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Comment by secabeen | Hacker News Reader

Interesting. If trains only make sense for trips of <4 hours, how does that impact the California High-Speed Rail project?

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"Interesting. If trains only make sense for trips of <4 hours, how does that impact the California High-Speed Rail project?"

Disclosure: I am pro-rail and pro-CA-rail ...

Better to refer to it as "California Rail" and not "California High Speed Rail" since the speed and travel time is modern, circa 2005 or so. As of 2015 it is looking a bit sluggish compared to competitors globally and by the time it is actually running, with riders, it will be decidedly slow by comparison.

Anything under 2 hours from city center LA to city center SF is very interesting and a real game changer. But 2:40 or more ? And I am potentially stepping off a train in LA which is absolutely governed by car infrastructure ? That sounds like a wash, at best.[1]

[1] As opposed to a 5.5 (or so) hour drive, with complete control over departure time, unlimited luggage, total control over your own environment and when you arrive you have your car with you already ...

So why are you pro-CA-rail? Do you think they'll surprise you with a faster train and good public transit in LA?

The grand central train station in LA is well connected to the local light rail network. It is also in downtown LA, so there are plenty of business, pleasure and cultural destination just a short cab/light rail/bus ride away.

a) Stop less. b) Take a more direct route.

The distance between SF and LA is such that it /should/ take under 4 hours.

Love to know a <4hr route that you can do even at safe slightly-over-the-speed-limit speeds.

(CA native).

I have done San Jose to San Diego in 5.5 hours. Not going to tell you how fast I was driving.

No. You will never make it in four hours. 5.5 is about the minimum.

Why not? 350 miles in a straight line, 380 by road; Paris to Avignon is 390 miles by rail, journey time of 2:39 in service. I don't see why 5.5 hours is needed?

The road isn't as straight as it looks, I guess. Also, it's only two lanes in each direction, and the route has a lot of commercial traffic.

Ah, I think we've been talking past each other. The typical view of HSR is that it is viable for HSR journeys of four hours or less — not that it is viable for car journeys of four hours or less. This means SF–LA should be well within the viable HSR distance (per above, it really shouldn't take more than three hours by HSR).

That may be true. Certainly I'll ride it if they ever get the damn thing built.

Here (Copenhagen) trains have a pretty big share of the market up to about 5 hours. Copenhagen–Hamburg (4.5 hr), Copenhagen–Stockholm (5 hr), and Copenhagen–Aalborg (5 hr) are all popular routes.

Yes but most of the time you can still get cheaper flights to Hamburg or Aalborg. And here we are talking old slow-speed trains.

Higher speeds!

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