Re: The joy of actual numbers, was Democracy

On Sat, 2 Nov 2024 19:23:44 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

If air travel becomes impossible high speed rail would suit the USA
perfectly. Plenty of empty space.
 
I think current top speeds are around 200mph.

The US struggles with low speed rail.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_High-Speed_Rail

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-03-21/high-speed-rail

That's the poster child for screwing up high speed rail.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acela

Acela is more successful but when it averages out at 70 mph it isn't
exactly high speed. The problem with plenty of empty space is that it's
more or less empty. No large metropolitan areas, no ridership, no money.

This city has two train stations and no passenger service. The Milwaukee
Line is gone completely. The station is the home of the Boone and Crockett
club abd much of the right of way has been converted to bike trails. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missoula_station_(Northern_Pacific_Railway)

The other still has tracks. The coal trains wave as they pass by.