Biggest obstacle to high-speed rail: The FRA

gt7348b wrote:The only the distinction the FRA makes is between whether the system has a connection (i.e. switch) to the national rail system.

In Mountain View CA the light-rail has a crossover to the ex-SP main. Ordinarily, two rails are lying on their sides, ready to be rotated around their axes and spiked into position for the crossover to be used. Presumably this light-rail counts as unconnected? Is this a common practice in the US?

A switch to light rail system does not mean diddly, the wording in FRA rules is tat the FRA and its rules must be complied with if a system is PART of general railway system .
A physical connection does not make it part but any freight or passengers service being interchanged makes it part of:
here for example the wording in track section:
PART 213_TRACK SAFETY STANDARDS--Table of Contents



Subpart A_General



Sec. 213.3 Application.



(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, this part

applies to all standard gage track in the general railroad system of

transportation.

(b) This part does not apply to track--

(1) Located inside an installation which is not part of the general

railroad system of transportation; or

(2) Used exclusively for rapid transit operations in an urban area

that are not connected with the general railroad system of

transportation.

So the FRA doesn't care whether the crossover is in service? If so, why are the two rails on their sides?

Do other light-rail systems do something similar?

There can be a physical connection , used for delivery of rail vehicles or Mof W equipment some companies like to eliminate all doubt and take two strands of rail out , but its not required.
many a transit agency have a connection, as long as its not normaly used to ship things in or out on regular basis its not an issue.

Does anybody know, if there was any problems to introduce the Talgo trainsets in the USA.
This Trainsets are not typical for the USA and also they are lightweight too?

Greets

The Talgo's are introduced under a waiver due to several non compliance issues, The waver covered like places were they could be used, the use of locomotives or NCPU on both ends.
The trainset can not be moved unless the above locomotive issue is met due to crushload in compatibility
there are a few other items listed in waiver, it use to be on web but was puled for some reason last year.

The FRA's regs are rediculously overprotective. In this day and age though, you will not be able to relax them. What the pax railroads can do though, is slowly erode away the de facto status of the FRA regs. In NJ, the former Nelly-Bly (now the RiverLINE) is under a timeshare agreement where non-FRA complaint DMUs can operate on the line in a tram-train configuration, with street running on non-FRA rail in Camden as long as they are not running on the mainline tracks between 10 PM and 6 AM. The cutoff to freight is later on weekends. Once something like this gets established on a high-speed line, if the time for freight was gradually reduced to perhaps a 12:00-4:00 slot, you could have a line that for the most part, wasn't subject to FRA regs. You could then run modified TGVs or ICEs configured for 60hz power in the US, without having to build a new line or isolate an older one from the national rail network.

You can't compare the time-share for light rail operations with high-speed trainsets operating on FRA tracks.

M&Eman wrote:The FRA's regs are rediculously overprotective. In this day and age though, you will not be able to relax them. What the pax railroads can do though, is slowly erode away the de facto status of the FRA regs. In NJ, the former Nelly-Bly (now the RiverLINE) is under a timeshare agreement where non-FRA complaint DMUs can operate on the line in a tram-train configuration, with street running on non-FRA rail in Camden as long as they are not running on the mainline tracks between 10 PM and 6 AM. The cutoff to freight is later on weekends. Once something like this gets established on a high-speed line, if the time for freight was gradually reduced to perhaps a 12:00-4:00 slot, you could have a line that for the most part, wasn't subject to FRA regs. You could then run modified TGVs or ICEs configured for 60hz power in the US, without having to build a new line or isolate an older one from the national rail network.

They would never let that go down... Suppose a freight gets stranded?