High Speed Rail in Mexico

Isn't it funny that the Hyperloop is supposed to go from downtown Los Angeles to downtown San Francisco (343 miles) in under 30 minutes. The Hyperloop uses brand new technology.

The Xpresswest, is supposed to go from Vegas to Victorville (186 miles) in 84 minutes. The Xpresswest is supposed to use off the shelf technology functioning in commuter rail in Sweden and other places in Europe.

Yet the Hyperloop is being touted as costing the same amount of money as the Xpresswest.

Quote: Pacomartin

Yet the Hyperloop is being touted as costing the same amount of money as the Xpresswest.

I wouldn't hold anyone to that although I have to admit, Elon Musk seems to know what he's doing. I'd like to see one of those Hyperloops along I-80 with stops in New York, Cleveland, Chicago, Omaha, Cheyenne (for a pee break), Salt Lake City, Reno and San Francisco.

I love infrastructure.

Quote: s2dbaker

I wouldn't hold anyone to that although I have to admit, Elon Musk seems to know what he's doing.

But he is talking about speeds in excess of that of a Gulfstream G-V. It may not be a vacuum tube, but he has to be talking about very low airpressure.

The official projection for California population in the year 2060 is 52.7 million with over 50% in the southern counties. It is already the busiest 400 mile air corridor on earth. They will never survive without some form of train connecting the two urban centers.

Quote: Pacomartin

But he is talking about speeds in excess of that of a Gulfstream G-V. It may not be a vacuum tube, but he has to be talking about very low airpressure.

I think we're looking at a combimation of MagLev with Halbach Arrays and Turbo Fans and nearly airtight tubes. To move the "trains" or pods around the tube, all that's needed is air pressure difference, not necessarily a vacuum. Once the pods get moving, they magnetically levitate on the Halbach Arrays. They don't have to be moving fast at all for the levitation to occur because the Electro-Magnetic force is gazillions of times more powerful than Gravity. Once inside the tube, the pods will be pushed by the high air pressure that builds up behind them that's created by the turbofans. Look at the sketch:

It's safe even if power is lost because the air between each pod would act as a buffer and prevent them from crashing into each other. The Halbach Arrays require no power. The only energy input into the system is the turbo fans which will be run on solar power.

The downside is that airtight tube construction from LA to SF would be hideously expensive. More expensive than I-5 methinks but we'll find out on August 12th.

Quote: s2dbaker

The downside is that airtight tube construction from LA to SF would be hideously expensive. More expensive than I-5 methinks but we'll find out on August 12th.

The Xpresswest uses pretty run of the mill EMU technology, already in place in dozens of lines around the world, and an early version used in Liverpool in 1893.

This Hyperloop is (as you said) going to be hideously expensive. Also, it will be interesting where the termination points are planned. I wonder if the termination is planned for Suisun City, CA to take advantage of existing rail routes and of elevation. Although the advance promotion material talks about downtown locations.

I tried to click on a station to get more information, Doh!

The era of MegaWrecks is almost upon us. A little more
that 125 years ago science thought humans would
disintegrate if they went over 60mph.

Stephen King had these mega fast trains in the future
in one of his Gunslinger novels. They were run by
computer and had no humans as a crew. They ran for
hundreds of years with self maintenance.

Quote: Evenbob

The era of MegaWrecks is almost upon us.

In 1985 a Boeing 747 with 524 people on board began a 250 mile shuttle flight from Tokyo to Osaka. They had an explosive decompression and only 4 people survived (2 were children). These were a special "short range" 757 design of which only twenty seven were ever produced and all sold in Japan. While it is very unusual to fly a 747 for less than 2000 miles, these planes traded off fuel capacity for large payload. They have all been retired from service as of 2006.

The A380's provides seating for 525 people in a typical three-class configuration or up to 853 people in all-economy class configurations. They have been in service for six years, and over a hundred have been built. So far there has been only one incident with no fatalities.

The train in Sri Lanka hit by the tsunami with 1700-2000 deaths is not likely to be surpassed in the Western world simply because trains are not that full.



The three accidents with over 1000 fatalities related to transportation in the USA or to the USA are:
1865: 1700 Sultana Memphis, Tennessee Steamboat sank due to boiler explosion; fatalities estimated
1912: 1490-1517 RMS Titanic Near Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, Canada. En Route to New York City from Queenstown, Ireland.
1904: 1021 PS General Slocum East River near New York City Steamship sank due to fire on board

The deadliest transportation accident in the USA since WWII was 273 fatalities
1979 American Airlines Flight 191 in Chicago, Illinois

Quote: Pacomartin

The train in Sri Lanka hit by the tsunami with 1700-2000 deaths is not likely to be surpassed in the Western world simply because trains are not that full.

I'm pretty sure that nearly every peak train on the Babylon branch of the Long Island Rail Road carries nearly 1000 people. We could get close if two trains collide at the full 90mph cruising speed.

Quote: s2dbaker

I'm pretty sure that nearly every peak train on the Babylon branch of the Long Island Rail Road carries nearly 1000 people. We could get close if two trains collide at the full 90mph cruising speed.

I thought that the LIRR couldn't get longer than 12 cars. I figure about 65 seats per car. I didn't think they permitted that many people to stand.

M8 rail cars


The London underground 8 car trains will seat 306 but maximum capacity is 1,226 standing. But the subway cars have a lot of standing room.
London Underground S stock