15 ms·

Quality of the rails makes a big difference, take the train from Ukraine to Poland and it's suddenly super smooth once you cross over into the EU

by mcfedr 1y ago

jordanb 1y ago
Track quality and maintenance by US mainlines are more Ukraine/Poland camp.
- potato3732842 1y ago
  In the places where the average commenter lamenting US rail lives the track are crap because there's no reason to have everything be "cruise at 80mph" level smooth when you can't get a train up to such speeds before the next curve and even if you could there's invariably other rail traffic or a grade crossing soon thereafter. In BFE Texas or Utah or whatever the rails are like glass because crossing 300mi of nothing in 4hr instead of 8 has enough positive impact on the rest of the system that they deem it worth paying for. It makes sense if you think about everything in terms of time between points.
  - bell-cot 1y ago
    Pretty much. It is obviously a for-profit freight system - In areas where the RR's top-dollar freight customers (especially domestic parcel delivery companies) want speed, they'll happily spend big to make that happen. And in areas where the RoI on speed (whether upgrades, or ongoing maintenance of existing track) ain't there, they can be happy with 25MPH maximums: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_speed_limits_in_the_United_States#Track_classes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_speed_limits_in_the_Unite...
  - close04 1y ago
    > In BFE Texas or Utah or whatever the rails are like glass because crossing 300mi of nothing Europe is densely populated, you'll rarely see 300mi of nothing. High speed rail is still common. Only realistically limited by cost, not by the difficulty to get the train up to speed before the next curve, or other rail traffic, or grade crossings.
  - hylaride 1y ago
    95%+ of North American intercity trains run on freight tracks, which are not designed to be as "smooth". On top of this, freight having priority means passenger schedules get messed up all the time. Freight trains carry heavy loads and have cars that are not inspected to have perfectly maintained wheels to the same level as trains that run on tracks for only passenger traffic, especially high speed rail (which runs on dedicated , highly engineered tracks). The big reason that passenger rail, even overnight, isn't as economical in north america is because rather than sleeping on a train, it's cheaper and more reliable to just fly in a few hours across the country. HSR makes sense in the dense US northeast or between Windsor and Quebec city in Canada (and probably California if it wasn't politically ruined with it's meandering lines), but sleeper trains for further distances would have to be dirt cheap to compete with flying. It'd essentially be for college kids or poorer people. Most people who do long distance trains in North America are doing it as a cruise-like vacation/adventure.
    - potato3732842 1y ago
      >95%+ of North American intercity trains run on freight tracks, which are not designed to be as "smooth". On top of this, freight having priority means passenger schedules get messed up all the time. Freight doesn't mean slow. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_speed_limits_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_speed_limits_in_the_Unite...
      - kevin_thibedeau 1y ago
        It does when your passenger train has to wait on a siding for another train to pass.
    - mrgoldenbrown 1y ago
      >The big reason that passenger rail, even overnight, isn't as economical in north america... That's a choice the country has made by subsidizing some kinds of transit more than others. Rail could be cheaper if we priced in externalities.
      - 1y ago
- lo_zamoyski 1y ago
  Poland is in the EU. The point being made was that once you cross over from Ukraine into Poland, you notice a big improvement in the track quality.

Quality of the rails makes a big difference, take the train from Ukraine to Poland and it's suddenly super smooth once you cross over into the EU

by mcfedr 1y ago

Quality of the rails makes a big difference, take the train from Ukraine to Poland and it's suddenly super smooth once you cross over into the EU

jordanb 1y ago

Track quality and maintenance by US mainlines are more Ukraine/Poland camp.

potato3732842 1y ago
In the places where the average commenter lamenting US rail lives the track are crap because there's no reason to have everything be "cruise at 80mph" level smooth when you can't get a train up to such speeds before the next curve and even if you could there's invariably other rail traffic or a grade crossing soon thereafter. In BFE Texas or Utah or whatever the rails are like glass because crossing 300mi of nothing in 4hr instead of 8 has enough positive impact on the rest of the system that they deem it worth paying for. It makes sense if you think about everything in terms of time between points.
- bell-cot 1y ago
  Pretty much. It is obviously a for-profit freight system - In areas where the RR's top-dollar freight customers (especially domestic parcel delivery companies) want speed, they'll happily spend big to make that happen. And in areas where the RoI on speed (whether upgrades, or ongoing maintenance of existing track) ain't there, they can be happy with 25MPH maximums: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_speed_limits_in_the_United_States#Track_classes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_speed_limits_in_the_Unite...
- close04 1y ago
  > In BFE Texas or Utah or whatever the rails are like glass because crossing 300mi of nothing Europe is densely populated, you'll rarely see 300mi of nothing. High speed rail is still common. Only realistically limited by cost, not by the difficulty to get the train up to speed before the next curve, or other rail traffic, or grade crossings.
- hylaride 1y ago
  95%+ of North American intercity trains run on freight tracks, which are not designed to be as "smooth". On top of this, freight having priority means passenger schedules get messed up all the time. Freight trains carry heavy loads and have cars that are not inspected to have perfectly maintained wheels to the same level as trains that run on tracks for only passenger traffic, especially high speed rail (which runs on dedicated , highly engineered tracks). The big reason that passenger rail, even overnight, isn't as economical in north america is because rather than sleeping on a train, it's cheaper and more reliable to just fly in a few hours across the country. HSR makes sense in the dense US northeast or between Windsor and Quebec city in Canada (and probably California if it wasn't politically ruined with it's meandering lines), but sleeper trains for further distances would have to be dirt cheap to compete with flying. It'd essentially be for college kids or poorer people. Most people who do long distance trains in North America are doing it as a cruise-like vacation/adventure.
  - potato3732842 1y ago
    >95%+ of North American intercity trains run on freight tracks, which are not designed to be as "smooth". On top of this, freight having priority means passenger schedules get messed up all the time. Freight doesn't mean slow. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_speed_limits_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_speed_limits_in_the_Unite...
    - kevin_thibedeau 1y ago
      It does when your passenger train has to wait on a siding for another train to pass.
  - mrgoldenbrown 1y ago
    >The big reason that passenger rail, even overnight, isn't as economical in north america... That's a choice the country has made by subsidizing some kinds of transit more than others. Rail could be cheaper if we priced in externalities.
    - 1y ago
lo_zamoyski 1y ago
Poland is in the EU. The point being made was that once you cross over from Ukraine into Poland, you notice a big improvement in the track quality.