Why build High Speed Rail for passengers? SF/LA's 6 airports have 50 flights daily, twice as fast, half price.
The six airports are far more convenient than the single terminal at major cities which require all to converge to one station. This will add to the travel time. San Francisco and Oakland Airports are linked with high speed BART and San Jose may be linked in 5 years. New turboprop planes will lower airplane fares by 20 percent and increase flight times by about only 10 minutes. Current jets cruise at a higher altitude only for a short time. Climbing fast uses a lot more fuel than flying at cruising speed. There are no credible estimates of the rail fare, it may be twice the cost of jets. Trains will carry about 500 people, planes carry about 100 which increses frequency and convenience. Train noise at high speeds will carry for miles. In terms of energy, a passenger-mile is cheapest in a barge, moving slowly, next by electric powered train, moving horizontally, next: bus, at optimum sped with full load, next by a fully loaded big plane, slowly flying in "ground effect" -about 80 ft over water, Trains have a lower ton-mile cost than trucks for distances over 400 miles, now over 200 miles, due to higher fuel cost. We should build trains to carry cargo but High Speed Rail WILL NOT carry ANY cargo, ever. The Port of Oakland fired 70 port workers due to less container shipping and higher trucking costs. The, lame, current plan is to send 20 cargo trains daily from Oakland to Richmond, Martinez, etc., at 15 mph at 30 "street-level crossings". CalTran put an underpass at all crossings and cut travel time San Jose-San Francisco in half, it is now an Electric train. High Speed Rail is Diesel, to electrify adds $10 Billion. All the Bullet trains in the world are electric. We see the speck -ignore the beam.
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You're leaving the cost of fuel out of the equation.
Title : Why build High Speed Rail for passengers? SF/LA's 6 airports have 50 flights daily, twice as fast, half price.
Description : Why build High Speed Rail for passengers? SF/LA's 6 airports have 50 flights daily, twice as fast, half price. The six airports are far...