1/4/2023 0 Comments Rail network radar california![]() ![]() ![]() The other problem is that more people in the state wanted to be included. This led to a giant stack of lawsuits, as people didn’t like to see the state government not delivering what they voted to receive (among other things). The reality is that lower urban speeds (for safety) and lower speeds on tracks shared with freight rail, add up to the task basically being impossible. The trains were supposed to go from San Francisco to Los Angeles in around 2.5 hours (by law). ![]() The problem isn’t that the trains can’t go that fast, as much as that it isn’t very cost effective to go that fast when you can go just a little slower for a lot cheaper.Įven worse was the travel time requirements. They usually go 30-40 MPH slower (which is still a lot faster than a car, and faster than air travel if you can avoid insane security delays). But, if you look at the best bullet trains in Japan or Taiwan, you’ll find that they only rarely go that speed. All trains were required, by law, to have an operating speed of 220 miles per hour. One problem with the Prop 1A plan was the system speed requirement. In other words, California’s Proposition-based plan just couldn’t roll with the punches. This is a slow and often politically-charged process that can take years when you need to make changes a lot faster to have a successful construction project. A voter proposition can’t later be modified by a state legislature if things go wrong, so the only way to change such voter-driven laws is to put out yet another proposition and have it pass. That may seem like a good thing on the surface, but it was a little too specific to deal with some of the challenges the 800-plus mile rail system would face. Despite wide public support and what appeared to be adequate funding, things have been complicated and messy ever since.įirst off, Proposition 1A was very specific. Things haven’t been simple for high speed rail since then, either. So, basically, politics is complicated, and we can’t look at things with such a simplistic lens. Oddly enough, the controversial Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in the state, passed on the same ballot, along with overwhelming support for President Barack Obama. The funding didn’t come until California voters approved Proposition 1A in 2008. Proposition 1A (The Source Of Most Problems) But, this was just the first step, where ideas would be studied and developed. The effort to put in high speed rail from Los Angeles to the Bay Area (the two big population centers) started in 1996, with the creation of the California High Speed Rail Authority, so the effort has actually been going on for the better part of three decades. I’m just as confused as some of you are about all this.įortunately, a recent video at the Real Life Lore YouTube Channel goes into some detail as to why it’s like pulling teeth to get rail installed and running in California: ![]() But, even with California’s more left-leaning politics (compared to the US overall), they struggle mightily to build a high speed rail between two cities. If you look at just California, its economy alone has more people than a great many countries and would be the world’s fifth largest economy if it were its own country. Japan, China, most of Europe, and even the little island of Taiwan that we’re worried for more these days, all have better rail than us. We’re the richest (by some measures) country on the planet, but traveling by train here would be like going back in time decades for many visitors. Many people in the United States probably wonder why our rail network generally sucks. ![]()
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