[lbo-talk] Weimar on the Pacific

[Tim Francis-Wright]

Jordan Hayes wrote:
> The whole point of a "fast" train is that it doesn't stop along the way 
> at every small town.  I assure you, no one who is involved in the 
> California HSR effort thinks there will be a stop in Salinas!  The train 
> will stop in Bakersfield, but only on the "non fast" runs; you might 
> know of this kind of stop as a "local" ... making that one stop on an 
> otherwise non-stop between SF and LA will add nearly 40% to the running 
> time of said "fast" train ...
> 
> Does that sound like a lot?  In our hypothetical world where Chuck goes 
> to UCLA for a noon meeting, taking Dennis's suggested train would, after 
> a fashion, get him to UCLA in time for the meeting; making that *one* 
> stop on the way would mean Chuck would be late.  You can see this on 
> Acela, too: the fastest DC-NY trip (making 4 stops) is 2:45 ... adding 
> Aberdeen and Newark Airport to some of the trips adds 40 minutes, 25% 
> slower!
> 

The whole point of a fast train is that it is faster than other trains.
There are indeed regional trains that take 40 more minutes on the
Washington-New York route, but in addition to making more stops, they
have a lower top speed (about 110 mph versus the 135 mph that the Acelas
reach between New York and Washington).  Sometimes fast means just that.

The Acelas do take 2:45 to go from New York to Washington, but no
Acela train stops in Aberdeen and only Acelas that terminate in
Philadelphia stop at Newark Airport.

While adding a stop does add time, it does not add that much (and if
you think about it, how could it add 20 minutes per stop).  The 2158
from Washington leaves M-F at 0900 and arrives in New York at 1145.
The 2256 on Sunday also leaves at 0900 and arrives in New York at 1148.
The only scheduled difference is that the 2256 also stops at Metropark.

--tim francis-wright