40 involves spending 4 night in hotels. When taking the train, you only have to the pay for the roomette and all you meals are included. When driving, you have to pay for each hotel room, food and gasoline. Add those up, its cost about 1200 dollars to drive from Chicago to LA compared to 900 dollars for a roomette. So while people say simply that Amtrak is more expensive, it's not always true.
I hope one day soon rail travel in the U.S. becomes just as routine for the average person as air travel. Once it becomes cheaper than air travel, I suspect we will see a huge shift in demand from short haul flights to rail travel. Don't get me wrong, I am in no way disillusioned to the fact that air travel is going nowhere anytime soon. Air travel still has its benefits, especially the time benefit for longer trips. But if we can get the price of rail travel down to about half if not less the price of a plane ticket for the same starting and ending location the demand will soon shift. Hopefully one day we can get to the point where it is not uncommon for someone to wake up in Cincinnati, catch the train to work in Columbus, catch a high speed train to Toledo for a meeting, and still be back in Cincinnati in time for dinner.
@@jkeelsnc Y'know what, that's actually a pretty good idea
Sam, Great work, and I hope you enjoyed your break. I just discovered your channel today and look forward to more.
15:30 is the reason why new main railway lines are don't allowed to have railway crossings in Germany. Only bridges allowed.
I wanna keep all the Amtrak all year and every year.
I love how the Japanese subways are more sophisticated than Amtrak lol, I still love my P42's and F40's though😤
The subway in Japan might be sophisticated but it seemed to me extremely complicated and confusing - several companies running the trains in Tokyo, different tickets...
@@aswler they have so many
Also, The Brightline Trains only run a fast as DB Regio trains. They have nothing to do with High Speed lol
@@mstrmren Disappointing. But I guess it is a progress in an automobile country.
Amtrak is smart to partner with Texas Central. And despite NIMBY, etc., it seems the most likely to succeed so far, even with Virgin Florida now operating.
Texas Central has NOT partnered with Amtrak... Amtrak has had 50 years to provide a daily train service between Dallas and Houston. Amtrak has failed TEXAS!
@@ronclark9724 More like the US has failed Amtrak. The creation of Amtrak let private railroad companies off the hook for passenger travel. That should have never happened. They should have let passenger train travel die as the private companies wanted to put pressure on the whole of the US citizens to do something about passenger rail service after it being abandoned by private rail companies that had provided for decades and then bailed when it was no longer profitable for them. A national disgrace! BTW, didn't the federal government help to build the intercontinental rail network?
@@theexmann private passenger rail wouldn't be a thing. Why? Because cars and planes put that shit out of business
@@blitzkrieg634 Yeah, I guess you don't travel much abroad where people travel in cars, planes, and TRAINS all the time. They aren't mutually exclusive.
@@theexmann wow, neat, not talking about Europe am I?
Great video. It goes into detail about all the issues and plans. Also which station was the curve shot of the acela with the horn at?
Bravo, muy buen video, una profunda investigación que has hecho. Gracias .
This vid should be updated since Amtrak now has plans to expand, possibly 30 plus routes
Indeed, including a new LA to Vegas line. And that will be a true LA to Vegas line, not some weird Victorville to Vegas crap.
All worthless they are slow they need to be fast people abandoned trains because they were slow . Increase train speed then the ridership will come
@@qjtvaddict Yes, but in order to have faster train routes, you have to fund it to do that. It doesn't happen by magic. All the countries who have much faster trains or HSR have significant government support because it's seen as a public good, and not a for profit entity just like our national highway system.
Yay! More routes that will create more debt because the government is too lazy to cut military spending
@@CreatorPolar I understand what you mean, but Amtrak is getting more funding from the infrastructure bill that will be funded by making sure companies pay their fair share of taxes because many huge companies don't pay any federal taxes as it stands now. That's a start. Reducing military spending needs to happen as well.
Thank You for this gift😎
Amtrak doesn't need to, and shouldn't have to generate profit. We dont ask that of the interstate, we shouldn't ask that of Amtrk
two good corridors would be Washington DC-Atlanta corridor with cities such as Richmond, Charlotte, Greensboro, Durham and Greenville, as well as from Chicago to south via Indianapolis, Louisville, Bowling Green, Nashville and all the way to Memphis if wanted or link it with Atlanta via Chattanooga
Have you seen Atlanta's pitiful railway station? I have seen larger Greyhound depots... Face it, the New Yorkers consider the rest of America as fly over country. You don't count...
This channel is a Gem 💎
Amtrak made a terrible engineering mistake with the Acela, which is why it's so slow. Just about the time the Acela was being built, the German ICE crash cause the FRA to freak out and order the structure of the Acela stiffened. Unable to change the bulk of the design, the maker added 6" of extra material to the outside. No one batted an eye, until the trains were finished. Turns out, the wider cars could possibly sideswipe a non-tilted train, such as one stopped in a station. Limits were put on the tilting so that this couldn't happen, which in turn slowed the trains WAY down. There are only a few short segments that are straight where the train can reach it's designed speed.
The extra weight caused other problems. The brakes, which were unchanged, failed shortly after the now heavier trains entered service. Far later, the drawbar of one of the coaches failed as it had been flexed beyond it's design over the years.
The new Avelia are finally the correct width to tilt correctly, and will bring far faster speeds on the same infrastructure. Catenary, which was allowed to deteriorate over the decades of slow trains, is being realigned for fast speeds. As soon as every single defective Acela is sent to the elephant graveyard, speeds will jump (Amtrak asked to start immediatly faster speeds, but was turned down flat). Of course, the Avelia has to get past Pueblo testing, which is being a LOT more careful this time, to prevent another catastrophe.
Whoops, the Avelia failed testing at Pueblo. Oh well.
Just want to be clear, Diesel trains (especially modern Diesels like the P42s) are still more efficient than Airliners
Efficient but slow. You can fly three round trips a day between city pairs, but an Amtrak train takes three days to do a one way trip. That's a LOT more ticket sales, and is called the Boeing 707 effect after the plane that killed off passenger trains.
Ok and a moped is a lot more efficient than a diesel train but that’s not the point
@@tonyburzio4107 the InterCity 125 and the Siemens Charger would disagree with being called “slow”
@@tonyburzio4107 Japan has diesel powered trains that clock up to 125MPH, you call that "slow"?
@@janmelantu7490 that’s IF the tracks support 125 mph service which doesn’t exist in the USA outside NEC
I was spoiled in 2016~ taking the Eurostar from
St. Pancreas to Gar du Nord. 187mph, and not even a ripple in my glass of Chablis.🥰
Hi Sam,
You did an excellent job on this, I would like to make a suggestion for another chapter. I am a huge fan of the new Hydrogen fuel cell trains coming from France & Germany, I read England is going to buy some and use them in place of doing electrification of a whole route, with a huge cost savings and not having to see electric over head wires, this would be a great thing for USA !
DRG from NH
Or even better. Use 3rd raid
Only in local trains in suburban areas can use those
Why we don't have HSR systems except in the Northeast Corridor of America? It's called Bus, Airline, Automotive, Construction, Utility, and Petroleum Lobbies - along with Greedy Politicians!
8:11 you did us dirty with that
The CTA reputedly was the first to put rails in the middle of divided highways. But definitely no HST.
19:52 a perfect ad for aviation safety!!!
To get hit by a train… The train runs on tracks, it’s not the train’s fault…
i love the intro to every single part of American High Speed Rail week what did you use for the intro and what video editor do you use keep up the good work
What year is the US High Speed Rail going to be completed?
Not in your lifetime...
Brightline bigger than Amtrak? Only when it spans the country which is unlikely.
It would likely have to buy Amtrak from the government, with all that entails.
Based on what we’re seeing with bright line... I wouldn’t be surprised if brightline overtook Amtrak. Amtrak might have to actually start stepping up
Excellent video Sam.
Did I understand this properly: Texas Central will not be interoperable with the other (so far) insular networks? They might get connected one day, so wouldn't it make sense to standardise the overall approach to constructing such lines - ie use if not identical, so at least compatible technology on all sections? You really need to overcome your fear of reasonable standardisation, even if this will probably also make way for metric system and 24-hour clock .)
Agreed. That is what CA HSR is doing. They are building to the European standard which is more expensive which is why private companies like in Texas and Florida don't. They are in it for profit first, and service second. CA HSR is building their line as a public transit infrastructure service first.
I take 528 2-3 time a week they are making great progress that rail will be very straight and very little home along the way and fewer crossings. I wonder what speeds it will reach
Sam, what a great job summing up the history and challenges of building HSR in the US! In the mid- '80's I worked for the TGV Company in Washington led by Bob Blanchette (he created Amtrak and was also the FRA Administrator under Reagan). We were tasked by Alsthom to build a HSR system somewhere, anywhere, in the US. At the time Florida was the only state moving on HSR. We were instrumental in creating the HSR Commission there and Brightline is using the mechanisms that were created at that time correctly. Alas, grade separations for the FEC portion is prohibitive. Maybe the new infrastructure bill, soon to be law, will help.
As for Texas that team should look at the old , unused, Rock Island right of way. It's a longer route but it's there and has Waco right in the middle. Someone needs to talk to the Burlington Northern people to see what they want for it. Maybe a savvy legislative guy (not me anymore as I am retired) could get them a huge tax break to gift it to Amtrak. When is a subsidy not a subsidy...when it's a tax break! Then the operator team could lease it from Amtrak. Ha ha, wouldn't that be a turn around or better put a bite in the ass!
LA to Vegas shows promise. Will monitor that. As for other corridors (CA in particular) they should be put on hold until the first full line is completed.
Looking forward to your update after the dust settles on the new infrastructure bill.
Thanks again for a job well done.
Wow, great video. Let’s hope that president Biden has the foresight to make some of these projects happen. As an Aussie in Melbourne, we have debated whether to build high speed rail between Melbourne and Sydney for years and years. Had the government’s and private sector gone ahead with the project it would have probably been paid off by now! Well done, great research and well presented.
Billions already wasted, moving on to trillions.
@@tonyburzio4107 wasted money is the only way some politicians know how to operate. Spend the money on BS and political lobbying with nothing left for the actual project. Make the decision, allocate the funds and get the project done. Too many peripheral issues get way too much attention as the reality begins to lose attention.
Anglos can’t govern
Well done, thanks!!
The US did build an air cushion test train in the 1970a.
Google - Rohr Industries’ Aerotrain, Grumman’s Tracked Levitated Research Vehicle (TLRV), and Garrett’s AiResearch Linear Induction Motor Research Vehicle
And then it snowed, and everyone said, "Oh."
It is no one but the drivers fault if a train collides with a car, yet the news casters won't admit that to push their stupid agenda. Otherwise great content and information, I learned a lot from this video.
When is the US High Speed Rail going to be completed?
Never now move to a civilized country
1 time
Wrong. The Acela goes 165, but people kept saying it went 150. Not judging, and no harm done
very cool video. greetings from Chile.
Let me know when brightline is at 150mph then I will use it
Never going to happen when you have to deal with dozens of gate crossings and hopefully there isn't some idiot trying to beat the train to get across. That's what you get when trying to build faster trains on the cheap because it'a about profit first and not service.
To be considered high speed rail that's about what it takes - 150 mph on full cruising speed or faster.
They still use diesel powered trains instead of electric ones
@@Racko. Indeed, another example of doing faster rail on the cheap.
@@theexmann yep
SEA's Herb Keller is rolling in his grave. But when the weather's good it's still less than an hour to fly Dallas to Houston.
Great Work 💯👍
I find it funny how the fastest that you said that the fastest train in America goes is only 150 mph or 241 km/h. If Australia had trains that fast we would be golden. But instead the fastest train in Australia goes 100 mph or 160km/h even though the train set Australia’s rail speed record of 210 km/h or 130 mph. But anyway good video I hope America and Australia can both get there high speed rail soon.
The station for Brightline west is no longer in Victorville, it is now in Apple Valley just north of bell mountain
Track in NY and CT is largely owned by Metro North and they have no reason to improve it. So unless Amtrak pays them a lot of money it will never happen.
Excellent video my friend ✌😏
Interesting video. Do you follow the higher speed rail projects in the Midwest focused on Chicago? I believe there is a route to St. Louis and South Bend, Indiana that are higher speed rail. There are also upgrades from Chicago to Milwaukee.
Wisconsin was supposed to have a HSR from Milwaukee to Madison, but Scott Walker killed the project in 2010. The route was supposed to open in 2014.
I wish we'd fight more by making better trains than killing each other.
Here's a question: LA Union Station is filled with nothing but bi-level cars used by Metrolink and Amtrak Pacific Surfliner. How exactly does Brightline intend on placing electric rails on a track made with bi-level trains without disturbing any of Metrolink or Amtrak services? Digging under won't work, because there's already the Los Angeles Metro Red Line and Purple Line occupying that spot. And track 14 is a spare track used in case Union Station is overflowing with Amtrak trains. If possible, please let me know how they plan to handle that part.
They're not going to union station bud
Then where exactly are they going?
Ah yes, this is the way: Give away all profitable routes to private businesses, then close down Amtrak because it is highly unprofitable.
3rd world policy lol
Amtrak is mostly unprofitable due to the government and all the oddball and expensive requirements they impose on the company. It doesn’t help that the last few transportation secretaries have been anti rail in any form. If Amtrak had dedicated rails that avoided grade crossings, and was allowed to manage their own routes, and fares without any gov oversight and control, we most likely would have better service and speed. Notice that the only high speed train is in an area that serves the people of the federal government? Coincidence? I think not.
Why did brightline stick with 125mph for it's own HSR line. The trains are well capable of cutting the transit time
Awesome work hope to see some high speed rail in California!
Californian here, and hell no we dont want HSR
Maybe in 50 years there might be HSR to Los Angeles... Starting to build it in the Central Valley is the largest mistake in American HSR history. A high speed rail line to nowhere...
@@ronclark9724 it was already useless when the plan was brought up
It’s true though I live in SoCal and it’s really a useless idea, thanks government
@@dogguy8603 Yes, we do. We voted for it, and it's being built.
This was fantastic...Just saw your equally wonderful video about Amtraks new Equipment.....Shut up and take my Likes and subscription!!!
If they only own 6-8% of the track (can’t remember exactly) are they responsible for the cost of track upgrades/maintenance anyway or only on their owned track? I’d imagine the freight rail companies would benefit from the upgrades/faster trains as well, wouldn’t they? Just curious.
Could the existing rail line from la to Vegas not be modernised and use 21st century train stock to cut transit time
The United States is the 3rd largest country in the world with huge land mass, high speed rail is not always applicable with electric rail, diesel is a must to cover the wide expanse of our Country. Apples to Oranges.
What about china?
Isn't china a country with high speed rail which has a size similar to the United States?
China says hi
higt speed trains work on top on medium (200km and large distance 700km) whit zero or few stops (max 5 on the longest one) only the majors city, to reduce traffic this city need to have a good pubblic trasportation system to reach this station.
There's already 2 passenger railroads between Miami and WPB. That's just a demo. ORL and TPA is the test.
Do you think one of amtrak's maps can be elictrafieed . what do you think?
very well done!!! hopefully we'll see high speed rail become a reality in the U.S. seems it's not embraced much here compared to other countries as airlines have always been the leader, but not everyone like to fly for different reasons
We will see HSR in California, Texas, Florida, Illinois, and along the northeast corridor, but I doubt whether any of the rest of the USA will ever see HSR... America is not a tiny nation one can drive across in a single day.
@@ronclark9724 HSR is used in other parts of the world to travel hundreds of miles between places. China has lines that even go 1500 miles. There are many good sized cities that fall in the zone between around 200-1000 miles
@@theexmann chinas high speed rail is more political than economical in a lot of places, so a lot of their rail lines extending westward in the country are neither profitable nor reasonable in most senses.
@@NotGamersHD HSR should not be about economics, but public service for the greater good just like many other aspects of modern societies.
@@theexmann I agree but that has nothing to do with what I said whatsoever.
Amazing Documentary, I'm sure it took you a lot of your time, but well done! Everything is basically said and I am pretty amazed by how Brightline camouflaged the Siemens Charger into a aerodynamic train
The failure of America to invest in HSR will in the future be viewed as a major mistake.
We did invest. Bureaucratic bungling wasted the effort.
@@tonyburzio4107 lol pathetic if you invested those bureaucracy limits would be removed
Failure to invest so much money into hsr when airplanes go supersonic and airports get better
Lol
@@blitzkrieg634 again, domestic planes are horrible in terms of comfort, and are a hassle, having to get up 4 hours early to get to the airport. So we add +4 hours for the hassle. So we get 4-6 hours of waiting at the airport, only to ride a flying bus that is even MORE unsafe than an actual bus? Aw helllllllll nawwwwwwwwwww, you probably haven’t rode a high speed train in your sad life, (and so haven’t I, but I will soon), but according to other people, HSR is better than flying. Besides, who will use supersonic planes in domestic flights?
@@tankman_tv9332 i have taken the shinkansen tgv and even Eurostar many times each
Theyre nice Yes, for Europe and asia, they're not practical nor needed for 90% of the USA.
Also go fuck yourself for supporting eminent domain when it comes to California and Texas
I find it bizarre that you have rail lines in urban/suburban areas of America without fencing around them.
Hi Sam, love your train videos and your work putting them together BUT could PLEASE NOT TALK SO FAST....I have given up trying to listen to your commentary because u talk to fast and we can't keep up with u or keep track of your comments.....your videos are really really good and much appreciated...thank you from Greg
I like the fast talking.🙂
Nice Video
I will be happy knowing that America I finally getting high speed rail like Japan Europe and Asia finally getting high speed 🚆 trains awesome
Missed on several points but good effort over all.
Just the high speed rail won´t be enough. The whole public transport system needs to be updated. Otherwise you wont get around vegas very quickly if you arrived via train...
The IFeds did a terrible job of giving money to railways to modernize their signal network to color light which was required for 100mph operations. Hence why we have this situation today
The freight railroads are happy going 45 mph. Why should they spend billions to upgrade their tracks for higher speeds?
@@ronclark9724 To improve efficiency and to compete with fast trucks
One of the main problems that the United States is decades behind other nations on high-speed rail is because of politics and money.
America has relied on cars for far too long. Time to cut down the pollution on highways and let the high-speed trains take over America.
only dictatorship will make HSR possible in USA.
the only problem is kicking out people from their land and houses.
it's not question of money or technology.
@@davidjacobs8558 you know eminent domain is how all the highway projects in America were constructed, right? Has nothing to do with dictatorships. If the US wants to it can construct high speed rail lines and forcibly relocate people, it has before and did so without any qualms. It comes down to the project being extremely expensive and being one without strong political and public backing. Sure some people would like to have high speed trains, but the general population doesn’t really know or understand what that means and - in all honesty - I can’t find it in me to blame them for such. The vast majority of the US doesn’t have good public infrastructure (i.e. buses, trains, subways and - as is the case here - high speed rail) so they don’t actually know what a big difference it would make if it’s implemented. Even in the Northeast corridor, the Acela service is so bad, I often found myself debating spending several hundred more dollars to fly instead of take the train. Now, if you took every American and brought them to a place like the BeNeLux region or really anywhere in Japan and showed them that with good public infrastructure you wouldn’t even need to own a car (in some scenarios) there would be a much greater support for investing in public infrastructure. I think a public information campaign explaining to people the benefits to their own lives would have to be a prerequisite for getting the ball rolling on the improvements to public infrastructure that the US needs.
@@aydinsengun5088 eminent domain is easier said than done. There will be lawsuits galore. and politician will over turn decisions made by previous adminitration.
@@davidjacobs8558 yet the interstate system was largely completed. my point remains that when there is public and - especially- political will to complete something, it can be done without going into the ‘only a dictatorship can do this’ argument. Many democratic countries have expansive high speed rail system, the US doesn’t because the will to construct it has not reach a point in either the political space nor in the public discourse that would will it so.
@@aydinsengun5088 yes, because it was planned and the lands purchased in the 1950's.
When there were much fewer people living in suburb, fewer people to kick out.
USA hi speed a joke in comparison to China. China also has mag-lev as well.
Be better to have a train station behind the Aria, Bellagio, Caesar Palace. The Rio is directly next to existing train tracks. They are thinking about renovating the Rio? There is a big Rio parking lot next to the tracks. Build a station there, have some sort of underground connection, subway, walkway under the 15 to Caesars, Bellagio .. The Strip. Get people excited the moment they get off the train, not so much worried about transportation at the heart and soul of Vegas.
A Victorville station is ridiculous. I do the trip from Long Beach to Vegas often. Silly to go to Victorville. I take Amtrak to Santa Barbara and San Diego. It’s fun. Getting a connection to Victorville would not be so much fun. Amtrak has a new and perfect train station in Anaheim or ARTIC. It’s glitzy Vegas style. Get you in the mood for Las Vegas seeing the station a mile away.
I think the new train station in Anaheim would be the perfect place to leave for Vegas. Or those living in Vegas to go to the LA area or with their kids a day at Disneyland.
brilliant vid liked and stay connected plus stay safe 🙏
Well here in California it's been announced that the train will be done in 2033. All this for something that very few in the state will actually use, guess tourists and commuters will use it
That will still reduce traffic
yes, because people in the top 5 cities are the only people to deserve affordable public transit
if interstate highways werent a focus i think we would have high speed rail, or am i wrong
You realize how spread out America is right
Still wonder When a "high speed train" in the Usa will be aviable to do 300 KM/H always and not only on a 50 KM section.
It will happen with CA HSR that will be built with a truly dedicated grade separated track from the ground up. Not half assing it like Brightline using existing track with a bunch of grade crossings.
@@theexmann is this supposed to be a insult to brightline?
@@No-le9qf No, it's the truth. My point is that when you don't completely grade separate a track, you can't operate a train at true HSR speeds. Building true HSR routes like you have in other parts of the world, where trains go 200mph, is just too expensive to private industry to do alone so they make these huge compromises like Brightline to get a somewhat faster train service up and running. That's fine, but don't call it HSR.
@@theexmann It's actually higher-speed rail, and keep in mind, this is the only good intercity rail project that we have (I'm not too confident in CHSR). And besides, more grade crossings in the future could be replaced by bridges or just removed entirely. One other thing, the SCB-40, more commonly known as the Siemens Chargers, can only reach 125 mph, so while not as fast, it's impressive for us.
@@theexmann except nobody with a brain wants CA HSR
As long as no road vehicles crash onto the tracks. Give it time.