France bans short-haul flights

Amtrak can have high speed service to just about anywhere in the US that they want, they just have to pay for it, either through track usage agreements, or by spending the money to buy land and build a larger track and facility network than they currently own.
They rent usage rights from the rail owners on the majority of their route structure, and plenty of that track is not built for high speed rail. Also, in many cases the rental agreement gives them priority, but only in a certain window of their time schedule, so for it to work they have to be on time AND hope the freight trains don’t experience any delays on the main line.

High speed or even moderate speed rail in the US is a slopery slip… so to speak.

:)
Gotta be federal. Just like the highways.
 
As much as we like to bag on Florida, the Brightline is actually doing a pretty good job of providing service down there. It's going to take a while to expand to reach critical mass, but they are building out the core of the network well. Trains are frequent. Stations connect to local transportation (where it exists) and the fares are competitive with driving. The issue, as always, is that once you get to where you are going, none of the cities are set up for navigating without a car. This isn't a rail problem, but rather an urban design problem.

I just took Amtrak from Seattle to Vancouver (BC). It was quick, cheap and, other than actually walking to the station in Seattle, clean. The issue is that if you get off at any station other than Seattle or Vancouver, there is no way to get to anyplace other than things that are walkable from the train station. In Edmunds that's reasonable. In Everett you are in an industrial wasteland.
 
As much as we like to bag on Florida, the Brightline is actually doing a pretty good job of providing service down there. It's going to take a while to expand to reach critical mass, but they are building out the core of the network well. Trains are frequent. Stations connect to local transportation (where it exists) and the fares are competitive with driving. The issue, as always, is that once you get to where you are going, none of the cities are set up for navigating without a car. This isn't a rail problem, but rather an urban design problem.

I just took Amtrak from Seattle to Vancouver (BC). It was quick, cheap and, other than actually walking to the station in Seattle, clean. The issue is that if you get off at any station other than Seattle or Vancouver, there is no way to get to anyplace other than things that are walkable from the train station. In Edmunds that's reasonable. In Everett you are in an industrial wasteland.
I think Brightline is the company that finally might get to build highspeed rail between LA and Vegas. I’m optimistic but this song sure sounds familiar.

Edit: yep…

 
I remember when this first came out it was only going to effect a super small number of flights. To be fair, I do wish rail was more of a thing in the U.S… I’d love it if they could figure out the whole high speed rail up and down California thing out.
That proposal is nothing but a corrupt money grab from citizens.
 
Yeah, not like American, United, and SWA are threatening to do. Or is it ok to threaten, but not actually do? So très américain, those threats!
A strike threat in Europe is real. A strike threat in US won’t go far.

Also based on my reading this France proposal effects 4 total routes out of Orly they said? Didn’t mention CDG.

President got flack he didn’t do restriction on 4 hour train rides
 
As much as we like to bag on Florida, the Brightline is actually doing a pretty good job of providing service down there. It's going to take a while to expand to reach critical mass, but they are building out the core of the network well. Trains are frequent. Stations connect to local transportation (where it exists) and the fares are competitive with driving. The issue, as always, is that once you get to where you are going, none of the cities are set up for navigating without a car. This isn't a rail problem, but rather an urban design problem.

I just took Amtrak from Seattle to Vancouver (BC). It was quick, cheap and, other than actually walking to the station in Seattle, clean. The issue is that if you get off at any station other than Seattle or Vancouver, there is no way to get to anyplace other than things that are walkable from the train station. In Edmunds that's reasonable. In Everett you are in an industrial wasteland.
I mean, you more or less nailed an issue with all rail, not merely the long distance kind, in the United States. Stupid land uses around stations.

Also, I gotta love how Brightline accidentally made an operating profit on their current segments and basically said “well that wasn’t supposed to happen” in their comments about it.

Also also, I don’t care if it makes money. We’ve got to get people out of their automobiles if we want to have any sort of sustainable, scalable and livable transportation future in the States. Los Angeles,
Houston and Atlanta are living manifestations of “just one more lane, I swear, bro” to name a few—it’s just not possible to build enough expressway.
 
That there isn't reasonable rail serving the west coast is a crime. Forget even high speed - the current offering is limited to 50mph for long stretches of track. It takes almost 13 hours to go from LA to Oakland Jack London square, which is then either a sketchy ass mile walk to the nearest BART station (or waiting for the sketch 12 bus) if you want to get to SF. Signage is nil.

If ever there was a use for *eminent* domain....

Edit: if I were in charge Eminent Domain would be imminent.
 
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That there isn't reasonable rail serving the west coast is a crime. Forget even high speed - the current offering is limited to 50mph for long stretches of track. It takes almost 13 hots to go from LA to Oakland Jack London square, which is then either a sketchy ass mile walk to the nearest BART station (or waiting for the sketch 12 bus) if you want to get to SF. Signage is nil.

If ever there was a use for imminent domain....
BUT RAIL WILL RUIN THE CHARACTER OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD!

The neighborhood:
 

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Also also also, if you’re going to do these short segments they should be done with turboprops. Regional jets, especially 50 or less seats, are as environmentally offensive as endless auto culture.

I remember racing the Deuce on LAXSAN and they burned nearly twice the fuel to get 47 people there 4 minutes faster than 27.5 (or so) people 4 minutes slower. While it’s not a straight line, I’m confident the Dash or ATR sips by comparison to the CRJ or E75. (Google tells me the ATR burns like 1,400lb/hr, which, yeah.)

All of this hunts around something. The demand is obviously there for some good regional transportation that is neither the car nor a plane. We just don’t do it for a bunch of reasons (mostly bad and evil, maybe one or two valid ones). I don’t really care if it makes money, at least in terms of repaying initial capital public investment. But those projects might accidentally make operating profits once complete, too.
 
BART are slowly figuring out they should remove the parking craters from most of their stations and build places for people to live. Contra Costa Centre was early TOD for them, and it’s really quite marvelous up that way. I’m reasonably sure the Diablo Valley, which is already kinda stroady despite the presence of God’s Railway, would be one uninterrupted parking lot (both on 24 and off) between 0700 and 1800 if not for BART.
 
Also also also, if you’re going to do these short segments they should be done with turboprops. Regional jets, especially 50 or less seats, are as environmentally offensive as endless auto culture.

I remember racing the Deuce on LAXSAN and they burned nearly twice the fuel to get 47 people there 4 minutes faster than 27.5 (or so) people 4 minutes slower. While it’s not a straight line, I’m confident the Dash or ATR sips by comparison to the CRJ or E75. (Google tells me the ATR burns like 1,400lb/hr, which, yeah.)

All of this hunts around something. The demand is obviously there for some good regional transportation that is neither the car nor a plane. We just don’t do it for a bunch of reasons (mostly bad and evil, maybe one or two valid ones). I don’t really care if it makes money, at least in terms of repaying initial capital public investment. But those projects might accidentally make operating profits once complete, too.

I'm trying to remember how much the EMB-145 burned on EWR-ALB compared to the Dash 8. I think it was nearly twice as much.
 
A large part of the reason carriers got away from turboprops was market demand.

"Ewww it's got propellers?! I'm not getting in that!"
 
A large part of the reason carriers got away from turboprops was market demand.

"Ewww it's got propellers?! I'm not getting in that!"
Truth, but what if that were the only product offered? Would travelers drive 90 minutes to arrive a couple hours before a flight to somewhere else? I guess many do, but I certainly won't.

In another life, I traveled as a speaker between Poughkeepsie and Philly on USAir. Rather than drive 40 minutes to HPN, I was able to grab a flight from 12 minutes distance at POU for the minutes-long trip HPN and a connection to PHL. Parking was free. I drove a short distance o'er back roads instead of the TSP, I84 and 684.

Often the only passenger on a B-1900, it was idyllic (and likely lost money for UsAir). Still, when the service was no longer available at POU, I chose to simply drive to fulfill my commitments. The fare was no different from POU to PHL than it was from HPN to PHL, and it avoided a TON of hassle and time.

Somehow, the service (generally for IBM traffic between HPN, POU, BTV and BGM) survived for long years. Service ran from BE-99s through SD30s and B-1900s.

No idea if EAS subsidy was involved, but the service worked and filled a niche. Opening SWF to commercial service, a generally failed venture IMO, pretty much doomed anything viable out of POU.

The world changed.
 
I'm trying to remember how much the EMB-145 burned on EWR-ALB compared to the Dash 8. I think it was nearly twice as much.
For an EMB-145 and a Q400 the time and fuel burn is roughly the same for trips less than 400 nm. The difference is the 20 extra seats on the turboprop.
 
I mean, you more or less nailed an issue with all rail, not merely the long distance kind, in the United States. Stupid land uses around stations.

Also, I gotta love how Brightline accidentally made an operating profit on their current segments and basically said “well that wasn’t supposed to happen” in their comments about it.

Also also, I don’t care if it makes money. We’ve got to get people out of their automobiles if we want to have any sort of sustainable, scalable and livable transportation future in the States. Los Angeles,
Houston and Atlanta are living manifestations of “just one more lane, I swear, bro” to name a few—it’s just not possible to build enough expressway.
KDEN is going for 'one more lane' on Peña Blvd because reasons.
 
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