this post was submitted on 01 Jul 2025
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I want trains so people can have cross country road trips on the weekend and not have to stay in their small hometown for the rest of their lives
That's just not reasonably possible in the U.S. If I wanted to go Orlando to Detroit on a train that averaged 100mph without stopping it would take 12-13 hours, not including the trips to and from the train stations boarding etc. To California you'd have to throw another 1,000 miles on to that, so an extra 10 hours. 26-44 hours of travel on a weekend trip sounds horrible. If I were going for a week, sure. (Also a train without stops is hypothetical, it would take longer even if the train could go 150mph)
Asian high speed rail says otherwise. Check out chinas glow up from 2008 to 2022
So about 14 hours each way plus traveling to the form the trainstation to your final destination. So I would assume ~30 hours of travel on a weekend. Nope, still rediculous. Also that's a couple hundred miles shorter than Orlando to Denver. Cross country weekend trip just isn't practical without taking a plane.
You’re trying to be right about trains. I’m trying to get sheltered people to see the world.
The G75 says 11 HRs. These stations are in the center of town with walk on service (takes me north of an hour to get to any airport in the states, plus another hour through security).
The flight from Orlando to Denver is certainly faster at closer to 5 HR (plus airport travel), as its a direct flight overland. But it's five hours in a tiny seat versus 11 hours in a sleeper car.
You're also moving far fewer people - between 140 and 230 two to three times a day - compared to the thousands of people you can move on an active train line round the clock.
On what planet is a five hour flight each way practical for a weekend getaway?
The airline solution reduced comfort, increased individual costs, drastically increased pollution, and still didn't achieve the stated goal.
I never said the plane was practical for a weekend getaway either. My response was that this "I want trains so people can have cross country road trips on the weekend" just wasnt practical to the majority of cases. A lot of people are saying HSR would be good for interstate trips, and yes they would. Even next state over.
But right now it's set up horrible so it is more expensive and takes longer for most even semi long trips. Like this
Cheapest and fastest route is to drive. Once you factor in everything it'll take to get into an airport and out, and you have a vehicle while your there. So most Americans compare prices to that and say it's better to just drive. It'd be nice if there was a 3 hour train that covered that for $50. Trips like that Id love
What a ridiculous take.
To me your argument is that yes, we need to build up more usable rail here so it can be a reasonable choice. If Acela were there, it might be a better choice, and that doesn’t even count as “high speed”.
As someone in the NorthEast, not likely to ever take a train to Florida, let’s git’r done. I can see the huge advantage of the long connected route serving the whole coast, for the thousands of intermediate trips that would become feasible, even if I personally wouldn’t benefit
You deliberately selected a pair of destinations with one of the longest possible lines, then complained that said travel was "too long".
The US has a policy of de-prioritizing passenger rail in favor of commercial shipping. If you're a lump of coal or a box of Amazon merch, you make the Orlando to Charleston run significantly faster.
This is a result of domestic policy, not material efficiency. You can make the Beijing to Shanghai route - 819 mi - in around 5.5 hrs, the same time it would take you to cover the 380 mi car ride from Orlando to Charleston. Twice as fast as an American bus over less than half the distance.
That's because the state and municipal governments decided to build a major HSR artery between these two cities. A deliberate policy choice.
As another counterpoint, the Amtrak route from DC to NYC (238 mi) is a 3HR train ride that takes you straight into the center of Manhattan. The Lincoln Tunnel and the Washington Bridge alone can take north of an hour to get through on rush hour. Nevermind riding a car up from Virginia.
Why does DC/NYC have a high speed artery while Orland/Charleston not? It certainly isn't because people don't want to travel up and down the Atlantic Coast in large numbers, particularly during tourist season. But the "quality" of the passengers - working class schmucks, rather than Wall Street business goons and DC politicians - is significantly different.