SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA: Transit/Transportation News

[electricron]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

My first order or business as FRA commisioner would be to get rid of those ridiculous f***ing bells.

Bells? Are you willing to pay to build all the pedestrian over and under passes of the tracks for passenger safety? The bells allow at grade pedestrian crossings.

[Busy Bee]

The bells are theatre. Stupid anachronistic theatre. A reminder you're still in the USA.

It reminds me of the way USDOT used to ruin the look of so many imported European cars by requiring ugly headlights and bulky bumpers.

[llamaorama]

I wonder if alternative electronic bell tones would perform as well and could be allowed someday? That would cause less noise pollution but still be effective at alerting people and allowing for safe pedestrian crossings.

[Nouvellecosse]

Wouldn't electronic tones be more annoying than an actual bell?

Personally I've never heard of the bells being an issue. I've only really heard complaints about mandatory horn sounding at grade crossings but obviously the bell is much quieter than those.

[Busy Bee]

Most new light rail vehicles that are required to ring a bell like ye olde railroading do so using a simulated electronic bell tone. I'm not sure if these 21st century EMUs are using a real bell or a fake one. Either way it's ridiculous and embarrassing.

[JManc]

I actually like the bells, they're a connection back to the old days of rail. My grandfather worked maintaining RR signals for NY Central.

[homebucket]

Originally Posted by twinpeaks

If it were to run, I wonder how fast will it take to go from SF to San Jose with a stop at Milbrae on existing tracks?

According to the updated schedule, SF to SJ, a track distance of ~49 miles, takes 59 minutes if you're on an express train (10 stops). So if it gets reduced to only 2 stops, Millbrae and SJ, I'm guessing that would save at least 16 minutes just from not having to slow down, stop, deboard and board, and accelerate again an additional 8 times.

According to this CAHSR EIR/EIS, a nonstop trip from SF to SJ would take 30 minutes.

So I'm guessing a SF to SJ trip with a stop in Millbrae, would probably be around 35 minutes. Maybe 40 minutes tops.

[llamaorama]

I've only really heard complaints about mandatory horn sounding at grade crossings but obviously the bell is much quieter than those.

It's funny, the horns are the one annoying train noise I like. Especially a distant one on a quiet night carrying through the cool.