Current Events > How fast is train travel across America?

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What kind of speed do the trains generally run at? Is the system efficient? Do the "trains run on time"?

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think its like a 5 day trip, and the tickets aren't cheap if you want more then just a seat. dont know about speed exactly, but as long as they're not going through city streets i'd imagine its about 50mph.

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Slow as fuck and surprisingly expensive, you're better off flying

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I didn't mean coast to coast, I just meant train trips in general.

Also, only 50mph? Is America some kind of country that only just discovered infrastructure or something?


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Depends on when train a leaves the station

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Sunhawk posted...

I didn't mean coast to coast, I just meant train trips in general.

Also, only 50mph? Is America some kind of country that only just discovered infrastructure or something?

most of those cross country tracks are over a century old.

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Sunhawk posted...

Also, only 50mph? Is America some kind of country that only just discovered infrastructure or something?

It's the opposite problem, actually. Many of the major railways are literally from the 19th century, and there just isn't the demand for faster travel since it's used almost exclusively for transport of goods these days.

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They have to share many routes with freight and freight gets higher priority.

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Sunhawk posted...

Is America some kind of country that only just discovered infrastructure or something?

I didn't realize passenger trains were the only type of infrastructure to exist.

imagine not converting an old school bus and driving that across america if fb has taught me anything its that

no one here uses a train anymore unless you absolutely have to

trains are outdated and expensive as hell

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This all completely depends on what region you are talking about.
However it is safe to say, the train system in the US is not up to date.
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Guerrilla Soldier posted...

no one here uses a train anymore unless you absolutely have to

trains are outdated and expensive as hell

Well, that's the way Americans see it anyway. I imagine if we did get a system of affordable bullet trains, we would like them.

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DevsBro posted...

Well, that's the way Americans see it anyway. I imagine if we did get a system of affordable bullet trains, we would like them.

But no, we would rather piss away our money and time and lives, and in some cases mortality, to gridlock traffic games, every day.
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DevsBro posted...

Well, that's the way Americans see it anyway.

The "american way" in this instance is to subsidize an obsolete industry for no good reason.
Amtrak was a mistake.

SiO4 posted...

But no, we would rather piss away our money and time and lives, and in some cases mortality, to gridlock traffic games, every day.

Lemme just say, if I were Jeff Bezos, I'd be investing in privately-owned railways.

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DevsBro posted...

Lemme just say, if I were Jeff Bezos, I'd be investing in privately-owned railways.

Elon Musk is trying to do that.

DevsBro posted...

I imagine if we did get a system of affordable bullet trains, we would like them.

There is no such thing as affordable bullet trains.

Questionmarktarius posted...

Elon Musk is trying to do that.

hyperloop is a cocaine fueled pipe dream.

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Coast to coast? Less than a week for the whole trip.

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I usually take a commuter-route train (Amtrak Capitol Corridor) from Sacramento to San Jose every year for a convention. It's $40 each way and the trip takes about 3 hours. Slow and expensive, but it beats driving. I can relax, have lunch, watch a movie and my ears don't pop.

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The23rdMagus posted...

It's $40 each way and the trip takes about 3 hours.

If I go to a friend's house just one town away. It costs about $40 for a round trip and takes about maybe 15mins, both trips included.
In fact, I probably wait long for the rides then the actual rides themselves.
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The23rdMagus posted...

I usually take a commuter-route train (Amtrak Capitol Corridor) from Sacramento to San Jose every year for a convention. It's $40 each way and the trip takes about 3 hours. Slow and expensive, but it beats driving. I can relax, have lunch, watch a movie and my ears don't pop.

How was the space?

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Extreme_light posted...

How was the space?

Typically doesn't get very crowded at all unless it's after a baseball game in Oakland or there's a lot of students going home from Davis (which is only one stop, so not a big deal).

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