Air Canada FAs on strike

sir this is America we don't believe in trains
But we just got new Acela units and the President recently assumed direct control over Washington Union Station.

Maybe a more-correct expression is that your regressive Occidental America hasn’t gotten a train project across the finish line since Promontory Point (maybe the Cascade Tunnel). I said Good Day, Sir!
 
But those same Americans will go to Japan and make TikTok videos about how “OMYGODUGUYZZZZ” how amazing it is to be on the N700 Shinkansen between Osaka and Tokyo.

What’s the distance and geography between Osaka and Tokyo?


What’s the distance and geography between NYC/BOS/DCA and Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Denver, LA, SF, Seattle?


Does that have something to do with it?


Legit don’t know, are there high speed rails between Toronto / Ottawa / Montreal / Quebec ? Those are much closer in distance and huge population centers of Canada.
 
“What **I** want in the next contract is…”

“K”
Not unlike AMEs, it does not appear that they’re making any more new arbitrators.

This probably demands more attention than it’s getting, but the situation isn’t at a complete boil. Yet.
 
This is so silly that it barely registers worthy of a response. What don’t Switzerland, France, the UK and lemme chose something at random, the rest of the free world have in common?
 
Point is, trains make sense in small, heavily dense populated countries. The U.S. is way too large, way too spread out, and population density not even/uniform, to make high speed trains worth it.

Between certain large cities like BOS/NYC/DC, sure.

And yes, even SF and LA should have had one by now. But that’s Dems for you. Just wasting money with zero to show for.
 
Point is, trains make sense in small, heavily dense populated countries. The U.S. is way too large, way too spread out, and population density not even/uniform, to make high speed trains worth it.

Between certain large cities like BOS/NYC/DC, sure.

And yes, even SF and LA should have had one by now. But that’s Dems for you. Just wasting money with zero to show for.

Wow, I’m flag you weren’t around during the 1800’s, we’d both be living in “The Western Terroriies”.

The erosion of the rail system has nothing to do with the size of our country, hell, the size of our country makes the case FOR high speed rail. Talk to me about hmm, say the automobile industry and the “New West”.

Wait, telephone call… it’s China on Line One…
 
Wow, I’m flag you weren’t around during the 1800’s, we’d both be living in “The Western Terroriies”.

The erosion of the rail system has nothing to do with the size of our country, hell, the size of our country makes the case FOR high speed rail. Talk to me about hmm, say the automobile industry and the “New West”.

Wait, telephone call… it’s China on Line One…

Those days of chuggin coal are gone and not coming back. High speed rail is unlikely. Red state issues would be eminent domain, taking people’s private lands. Blue state problems will some endangered frog that must be protected.

Politics aside, there will always be something that stops it from realistically happening.
 
I'll only get on high speed rail if it travels at the speed of light. Nothing else is worth my time......(you know what I did there)
For all the angry masturbation conservatives are doing about CalHSR, 1) it is actually being built, 2) Californians voted to tax themselves for it which should be one of those states rights things conservatives are all about and 3) one of the major pieces was electrification of and improvements to the Caltrain corridor, which is completed and evidently awesome.
 
For all the angry masturbation conservatives are doing about CalHSR, 1) it is actually being built, 2) Californians voted to tax themselves for it which should be one of those states rights things conservatives are all about and 3) one of the major pieces was electrification of and improvements to the Caltrain corridor, which is completed and evidently awesome.

Caltrain isn't bad. I rode it from San Jose on a layover a couple years back up to San Carlos to visit an old navy bud of mine who has an aviation AI startup/VC fund up there. It was cheap and efficient, and there weren't any sketch balls on it. Maybe my experience was abnormal, I have no idea.
 
New rail in dense areas will always have startup problems.

“Let’s have passenger rail in South Florida!”. Sounds good, and 95 and the Turnpike are typically parking lots.

Ooops, can’t build new rail, everything is saturated. Ok, let’s lease rail. The rail that goes through the downtown areas is the FEC, so let’s ask them. “Ahhh, no, we’re full”.

Uh oh, plan B. Let’s ask CSX if we can use their track. I mean, the once a day Amtrak does it, right? “Uh, ok, but our freight has priority”. And by the way, CSX track is a couple miles inland, and is nowhere close to where people want to start or end.

So stations were built where nobody is and nobody wants to go, and it’s full of delays because frieight has priority. The solution? Let’s put shuttle busses in to take the people and we’ll double track the line!”. Yes, lets. The shuttle busses run on E-W surface streets, which are notoriously bad in south Florida, and the double tracking, while effective, and the CSX really appreciated the free federal money, took a decade plus to finish.

And Trirail ridership crept up. It was just getting to “meh” when COVID happened. The nice thing about the Trirail is you never have to look for a seat.

Ironically, they now want to expand the Trirail to the FEC lines. What’s old is new.

Then there’s the Brightline. They have real money behind them and managed to get the FEC to bite off on upgrading their tracks so they can run high speed express trains through the most densely populated part of state…on the surface streets.

Downtown Delray Beach is a great place to watch the Brightline. The tracks go right through the middle of its classic downtown area. Since the train hauls ass, the gates have to come down like 5 minutes prior, and you get plenty of lovely ringing of the bells while you’re trying to eat at scores of outdoor restaurants Delray is known for. And man, does it blow past. You can almost reach out and touch it…because it’s right there.

Don’t be on the tracks. I know it’s on the surface, and the sidewalks go right over the tracks, but hey man, pay attention.
 
New rail in dense areas will always have startup problems.

“Let’s have passenger rail in South Florida!”. Sounds good, and 95 and the Turnpike are typically parking lots.

Ooops, can’t build new rail, everything is saturated. Ok, let’s lease rail. The rail that goes through the downtown areas is the FEC, so let’s ask them. “Ahhh, no, we’re full”.

Uh oh, plan B. Let’s ask CSX if we can use their track. I mean, the once a day Amtrak does it, right? “Uh, ok, but our freight has priority”. And by the way, CSX track is a couple miles inland, and is nowhere close to where people want to start or end.

So stations were built where nobody is and nobody wants to go, and it’s full of delays because frieight has priority. The solution? Let’s put shuttle busses in to take the people and we’ll double track the line!”. Yes, lets. The shuttle busses run on E-W surface streets, which are notoriously bad in south Florida, and the double tracking, while effective, and the CSX really appreciated the free federal money, took a decade plus to finish.

And Trirail ridership crept up. It was just getting to “meh” when COVID happened. The nice thing about the Trirail is you never have to look for a seat.

Ironically, they now want to expand the Trirail to the FEC lines. What’s old is new.

Then there’s the Brightline. They have real money behind them and managed to get the FEC to bite off on upgrading their tracks so they can run high speed express trains through the most densely populated part of state…on the surface streets.

Downtown Delray Beach is a great place to watch the Brightline. The tracks go right through the middle of its classic downtown area. Since the train hauls ass, the gates have to come down like 5 minutes prior, and you get plenty of lovely ringing of the bells while you’re trying to eat at scores of outdoor restaurants Delray is known for. And man, does it blow past. You can almost reach out and touch it…because it’s right there.

Don’t be on the tracks. I know it’s on the surface, and the sidewalks go right over the tracks, but hey man, pay attention.

I mean they could grade separate it but it really should be called the Florida Department of Cars, not Transportation…
 

I mean they could grade separate it but it really should be called the Florida Department of Cars, not Transportation…

The whole sales job was that it ran on existing lines. Those FEC tracks were laid down by Flagler on his way to Key West at the turn of the last century, and crosses grade pretty much everywhere.

You ain’t separating anything on those rails.
 

I mean they could grade separate it but it really should be called the Florida Department of Cars, not Transportation…

OMG those comments ☠️

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