Work on (LA to Vegas) high-speed rail set to begin this year - Page 6

JDRCRASH · #**101** Posted **Apr 12, 2010, 1:24 PM**

^ Isn't that the SAME company that's building DesertXpress?

Busy Bee · #**102** Posted **Sep 19, 2018, 11:14 PM**

A slight change o plans

:

https://urbanize.la/post/new-owner-b...peed-rail-plan

digitallagasse · #**103** Posted **Sep 19, 2018, 11:44 PM**

With slower speeds and only going to Victorville I don't see this having much success. For me coming from Las Vegas this is useless at this point. If coming from SoCal if you are already driving as far as Victorville why not just drive the whole way. This really needs to go to Palmdale as part of phase one as well. At least then the trip can be made with a transfer. HSR is more a competition with flying that driving. If this is barely faster than driving and yet costs the same or more than flying then what is the point. I really want this to succeed and cheapening it I fear will not make is viable. By going cheap on the routing and the grades will mean this will not be able to be converted to higher speeds later.

saybanana · #**104** Posted **Sep 20, 2018, 4:02 AM**

Hopefully it can extend to Palmdale and maybe get on those Metrolink Tracks. Not sure who owns those tracks. But that would be great form Union Station to Vegas. Victorville could be a transfer spot for connecting buses that might go to San Diego or Riverside San Bern, or Orange County, too.

Hatman · #**105** Posted **Sep 20, 2018, 5:08 AM**

If Brightline is going to use the same type of diesel consists they use in Florida, what are the chances of those trains merging onto BNSF in Victorville and then continuing the route of the Southwest Chief into LA? Stops at San Bernadino and Fullerton ought to be popular as well. From Amtrak's schedule, going from LA to Victorville takes just less than 3 hours. Add to that the less-than 2 hours it will take to go the remaining distance to Las Vegas, and you've got yourself a 4.5 hour service, which is still faster than taking a car if there is any sort of traffic.

(Today on Google Maps the route was projected to take 4.5 hours without traffic, but 5.5 hours in real world conditions at the time.)

4.5 hours is not ideal, but it is exactly as long as the Amtrak Northeast Regional trains take to get between New York and Boston, and those trains purportedly also operate profitably.

I think this would be an ideal temporary until the California High Speed Rail opens their line from LA to Palmdale. Building the Palmdale connection now and having all the passengers transfer onto Metrolink trains is a bad idea, and even by having the Brightline trains continue into LA via the Metrolink route would miss places like San Bernadino and Fullerton, where riders could transfer from other Metrolink routes or simply just drive to those places and avoid downtown LA. I really hope that this is one of the options Brightline is looking at, because to me it makes the most sense. At least they have time to strike the right deals with BNSF/Amtrak, since the line won't open until 2021 at least.

orulz · #**106** Posted **Sep 20, 2018, 4:43 PM**

I would rather see Brightline connect to the CAHSR line in Mojave rather than Palmdale. This would provide a much better connection to the Bay Area and just as good of a connection to LA. In fact, this is basically the best possible justification for building HSR via Tehachapi instead of the Grapevine.

plutonicpanda · #**107** Posted **Oct 4, 2018, 3:50 AM**

If this is built as proposed, what a fail. This could also negatively affect future transit developments if this does in fact fail, which I believe it will for several reasons, but the biggest being it only goes to Victorville. If CA wants to take transit seriously, it needs to pony up the money and this train needs to go from Union Station, to the Strip, and to DTLV. Simple as that.

Faster is better, but even a 1000 MPH train won't make up for it ending/starting in Victorville. Hell, going to Las Vegas, I actually enjoy driving once I reach Victorville. It's driving in LA which would make the trip worthwhile by train, for me at least.

plutonicpanda · #**108** Posted **Oct 4, 2018, 3:52 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by orulz

I would rather see Brightline connect to the CAHSR line in Mojave rather than Palmdale. This would provide a much better connection to the Bay Area and just as good of a connection to LA. In fact, this is basically the best possible justification for building HSR via Tehachapi instead of the Grapevine.

I believe HSR is planned in Metro's High Desert Corridor?

eltodesukane · #**109** Posted **Oct 6, 2021, 10:47 AM**

This thread 11 years old and still nothing done.
Meanwhile in China...

Busy Bee · #**110** Posted **Oct 6, 2021, 3:46 PM**

Aside from the fact that the Chinese government feels little need to placate land owners and concerned citizens beyond offering their, in many cases, first and last offer of fair compensation - and literally bulldozes most other environmental concerns - the Chinese government approaches their HSR program and other key economic infrastructure initiatives like they are trying to win a war. That is how they approach it, and since it's a one party state, it's pretty universal. That is not how the West works. Not just the deference paid to stakeholders, but more importantly there is no "grand national vision" for high speed rail championed by the majority of politicians on the state and federal level, and of the passionate support it does have it's sort of a peripheral special interest issue that most others either don't share their passion or approach it in an anemic or indifferent way.

If we could convince the population of the benefits of high speed rail and connecting regional economies across North America, yes North America, not just the US, and could convince the political class that it's an extremely important ECONOMIC initiative that will help us stay on an equal playing field with China and southeast Asia, then maybe you could see progress begin to accelerate. I was holding out hope that under this Democratic administration we would see enormous investments to the tune of hundreds of billions into HSR, enabling the completion of CHSR and NEC full modernization, but it's clear that the D party isn't in the majority position needed to be that ambitious. Hopefully next year they add to their majority and Congress doesn't go the other way. Even then, HSR has got to become the kind of issue that most pols can talk about and it connects with the majority of voters. Right now it's limited to a "pet-project" notion and not the kind of near universal enthusiasm that would be needed to push for massive development of HSR in the US like one sees in China.

Obadno · #**111** Posted **Oct 6, 2021, 4:41 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by eltodesukane

This thread 11 years old and still nothing done.
Meanwhile in China...

If only we had a totalitarian state that could just implement the whims of generally progressive urban dwellers

What a wonderful world of democracy that would be

Double L · #**112** Posted **Oct 6, 2021, 4:56 PM**

Obviously does nothing for Nevada but pretty good for CA…