Portland and NYC are both major cities that would terminate a transcontinental service. The Oregon Trail actually terminated right outside of Portland, though it’s certainly the least-major of the 4 major west coast metros, one day it’ll be subsumed into Sea/Tac.
yeah airplanes are typically faster above a range of 300 miles or sth
the problem with long-distance trains isn’t ideology, it’s just an issue of physics/engineering. Airplanes typically travel around 800 km/h (~ 600 mph), which means you can make the 3000 km (2000 miles) distance from seattle to new york in roughly 4 hours.
good luck trying to achieve these speeds with a train.
Yeah but you can get a pleasant experience overnight in a cubbyhole bed on a train. Functionally speaking, the time spent traveling while getting good sleep doesn’t really count, does it? You were gonna have to sleep anyway. Good luck doing that on a plane. Plus then trains can be built to go right into the heart of downtown, meaning a much shorter “last mile,” which planes can’t really do. Then you got the airport vs train station experience, the café car on the train, the larger seats, etc etc etc
I used to work remote in Brooklyn and occasionally have to report to the office in Baltimore. HR would always offer plane tickets and I would decline in favor of having them pay for cheaper business-class Acela tickets. It was better in every possible way: I could walk to and from the stations at both ends, didn’t have the TSA porno-scanner hassle, had more personal space in transit, and ironically when the entire door to door trip was considered the train was actually 40 minutes faster. Regional trips are that sweet spot where even a slower train beats flying.
My math was Portland to NYC = 2500 miles / 200 mph = 12.5 hours, thus the overnight. The $80 came from a certain other country’s nationalized high speed rail price tiering. I don’t care that planes are faster, they’re a miserable experience and an ecological travesty, rock me to sleep on the coast to coast redeye.
btw the reason why airplanes always travel at that speed is because it’s slightly below the sound barrier, which would make things a whole lot more difficult. speed of sound is 1200 km/h (800 mph).
$80 for the overnight nationalized bullet train
Oh wait, yea
That train would have to go at least 300 miles per hour.
I’m seeing nothing but positives.
Wheeeeeeeeee!
The TGV has a top speed of 360 mph. Just hire some French engineers hon hon hon.
Dang I always thought you had to go maglev to beat 300 mph. I guess the US really does have a shot at the world’s fastest bullet train network.
200 mph, 12.5 hours and you’re alseep for most of it.
Only if there are no stops in between.
It’s called the coast to coast redeye, not the layover in Denver redeye!
Ain’t no red-eye if your got a cubbyhole bed!
yeah, once you get to the other coast you take a regional train to your final destination
Portland and NYC are both major cities that would terminate a transcontinental service. The Oregon Trail actually terminated right outside of Portland, though it’s certainly the least-major of the 4 major west coast metros, one day it’ll be subsumed into Sea/Tac.
yeah airplanes are typically faster above a range of 300 miles or sth
the problem with long-distance trains isn’t ideology, it’s just an issue of physics/engineering. Airplanes typically travel around 800 km/h (~ 600 mph), which means you can make the 3000 km (2000 miles) distance from seattle to new york in roughly 4 hours.
good luck trying to achieve these speeds with a train.
Yeah but you can get a pleasant experience overnight in a cubbyhole bed on a train. Functionally speaking, the time spent traveling while getting good sleep doesn’t really count, does it? You were gonna have to sleep anyway. Good luck doing that on a plane. Plus then trains can be built to go right into the heart of downtown, meaning a much shorter “last mile,” which planes can’t really do. Then you got the airport vs train station experience, the café car on the train, the larger seats, etc etc etc
Ain’t everything about the advertised speed.
I used to work remote in Brooklyn and occasionally have to report to the office in Baltimore. HR would always offer plane tickets and I would decline in favor of having them pay for cheaper business-class Acela tickets. It was better in every possible way: I could walk to and from the stations at both ends, didn’t have the TSA porno-scanner hassle, had more personal space in transit, and ironically when the entire door to door trip was considered the train was actually 40 minutes faster. Regional trips are that sweet spot where even a slower train beats flying.
My math was Portland to NYC = 2500 miles / 200 mph = 12.5 hours, thus the overnight. The $80 came from a certain other country’s nationalized high speed rail price tiering. I don’t care that planes are faster, they’re a miserable experience and an ecological travesty, rock me to sleep on the coast to coast redeye.
btw the reason why airplanes always travel at that speed is because it’s slightly below the sound barrier, which would make things a whole lot more difficult. speed of sound is 1200 km/h (800 mph).
Looks like NYC to Portland, Oregon. 70.6 hours is high speed right? Only $540 for coach ($3876 for a private room).