High Speed Rail in Mexico

Quote: Pacomartin

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.

12 cars yes, I was thinking 80 seats per car. 50 between the doors and 15 on the ends. I'll count tomorrow when I catch my train on the Ronkonkoma branch. The ADA compliant restrooms take out about 9 seats and there would be 6 per 12 car train.

I saw a show about Japanese trains the other day. The
cars were designed for 200 people so of course they
cram 400 into each car. The rail line has employees
that literally shoulder the last 5-6 people thru the doors
so they can be closed. Like getting the lid of a suitcase
closed by sitting on it. The people inside can't move
and can barely breathe and they do this twice a day in
their commute. They have separate cars for women
because the men routinely violated the women so badly
in the cramped space that women threatened to stop
riding the trains. Wonderful culture they have there..

Quote: s2dbaker

12 cars yes, I was thinking 80 seats per car. 50 between the doors and 15 on the ends. I'll count tomorrow when I catch my train on the Ronkonkoma branch. The ADA compliant restrooms take out about 9 seats and there would be 6 per 12 car train.

The Japanese trains average about 83 per car, but they have anywhere from 50 to 100 per each car. But they have 16 cars per train, and they have all post WWII rails and passenger stations. So the curves are fewer, and the stations are much longer.

Depending on the accident many people can walk off the train. Almost 1/3 of the passengers on the German ICE accident were completely unhurt or minor injuries. The cars were separated and came to an automatic brake. They hardly got shaken very badly. Other people had the roof crushed to about 4" high.

The Sri Lankan train accident was so bad partly because the tsunami drowned everyone.

I suppose it is possible that the A380 will never have an accident, but past history seems to indicate that is impossible with any model of transportation.

In the Navy we used to talk about the act of terrorism of sinking the Queen Mary II. That is 3800 people (passengers and crew) and construction cost was almost a $billion. Plus the passengers would represent a cross section of wealth and power.

The "Allure of the Seas" owned by Royal Caribbean International has a capacity of 5,400 passengers at double occupancy with 6,296 maximum and a crew of 2,384.
A 6 kilo-ton nuclear weapon could be carried in a large suitcase.

Quote: Pacomartin

The "Allure of the Seas" owned by Royal Caribbean International has a capacity of 5,400 passengers at double occupancy with 6,296 maximum and a crew of 2,384.

Heck, the Captain could hit a reef at full speed during a storm and scuttle the ship. The boat could sink in a matter of minutes.

I just thought of an engineering problem for the Hyperloop. If you don't accelerate the pod to just the right speed before inserting it into the loop then all of the other pods already in the loop will experience a sudden jarring change of speed. Too slow and the other passengers in the loop would be flung forward due to sudden deceleration. also, their ears would pop from the sudden change in air pressure.

I'd love to be an engineer working on that project.

edit: Meh! After thinking about it for two seconds, I figured out how to prevent that problem.

LIRR trains have 70 seats between the doors or 61 with the bathroom. There are 11 to 15 more seats at each end of the car depending on handicap access. I think a full LIRR train can carry 1000 people.

Quote: Pacomartin

The Spanish train accident was at similar speeds, but the conductor was seemingly driving faster than permitted.

Not for any reason such as making up lost time, just for fun. Twice the allowable speed. He liked driving fast and that meant taking his passengers with him.

Same thing seen in the Costa Concordia: High Speed Maneuvering close to rocks while not wearing glasses but having girlfriend nearby to experience the adventure. Understandable in an 18 year old male with just the one passenger, unforgivable in a cruise ship.