High Speed Amtrak

I'm not sure if this was mentioned somewhere in this thread but is there a reason why Amtrak won't use this?

Do a search on the Amtrak forum for the threads about it. Gas turbine is dead insofar as railroad propulsion.

Irish Chieftain wrote:Do a search on the Amtrak forum for the threads about it. Gas turbine is dead insofar as railroad propulsion.

It is only viable with cheap oil products. They won't come back.

Nasadowsk wrote:
The trick is get to a high speed and STAY THERE. And don't spend forever at stations. The eternity amtrak spends even at tiny stops like newark and New Haven, with the Acela, is'nt gonna cut it.

Exactly. Even if your maximum speed is 125mph you can average well over 100mph. For example, on the UK's East Coast Main Line, the fastest service from London to York (188 miles) averages 107.7mph whilst never exceeding 125mph. And this is not a dedicated high speed passenger line!

Chafford1 wrote:

Nasadowsk wrote:
The trick is get to a high speed and STAY THERE. And don't spend forever at stations. The eternity amtrak spends even at tiny stops like newark and New Haven, with the Acela, is'nt gonna cut it.

Exactly. Even if your maximum speed is 125mph you can average well over 100mph. For example, on the UK's East Coast Main Line, the fastest service from London to York (188 miles) averages 107.7mph whilst never exceeding 125mph. And this is not a dedicated high speed passenger line!

However, it is fettled to a high standard with few speed restrictions.

Chafford1 wrote:

Nasadowsk wrote:
The trick is get to a high speed and STAY THERE. And don't spend forever at stations. The eternity amtrak spends even at tiny stops like newark and New Haven, with the Acela, is'nt gonna cut it.

Exactly. Even if your maximum speed is 125mph you can average well over 100mph. For example, on the UK's East Coast Main Line, the fastest service from London to York (188 miles) averages 107.7mph whilst never exceeding 125mph. And this is not a dedicated high speed passenger line!

However, it is fettled to a high standard with few speed restrictions.

alot of the mainlines leaving London are doing over 100 mph whilst still within the inner suburbs .
i remember running to catch a departing hst125 , the conductor let us in the last door , but she was moving quite fast by the time we got on , and were walking to seats .

David Benton wrote:alot of the mainlines leaving London are doing over 100 mph whilst still within the inner suburbs .
i remember running to catch a departing hst125 , the conductor let us in the last door , but she was moving quite fast by the time we got on , and were walking to seats .

My local south west main line certainly does 100 mph on the third rail for part of its journey. Most is probably about 90 mph. The fastest part is probably between Basingstoke and Winchester, going on to Southampton. Between Southampton and Bournemouth it is rather slower but I should think 80 is possible.

100 is probably the maximum possible for third rail.

I rode the Moscow - Saint Petersburg express yesterday. 400 miles non stop. Probably hits
110 MPH as it does the trip in 4 1/2 hours and has to slow down leaving and approaching the
two cities. 13 passenger cars pulled by two electric locomotives or maybe it was one
tandem unit.

I observed only one grade crossing and it had a guard.

Both ways the train left on time and arrived on time to the exact minute.

Also rode the Moscow Metro (subway) very much like New York City Transit. Moscow
and St. Petersburg also have electric buses powered by overhead wires and streetcars and I also
saw an elevated train in Moscow.

NIMBYkiller wrote:That and it paves the way for continuation to Florida. Granted, HSR from Boston or even New York to Florida most likely wont compete with air times, but HSR from DC and Richmond could.

Actually, the order would be:

(1) DC-Fredericksburg, shared with VRE
(2) DC-Richmond & Newport News (current Amtrak service electrified)
(3) Richmond - Raleigh (SE High Speed Rail new build, in planning)
(4) Raleigh-Durham - Winston-Salem (SE High Speed Rail incremental upgrades under construction)
(5) Winston-Salem - Charlotte (SE High Speed Rail)

Then to Georgia, and only then to Florida (if Florida hasn't sunk under the waves by then).

I broadly agree with geoking66 and Patrick A.

But I'd select lines that run in mostly flat areas, because mountains would require some very expensive construction -- lots of viaducts and/or tunnels. So here goes:

1. Portland, ME - NEC - Raleigh - Savannah - Miami, with a Raleigh - Charlotte - Atlanta branch
2. Chicago - Toledo - Cleveland - Pittsburgh, with other lines from Chicago
3. Austin - Dallas, TX, with connections to Houston
4. San Diego - Los Angeles - Central Valley - San Francisco Bay, with a branch to Sacramento and perhaps Redding
5. Eugene - Portland, OR - Seattle - Vancouver, BC

The fourth and fifth ones are the Seattle - San Diego route split in two between Redding and Eugene. Though Amtrak's Coast Starlight takes the Klamath Falls route between those two towns, it nevertheless has to travel in very mountainous terrain. Lots of mountains + low population = little justification for a HSR line.

Along the Coast Starlight line:
Redding - Eugene: 355 mi
Sacramento - Portland: 637 mi