Amtrak Rider Joe Biden Pledges `First-Class' Railroad

[MrFSS]

Refurbished high-speed trains and spruced-up stations may greet Amtrak commuters from Boston to Washington as the U.S. passenger railroad gains support from frequent-rider Joe Biden in President-Elect Barack Obama's administration.

Full story is HERE.

 

[JohnF]

Refurbished high-speed trains and spruced-up stations may greet Amtrak commuters from Boston to Washington as the U.S. passenger railroad gains support from frequent-rider Joe Biden in President-Elect Barack Obama's administration.
Full story is HERE.

But what about the rest of the country? What bone will they throw to Texas. with two Republican Senators. Probably nothing.

 

[jis]

But what about the rest of the country? What bone will they throw to Texas. with two Republican Senators. Probably nothing.

Who knows? Maybe the Crescent Star. We can dream, can't we?

 

[Ispolkom]

But what about the rest of the country? What bone will they throw to Texas. with two Republican Senators. Probably nothing.

Oh, but us Minnesotans have great hopes, with our Jim Oberstar as chair of the House Transportation Committee. High speed trains to Chicago and Duluth, commuter rail from the suburbs, Amtrak returning to the St. Paul Depot, etc. It goes without saying that this wouldn't be pork, but important infrastructure investment.

 

[sky12065]

Refurbished high-speed trains and spruced-up stations may greet Amtrak commuters from Boston to Washington as the U.S. passenger railroad gains support from frequent-rider Joe Biden in President-Elect Barack Obama's administration.
Full story is HERE.

I hope all this indicates a greater move toward maglev trains. Although being quite expensive to implement, the long term benefit seems almost unbelievable in the areas of safety, speed and energy conservation. Read the article at THIS LINK about maglev!

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

Refurbished high-speed trains and spruced-up stations may greet Amtrak commuters from Boston to Washington as the U.S. passenger railroad gains support from frequent-rider Joe Biden in President-Elect Barack Obama's administration.
Full story is HERE.

I hope all this indicates a greater move toward maglev trains. Although being quite expensive to implement, the long term benefit seems almost unbelievable in the areas of safety, speed and energy conservation. Read the article at THIS LINK about maglev!

Won't maglev fail at energy conservation compared to steel rail because so many people who could have been taking steel rail trains at 300 MPH will be stuck taking airplanes instead because maglev will use up the available money constructing a much smaller total number of route miles than would have been constructed with steel rail?

It's not at all clear to me that maglev inherently has any advantage over steel rail in speed and safety, and there are some concerns about the safety of the magnetic fields in maglev (it's unclear whether this is a real issue or not).

 

[sky12065]

Refurbished high-speed trains and spruced-up stations may greet Amtrak commuters from Boston to Washington as the U.S. passenger railroad gains support from frequent-rider Joe Biden in President-Elect Barack Obama's administration.
Full story is HERE.

I hope all this indicates a greater move toward maglev trains. Although being quite expensive to implement, the long term benefit seems almost unbelievable in the areas of safety, speed and energy conservation. Read the article at THIS LINK about maglev!

Won't maglev fail at energy conservation compared to steel rail because so many people who could have been taking steel rail trains at 300 MPH will be stuck taking airplanes instead because maglev will use up the available money constructing a much smaller total number of route miles than would have been constructed with steel rail?

It's not at all clear to me that maglev inherently has any advantage over steel rail in speed and safety, and there are some concerns about the safety of the magnetic fields in maglev (it's unclear whether this is a real issue or not).

Not being knowledgable on the subject of maglev, I wouldn't have the answers, but I think that you have good questions that hopefully R&D have been and would continue to address. My post was simply the results of having seen the recent Discovery show on Bullet Trains coupled with the article referrenced and in light of the content of the OP. I was really only interested in hearing the opinions of others in this area!

 

[had8ley]

Here's my two cents~ I've been going around the house this morning humming, "Do You Believe In Magic?" Sounds good but lets hope reality of new equipment and new trains takes place before we run out of paper to print money with considering the current financial crunch.

 

[George Harris]

I hope all this indicates a greater move toward maglev trains. Although being quite expensive to implement, the long term benefit seems almost unbelievable in the areas of safety, speed and energy conservation. Read the article at THIS LINK about maglev!

Maglev is a solution looking for a non-existant problem to solve. The levitation consumes far more energy than the rolling resistance of the wheels. At high speed much of the resistance is aerodynamic which is the same either way. Switching trains between tracks is very complex. At this point it is proven that trains on rails can go over 300 mph, whihc is in the speed range proposed by the Maglev proponents. Where is the advantage?

Interesting that the article, which is from 2001, by the way, mentions that the concept is near 100 years old. Some of the test sites have been around for 20 odd years and what do we have? Two test tracks plus the Shanghai Airport line, which is in reality also a test track.

Compare that the first practical steam engine wa in 1797 or there abouts and the first railroad of any length in the 1820's and that by another 20 years after that railroads were going in as fast as they could be built, worldwide, and by a century after the first one railroads unquestionalbly dominated world transport. Then look at air: Powered flight had been considered and tried for what? 10 to 20 years before the Wright brothers. Commercial flight began within 20 years or so and by a century after the first powered flight dominated long distance transport. For Maglev what do we have? A few toys. We are wasting time and money on science fiction concept that will not become a practical science fact.

 

[ralfp]

Maglev is a solution looking for a non-existant problem to solve. The levitation consumes far more energy than the rolling resistance of the wheels. At high speed much of the resistance is aerodynamic which is the same either way. Switching trains between tracks is very complex. At this point it is proven that trains on rails can go over 300 mph, whihc is in the speed range proposed by the Maglev proponents.

If you believe Siemens, the TransRapid maglev consumes less energy per person km at 300kph than an 8 car ICE3, and the incremental cost of increased speed is lower (they are roughly equal at 200kph).

 

[George Harris]

Maglev is a solution looking for a non-existant problem to solve. The levitation consumes far more energy than the rolling resistance of the wheels. At high speed much of the resistance is aerodynamic which is the same either way. Switching trains between tracks is very complex. At this point it is proven that trains on rails can go over 300 mph, whihc is in the speed range proposed by the Maglev proponents.

If you believe Siemens, the TransRapid maglev consumes less energy per person km at 300kph than an 8 car ICE3, and the incremental cost of increased speed is lower (they are roughly equal at 200kph).

They are trying really really hard to sell the stuff. It is a sales pitch. Nuff said.

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

A First Class railroad? YIPPEE!

Hey everybody, Biden is going to buy us all first-class and sleeper upgrades!!

 

[Hanno]

A First Class railroad? YIPPEE!
Hey everybody, Biden is going to buy us all first-class and sleeper upgrades!!

....and we are going to pay for it along with auto companies and Wall Street!

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

A First Class railroad? YIPPEE!
Hey everybody, Biden is going to buy us all first-class and sleeper upgrades!!

....and we are going to pay for it along with auto companies and Wall Street!

*avoids entering into a debate about bailtouts*

Still, I bet Biden (and son) are gonna fix Amtrak up a bit. Some don't believe it, but especially with Kummant gone...

 

[AlanB]

Some don't believe it, but especially with Kummant gone...

Frankly I don't think that Mr. Kummant did a bad job at running Amtrak. He faced an uphill battle with the White House over funding, refused to cut the LD's, replaced some upper level management that was badly in need of replacing, actually got out and rode Amtrak to see what was up (unlike a few other Presidents), and probably a few other things that I'm forgetting at the moment. Heck, I even saw his wife out riding the trains.

I think he could have done quite well under the new administration, but now we'll never know.

 

[access bob]

I think he could have done quite well under the new administration, but now we'll never know.

yes I agree I was pleasantly surprised at how well he did. I remember all the Amtrak presidents and he was far from the worst. especially considering the administration he was operating under. I think he may have had great potential and the current board may have recognized that and decided to sandbag the future administration while they still had a chance. one will never know.

Bob

 

[ralfp]

If you believe Siemens, the TransRapid maglev consumes less energy per person km at 300kph than an 8 car ICE3, and the incremental cost of increased speed is lower (they are roughly equal at 200kph).

They are trying really really hard to sell the stuff. It is a sales pitch. Nuff said.

That's why I said 'if you believe Siemens', though the comparison is between two products that they're trying to sell: Velaro (ICE3) and the TransRapid:

http://republicans.transportation.house.go...ady-siemens.pdf