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.
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.
@@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 IT WAS SH*T. boring, outdated, no tv screens(basically the same as boring but you will say screens are bad for you).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
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.
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
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.
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?
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
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.
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.
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...
@@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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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 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
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.
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.
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.
fun fact china built over 3000 kms of HSR yearly since 2008, that's an entire Japanese Shinkansen network built every year, just sit there in silence and let that fact sink in for a moment...😏
China built their high speed rail system to free up their freight railroads for coal shipments. Huge jumps in CO2 emissions from China shows this was very successful.
@@tonyburzio4107 The sad truth is that even in China people prefer to fly distances longer than 3 hours... Just like they worldwide... Why spend hundreds of billions building HSR when ten billion will build a brand new large international airport? China built a passenger railroad line in Kenya very few Kenyans can afford to ride...
@@ciello___8307 we did the same exact thing in the US when building the highways system, we just call it eminent domain. The reason China can build so fast is because their one-party autocratic system allows for large infrastructure projects like this to be given the green light right away without going through the many level of bureaucracy that is seen in democratic countries. China’s autocratic system is, in that sense, very efficient at getting things done and can complete construction projects with greater size and speed than democratic countries. While there is a trade off with an autocratic system, I won’t go into that since this is about their railways and not their politics.
@@ronclark9724 There are only so many places you can built new airports that are in practical locations. And even then, those airports need transit connections too. Why not a HSR line?
You seem to have a bias against government funded public transit and for private funding of public transit. You paper over obvious limitations of the privately funded projects. Amtrak was basically forced on the US by private railroad companies and they got to keep ownership of most of their tracks. That's ridiculous and part of Amtrak's current problems. There is a direct correlation between the increase in freight and the passenger service. That is why the US is behind the rest of the developed world. In those other countries freight and passenger service is much more balanced in who gets priority. A completely privately funded L.A to Vegas HSR will never happen because it's too expensive. The problem with previous attempts has always been getting through the Cajon mountain pass.Terminating the connection at Victorville won't work. No one in LA is going to take a train to Vegas from Victorville. LA to Victorville is where you usually have the most traffic. The CA HSR has had problems but it's not just the fault of the agency. It's also the fault of countless lawsuits by conservatives in the state (both individual and cities) with their endless lawsuits resulting in budget overruns, route changes, and delays. Also, the Trump administration slow walked any dealing with CA HSR for 4 years and even was demanding that CA return some federal money based on a bunch of lies from conservative politicians. Let's hope that Biden supports CA's endeavor in speeding up construction of this project. it's a huge project much bigger and more complicated than anything any of the private companies are doing.
Its not bias, its the reality in america. Government funded projects are pure fucking cancer. Everyone in the country wants to abuse the system. Once boomers die out this shit gonna be 10x easier. Stupid ass generation ran our country to the ground.
@@honkhonk8009 It might be your delusional reality. You have no idea what you're talking about. Without government funded programs, we wouldn't have a livable society. Not only purely publicly funded projects but also public/private partnerships in this country. Read up on your history. Programs like the Intercontinental Railway Expansion, the national highway program, Medicare, Social Security, armed forces, police departments, fire departments, public hospitals, VA, NASA, K-12 education, USPS, etc. I could go on and on. Throughout history there have been programs that could only have been done by the people as a whole. That entity is called the government. Private industry is good for many things, but also not good for many other things that are needed by society. That's a fact. Whether you want to accept it or not, that's your problem. BTW, the Boomers of today were the teenagers and young adults who marched for Civil Rights and protested against wars in the 60s.
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.
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.
@@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
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.
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.
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.
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...
As stated, Pres. Trump would have contributed to the North tunnel if he got border funding, which is still needed. However, both NY and NJ did not want to add money ether.
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
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.
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.
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 so called mighty United States of America. You could build a major Bullet Line from Boston Massachusetts to Miami Florida moving people up and down the entire United States Atlantic seaboard at 200 to 250 plus mph. Equipped with meals or atleast vending, laptop accommodations, television monitors, drinks, and the greatest of comfort all on a bullet trains so fast yet so smooth there wouldn't even be so much as a ripple in your martinis. This would be the greatest accomplishment since the great mega project of the Pennsylvania turnpike. No more driving on the congested i-95 for 28 plus hours from Boston to Miami. No more headaches of boarding a flight. You park the car save the fuel and take the train and relax, enjoy the views. Cost? If they can put a man on the moon to jump around and pick up rocks at a cost of billions of dollars. If they spent 200 billion dollars on the space shuttle program which by the way, where's the space shuttle at now? We're not gonna talk about the billions of dollars the United States of America is about to spend to put some fool on mars. Highspeed bullet trains and maglev super train technology, The new american dream....
I honestly don't underatand complaining about living next to rail tracks. You picked the location, you saw there were tracks, yet you complain about the rail transit doing its proper job?
The private project for HSR in Texas and one operated in Florida are proof that governmental projects always has drawbacks because central planning fails.
The first sentence of this video sums up exactly why high speed rail today would be damn near impossible. We cant expect to change course overnight, especially since we've gone so far downhill since the 60s and the rest of the world has left us far behind. In the 60s, American motor vehicle manufacturers and those invested in the interstate hwy and toll roads basically squashed any potential alternative transportation systems to basically dominate the entire transportation market, consider how much opposition projects to improve mass transit get today, ask yourself who stands to lose a profit most if such projects were completed?
