What is your opinion of Brightline, the first privately-run

>>1038842
Florida's retarded as fuck governors are why they aren't getting real HSR.

>>1038843
It's better than nothing.

..and look! The train in the picture isn't CGI! It's actually happening!

#lowexpectations

>>1038842
>That EOT
Why? It has marker lights on the engine.

>>1038842
Typical over the top American livery with no sense of being subtle.
Congrats on your new railway.

>muh free market muh free market public transportation must be private and government must fund roads and subsidise fuel and cars

Merika, pls.

>>1038850
It's being hauled by another (UP?) engine, so itself and the lights aren't active.

So far, I've been watching with a pretty smug grin, because the FEC railroad has been BTFOing cagers like mad. Because they are a private entity, they don't have to cater to nimby's and cagers, meaning that they can offer the most viable and efficient services possible. So good on them, so far.

That being said, there are two possibilities going into the future:

1. This is actually going to flop and all that will happen is that the Florida East Coast Railroad expands freight capacity and continues to be one of the non-garbage railroads in the country

2. The FEC succeeds, sending a shot across the bow of cagers everywhere. Brightline and Amtrak are in a race to see who can succeed with private passenger rail first, and whoever does (Amtrak has already gotten there, but is stuck because of government mandates and the long distance routes) is going to herald the end of cagers, which makes me excited.

>>1038866
Arent japans railroads private? The US government is too incompetent i would rather have private rail roads

>>1038890
Private with I believe government money. JR that is.

>>1038890
>>1038945

Passenger rail is profitable in Japan because there are so many dense population centers within relatively close distances of each other. That's how JR can operate as a private, for profit company. However, the government must still give them subsidies to run less profitable routes to rural areas.

America is way to sprawling (with the exception of the Northeast corridor) for passenger rail to be profitable. I'm not saying we shouldn't have it. It just needs to be publicly funded and not-profit in order to be efficient.

>>1039530
Why did Britain and Japan sell off their profitable railways? Literally destroying government income

>>1039688
Because the government has friends from their school who they want to give a slice of pie to

>>1039688
JNR as a whole was a bleeding behemoth. Only the big 3 JRs are profitable - East has Tokyo, Central has the Tokaido Shinkansen, West has Osaka (although it has to dance with giants like Hankyu and Kintetsu), with JR Kyushu just scraping through. JR Freight, Shikoku and Hokkaido are bleeding, the latter massively
A lot of lines were abandoned
Besides that, it was also a union busting move of nakasone

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>>1038857

Should've gone with the classic Florida East Coast paint job. And maybe rebuilt their Charger locomotives with the classic bulldog nose front.

Still better looking than Amtrak I suppose.

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>>1038843

>hurr durr they won't spend billions of dollars installing an entire electrical grid for a train that won't able to start revenue service for another 20+ years.

As a Californian, I can assure you that the way this state is doing is the wrong way and Florida's doing it right.

They're building the line using high-end existing technology rather with the intent of getting revenue service started by the end of this year. As profitability and experience with running the line grows, they can begin to gradually upgrade the system to an electric High Speed line.

Time from the project's approval to completion: four years

California's HSR on the other hand is a disaster waiting to happen. A state with already severe debt problems is basically trying to build an entirely new railway, funded largely on the backs of taxpayers. The cost-overruns and delays (I'll be middle aged by the time it's done) are getting worse by the year, and public support is waning.

Time from the project's approval to completion: 30+ years

TL;DR California done goofed

Now if the California state legislature had any brains, what they should've done was help finance UP track upgrades between San Francisco and Los Angeles, obtained high speed diesel (either purchasing brand new ones or alternatively to save money, buying New York's remaining RTL Turboliners), and restart the famed Coast Daylight service from SF to LA.

While it might not be the most fancy way of doing it, California HSR would have both income and over time experience to begin the upgrade from diesel to electric, all while maintaining public interest and support (because the project clearly was able to produce a working product).

>>1041762
California High Speed Rail uses 100% existing technology. Did you actually think you were going to get away with claiming otherwise?

>>1041762
Doing in California what is being done in Florida would be completely and totally pointless. The trains would not be fast enough to incentivize taking the train over flying between northern and southern California.

>>1041762
I hope the next time CAHSR funding is put to a general vote the voters statewide strike it down. Fuck CA-HSR and all the lies and corruption that went along with it. Jerry Brown doesn't deserve a legacy project.

>>1041794
There's never going to be another vote on it you dense fucking cunt.

I'm pretty excited. The interior looks great and I'm going to find an excuse to go to south florida just to ride the damn thing.

>>1039901
If you add all the JR accounts together that would still be a profit? Hokkaido is losing lots of money but those are jist a tiny fraction of JR East's profit

I just noticed the Brightline trains are formed Intercity 125 push pull style. FRA regulations I'm guessing? Because a train that short would probably be better off as a DMU otherwise?

>>1043903
It should still amount to a net profit yes. JR East's profits are about 10x JR Hokkaido's losses
But it must be considered this has come a long way after many lines in the middle of nowhere being pawned to 3rd sector or killed off after privatisation. That being said, I guess if you decided for whatever reason to re-nationalise, the system in its current state would be stable

JR East could very well eat JR Hokkaido and live to tell the tale, it would also save the latter. But the shareholders would be sour and it's not necessarily in the company's interests besides having the Shinkansen punch its way through to Sapporo

>>1043924
Maybe transport companies are finally waking up to the fact that this is the perfect balance between MU and loco hauled.
>2 power cars so if one fails it can continue on the power of the other.
>Ability to quickly and cheaply change the amount of coaches in the depot.
>2 localised areas with large engines. Simpler to access and maintain than a series of small underfloor engines.
>Better passenger comfort, not a lottery on your seat being positioned over a loud and noisy engine to drive you insane on any journey over a 30 mins.
Starting to think multiple units were just a meme from Bombardier to sell more units, as nothing is compatible, flexible, or easy to fix they end up getting loads more orders. Of course there is still a valid market for DMUs of 2 cars or so. And EMUs for high density low distance work. But for high speed diesel DMUs are not good.

>>1038843
While I initially opposed Governor Scott's decision, it was probably for the better now that I've seen the disaster of federally-funded HSR in California. It would have been decades before the train began to pay itself off and the vast majority of people would just drive instead, it's only about 85 miles between Downtown Orlando and Downtown Tampa.

The money was better spent on improving Port Canaveral and dredging it to fit the new Panamax-sized ships. Florida is a tourism state and way more people would utilize the port for cruise ships and importing/exporting, no tourist is interested in visiting Tampa or Downtown Orlando, all people care about is visiting the theme parks and touristy areas around International Drive.

t. Central Floridian

Reminder that Walt Disney World is NOT in Orlando. It is in Lake Buena Vista, a separate jurisdiction near Orlando. Only Universal has claims to being in Orlando proper as they were actually annexed into the city limits.

>>1038850
>>1038872
It was being hauled by a Union Pacific SD70M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELkw306DaCo

>>1044700
The majority of money spent on CAHSR isn't federal. Get your facts straight.

>>1044709
I guess I meant to say "government-funded" Even if only portion is federally funded and the rest is supplied by the state of California and local governments, with a very, very tiny amount coming from private sources, it's still a government boondoggle nonetheless.

>>1044788
Piece of human garbage like you are why infrastructure in this country is total dog shit. Kill yourself immediately.

>>1044789

Stay mad, faggot. That guy is 100% accurate about CA-HSR being an abject failure that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that dedicated HSR trackage is a boondoggle of insane proportions that is inferior to just simply upgrading existing tracks.

The FEC and Amtrak's NEC are the two doing this correctly and not surprisingly they are going to almost certainly be the backbones of profitable passenger rail systems across the East Coast, while California languishes behind in a steaming pile of wasteful shit.

>>1044818
You are mathematically wrong nigger. Upgrading tracks literally would not work in California. Train s would be too slow to make them competitive with flying.

Read a fucking book just once in your worthless life. Christ.

>>1044818
Cool evidence you've got there. Then again, you're the same guy who spouts on an on about the same shit all the time without ever having backed it up even once.

>>1044818
Why exactly would I pay 2x as much for an Acela ticket from Boston to DC when I could fly for less than half the price and get there in less than half the time (even when you include time at the airport)?

>>1044818
Look at those most successful high speed networks, like those in Japan, Korea or China...

>>1044824
Because flying sucks and you're irrelevant compared to the 11,000,000 who decide to take the based train instead of the screeching death-tube.

>>1044885
Cool, so you have absolutely no answer based on facts.

>>1044885
You do realize that modern planes are as quiet as trains right?

>>1044886
>11 million people choose the NEC annually
>"well why would *I* do that, when khalid can send me hurtling 500mph into a skyscraper instead?"

I guess that I'm saying your (incredibly poor) taste is ultimately irrelevant.

The NEC remains a viable alternative to flying.

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>>1044896
>"well why would *I* do that, when khalid can send me hurtling 500mph into a skyscraper instead?"

>>1044818
And how is the HSR authority going to upgrade those tracks without owning them?

>>1044896
And yet many more people choose to fly between the NEC cities. So you're telling people to spend more money on a significantly slower form of travel over the same route because you happen to like it.

You didn't fucking counter a single thing that was brought up because you factually can't. The ONLY way to significantly increase the speed of ACela service is to massively upgrade tracks along the route. And guess what motherfucker... that will require a huge amount of local, state, and federal money.

>>1044896
Nice argument

Have a (You)

>>1044896
> I personally like the train more.
> That means it's factually faster and cheaper than flying.

Chug bleach, friend.

>>1044936
>>1044934
have you kids actually tried commuting between say, NY and DC on an airplane? it's a fucking waste of time. no matter how slow acela is compared to how it "should" be, it's still better than flying

>>1044943
> my opinions override facts

>>1044948
for future reference, the
>
in your post makes your text green, which is traditionally used to ascribe the text in question to the person you replied to

>>1044951
It's ascribing the thought in question to you, which is an accurate thing to point out.

>>1044954
says the guy whose knowledge of the NEC comes purely from autistically memorized time tables

>>1044955
Less than 2 minutes of Googling basic information proves that your assertions are objectively and verifiably false. And by extension, this is proof that you have and continue to represent your personal preferences and opinions as fact, despite not having any concrete, non-anecdotal evidence to support them.

You've done nothing but make a fool of yourself and you have been called out by several people in this thread.

>>1044955
Your entire rambling line of nonsense is based on your own experience and only using about half the length of the line.

It's also completely irrelevant as it pertains to Brightline or CAHSR.

>>1044934
>So you're telling people to spend more money on a significantly slower form of travel over the same route because you happen to like it.

No, several million people are electing to do so themselves. Nobody is telling them anything.

>>1044962
And a lot more people choose to fly. And obviously a lot more people choose to drive over taking the train and flying combined.

>>1041762
This is a really stupid post. It currently takes over 12 hours to take Amtrak from the Bay Area (Oakland Jack London) to Los Angeles (Union Station). Even if you doubled the average speed, it would still take over 6 hours. And the whole route bypasses 2 fairly major population centers. That doesn't give any real incentive for people to take the train rather than fly or drive (depending on where they are).

Dedicated right of way purpose built for HSR is what will actually allow the California system to be time competitive with flying and faster than driving.

- 2 hr 40 min from SF to LA on HSR
- 12 hr 10 min on Amtrak
- ~3 hr 20 min to fly (including 2 hr airport time at departure)

>>1044966
Forgot to add:

- ~5-6 hours driving.

>>1044956
>you've been called out by several 15 year old aspies in this thread
>my memorized timetables are more relevant than real-world experience
yeah I mean I only spent 2 months commuting several times a week by air or acela between the two cities, I mean what do I know, I don't even has crippling aspergers
>>1044958
Oh I forgot it only counts as "the northeast corridor" if you go from one end to the other, all those cities in between DC and Boston are irrelevant

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>>1038842
Hello anons. I actually work for FECI, Brightline project since it's inception. AMA

>>1044971
So you're admitting that you are only speaking about your own preferences and only about a fraction of the length of the line. You've created an argument that didn't exist before you brought it up.

>>1044983
No tripcode, but w/e. Why isn't this electric?

>>1044971
If trains are so great, then why are you sperging-out about the idea that other places are building dedicated HSR or upgrading exiting lines for faster service.

Nothing you've posted in this entire thread has a point. It's just whining about nothing.

>>1044971
> my personal experience is the sole definition of reality

See, you absolutely have crippling aspergers. You can't even seem to get over the idea that most people don't do the exact shit you like, exactly the way you like it.

>>1044985
It's really expensive to put electric pylons along the entire 200 miles. The ROW is from the 1890s, way before anything like that was in frequent use. There was a plan back in the 50s to do it, but ofc the feds taxed the railroads up their asses for their airplanes and roads (how is that working out so far?) And no, we don't have a plan to electrify them - yet, every municipality along the ROW has put in crossings. Someone did mention a true HSR plan but this is way down the line, not yet.

>>1044988
> why are you sperging-out about the idea that other places are building dedicated HSR or upgrading exiting lines for faster service.
I have no idea what you're raving about, what other places? did you confuse me with someone else, anon?
>>1044990
you can't seem to get over the idea that a posted timetable doesn't have anything to do with the time and energy it takes to get from Point A to Point B

>>1044991
>It's really expensive to put electric pylons along the entire 200 miles.
literally third world countries are doing shit like this.

>>1044993
> can't seem to get over the idea that a posted timetable doesn't have anything to do with the time and energy it takes to get from Point A to Point B
Neither does your experience. That applies to not one single other person.

>>1045000
>not one other person would ever want to travel between midtown manhattan and the center of washington, DC
this is what irrelevant hillbillies *actually* believe

>>1044997
3rd world countries don't have a fully developed world class rail network based upon the utility of diesel engines.

>>1044983
Are there any plans to go up to Jacksonville?

>>1045005
They also don't have electrical infrastructure built in the vicinity of many tracks. The entire Brightline route would be easy as fuck to electrify and yet you defend not doing so without any actual reason.

>>1045004
Jesus fucking christ. Shut the fuck up. You are the only person talking about going from NYC to DC in this whole thread.

The NEC/Acela got brought up because the entire route (Boston to DC) is roughly similar in length to phase 1 of California's HSR system.

You took this as some personal slight (because you're the result of multi-generational incest and child abuse) and decided to spout on and on about a trip that isn't fucking comparable to what was being discussed already.

>>1045004
Nobody else ever has to travel from your house to the station/airport and then to the exact destination you happen to be going to. You are not the center of the universe.

>>1038842
Should have been a) electrified and b) faster.

>>1045019
>You are the only person talking about going from NYC to DC in this whole thread.
Someone else brought up the NEC, don't get mad that some people actually ride trains instead of just foaming about them on a weeaboo board
>The NEC/Acela got brought up because the entire route (Boston to DC) is roughly similar in length to phase 1 of California's HSR system.
Sorry but isn't this thread about Florida? Make up your mind, is it relevant or not?
>a trip that isn't fucking comparable to what was being discussed already.
It's pretty much the same length as the FEC line, go sit in the corner and spin something, autist

>>1045021
>house
more hillbilly talk

>>1038842
This thread seems well-intentioned. But unfortunately for you (and really everyone else) one miserable, sad little man with who stakes his personal worth on a portion of Acela that he happens to enjoy has ruined it.

>>1045022
This. Really just creating more work for themselves later.

>>1039688
Even Maggie Thatcher didn't have the heart to privatise British Rail, but she starved it of cash and it was in a terrible state when John Major came in, and he started the process of privatising it since he knew he could get away with it. Really there should have been more outcry but the average Joe was blaming BR itself and not the government for cutting all its funding

>>1044887
>787
>shinkansen
>just as loud
I see you've never ridden in an electric train before besides the BART.

>>1044966
You know people take the bus too.

If you got train travel time down to around equivalent to driving, it would definitely grow alot of ridership. There are also some people between sf and la who might want to ride.

CSL also has some pretty insane dwell times at stations too. If amtrak adopted sane boarding procedures and express services, they could gain alot of travel time without doing a single track upgrade

>>1045242
Not sure about the 787, but the A380 upper deck is just a tad bit louder than the new shinkansens.

>>1045252
A bus trip from SF to LA is at least 7.5 hours. The point is that Amtrak rail service is not really competitive with flying or driving a personal vehicle at this point. It would have to cut travel time by about 40-50% to be competitive with taking the bus or driving.

The main advantage of HSR being faster than flying (when you include airport time) is that it will reduce demand on the Bay Area to LA flight route (which is very, very crowded) and free up some of those slots for more valuable routes over longer distances. This would be especially advantageous for secondary airports like San Jose, Oakland, Burbank, Ontario, Long Beach, and John Wayne.

someone got video of a tour inside the train
https://youtu.be/HAj3ByEX040
https://youtu.be/3vU6mFiOSTM
https://youtu.be/3vU6mFiOSTM

As well as video of them doing test runs albeit not at full speed
https://youtu.be/XyNJvUrkbQY

>>1047180
and god dammit posted one of the links twice
https://youtu.be/pbx23zrB1lo

>>1044997
I think its less of money and more of a time issue

No matter how much something cost the longer the construction takes on a project the more support it will start to lose and the more of a chance someone will throw a monkey wrench into the project, plus even though AAF is a private company I'm sure they would be a decent bit more government bureaucracy tying them up even more if they wanted to electrify the line.

And I don't know if it even would be an issue but FEC is still planning on running some freight on the line which like I said I don't know is an issue outside of the highly unlikely problem of a freight train cutting the electric wire and the somewhat more likely financial hit FEC would take in having to limit the size of the freight cars they can haul