[AriM3G80]

Currently in Europe from US, and today i got to ride the Eurostar train from London to Paris. This thing is cruising at 143 mp/h. I pulled up Waze to see what's the speed. Compared to our trains back home, this is so cool. Ours suck big time!

But anyway I'm on my way to PSG game in Paris to watch them lift the trophy LOL.

[DocL]

I took a Lamborghini Jalpa across the channel into France and drove around Normandy for a few days. That train is awesome.

[ToddBlack88]

They are crazy fast!

I rode the TGV from Marseille to Paris, and I have a picture in my computer I took of the GPS screen when we were running at 301kph.

[Atavus]

Eurostar, le Shuttle and TGV. That’s 3 different trains so far.

[Red Bread]

Originally Posted by Atavus

Eurostar, le Shuttle and TGV. That's 3 different trains so far.

And they're all better than anything we have here in the US. I used to take the Frankfurt to Cologne high speed train. Sure beat trying to drive the A3.

[chassis]

Agree that high speed trains, specifically, are great. European rail travel more generally is great. Convenient, comfortable, affordable and available.

I took a short train ride from Antwerp to Amsterdam and for a short stretch the train achieved 300kph. The conductor told me that train had achieved 400kph under ideal conditions.

The U.S. long distance passenger rail system is poor. The east coast corridor regional rail is not bad.

[See5]

It's pretty incredible.

I recently did Madrid to Barcelona on the Spanish bullet train. 185mph, smooth as glass, dead silent interior.

I'd love to see something like that in the US one day.

[Germanauto]

Originally Posted by See5

It's pretty incredible.

I recently did Madrid to Barcelona on the Spanish bullet train. 185mph, smooth as glass, dead silent interior.

I'd love to see something like that in the US one day.

Still boggles my mind how here in SoCal there's no high-speed rail linking LA-SD, LA-Las Vegas, LA-SF. Three super common routes that could have vastly reduced hours of stress and environmental impact if high speed rail were an option.

There must be too much vested interest in keeping the serfs car dependent.

[IcewaterPete]

As a longtime rail rider in Europe and the US I agree that nothing beats EuroStar, TGV or ICE in speed, comfort and reliability. For those who are interested in a little history look up how General Motors bought up the Southern California commuter rail lines and ran them into insolvency.

[AlexFL]

Originally Posted by Germanauto

Still boggles my mind how here in SoCal there's no high-speed rail linking LA-SD, LA-Las Vegas, LA-SF. Three super common routes that could have vastly reduced hours of stress and environmental impact if high speed rail were an option.

There must be too much vested interest in keeping the serfs car dependent.

It’s because here in the US we practice social distancing. Play it safe, take your Silverado.

[mikado463]

third generation railroader here, retired after 47 years in the industry, there is so much the avg American doesn't understand about rail transportation I don't know where to begin .....

[AriM3G80]

Originally Posted by mikado463

third generation railroader here, retired after 47 years in the industry, there is so much the avg American doesn't understand about rail transportation I don't know where to begin .....

I know there are a lot of things average American doesn't know, not just understand, but seeing where Europe is together with Asian countries in general, regarding their train infrastructure, we can't help but think US is either unwilling or unable to keep up with the rest of the world, and it's just shame. But we're okay building highways and spending half of our lives stuck in traffic cursing.

[mikado463]

Originally Posted by AriM3G80

I know there are a lot of things average American doesn't know, not just understand, but seeing where Europe is together with Asian countries in general, regarding their train infrastructure, we can't help but think US is either unwilling or unable to keep up with the rest of the world, and it's just shame. But we're okay building highways and spending half of our lives stuck in traffic cursing.

Understood, so here are just a few things to ponder .........

1) there is no money in hauling people, freight yes, people no.

2) European and Asian countries heavily subsidize their rail passenger network

3) we blew the hell out of the European continent in 2 world wars, so infrastructure is basically new since '45

4) Amtraks Fed subsidy is merely a billion dollars a year, peanuts.

5) Amtrak was created 51 years ago under the Nixon Admin and it was done so with a projection to fail and 'disappear', 51 years later it's the can that continues to get kicked down the road.......

I could go on and on but we should create another thread for this one is about the joys of riding trains in Europe ! My European rail travel has been limited to just the UK, but I enjoyed it. As for N America, I've ridden everything between Fairbanks , Alaska and Miami, Florida

[chassis]

Number 2 above is where to start. It’s not an agenda item because automotive interests, among others, lobby against passenger rail.

[ro881e]

Being a native Brit, I can say that 99.9% of our trains suck worse than Europe for sure. Not sure how compares to USA but the Eurostar is basically the only good train in the country, and it leaves to go to France! Infrastructure is like 100+ years old and is just rubbish at being updated. Lived in China for a year and they could build a new motorway system in a weekend! Paved with bones and fall apart in 10y but the efficiency was astounding.

[Ximian]

High speed trains are great for connecting large cities that aren't that far away from each other. London to Paris is under 230 miles by train. San Francisco to LA would probably be 330 miles. That's doable. LA to San Diego, probably 140 miles which is also doable. Apart from that, what else is there on the west coast that actually has the necessary daily traffic?

East coast, that's a mess. You'll have to get rid of entire cities to be able to build high speed rail.

Also, ask China how well their high speed rail operators are doing for those covering very large distances. (Hint: losing millions per day)

[ro881e]

The maglev in Shanghai is an absolute blast btw, speed like I have never experienced before. When I was living there it was pretty new, and for some reason it went from the airport to a random area outside the city with no transport links, utterly baffling! Had to get a cab the rest of the way, made the journey pointless from a time perspective but I got it every time as it was so fun. They did build up the area later and connect the metro so better now.

[psuibmw]

I did the Acela from DC to Boston … did the same, pulled up Waze to measure the speed and was surprised did not know Acela can reach that speed!!

[chassis]

Nice. What was the journey duration from departure to arrival? Roughly how many stops? Lots or only a few?

[spielnicht]

Not to turn this into a political thread, but let's get some sensical compromises with one particular lobby group before we go up against another lobby group.

But yes, I rode Amtrak once from DC to NYC and said never again. In Europe though, I opt for the train even when a flight is cheaper.

[mikado463]

Some info on Amtrak Acela's new trains sets........

https://www.trains.com/trn/news-revi...hn%40yahoo.com

[chassis]

On a train now in CH. Easy, comfortable, reliable and affordable.

Amtrak for the NE is reasonable. PHL to BOS not bad.