Quote:
Originally Posted by hammersklavier
Recall, electricron, that most nations that develop true HSR corridors do so atop a large-scale medium-speed network. This is true in Italy, Germany, Sweden, China, S. Korea, and Great Britain, and even in the earliest adopters--Japan and France. About the only nation where this paradigm does not hold is Spain, because (as Alon--Levy, I assume?--pointed out, Spanish HSR was built simultaneously with extensive improvements to its medium-speed service).
Also, may I remind you that for super-110 operation, electrification is a requirement? This ups the costs quite a lot; it is unlikely to happen so long as the freight railroads rely on diesel service (because diesel power will remain the primary prime mover in this country).
What I think is most likely to happen is that we'll continue to see upgrades to 110 mph service, and somebody (or somebodies) developing a clone/upgrade of the IC 125 which will be hailed as "a revolution in rail transportation!"  , with post-110mph service mainly limited to the Northeast and California markets until a large enough network, a large enough proven market, exists in the Midwest for it to independently electrify its five primary routes (Chicago-St. Louis, Chicago-Minneapolis, Chicago-Detroit, Chicago-Cleveland, and Chicago-Indianapolis-Cincinnati). That would not happen until ca. 2030 at the earliest.
But, of course, massive changes can happen. What if the price of gas plateaus at $5/gal? The major freight railroads would have intense pressure to electrify..... |
Rail.corridors with 125 mph operations are usually quad track if the lines are used for other purposes. The northwestern corridor in Great Britain is quad rack where congested, as is America's northeast corridor. Slower trains running on the outside tracks with faster trains running in the middle tracks. Overtaking one another is safer than when faster and slower trains are not running on the same track and avoid being switched onto another track. Unless the Midwest lays quad track rail corridors, you're not going to see 125 mph operations just due to the large differences in train speeds. Additionally, FRA regulations frowns on faster than 110 mph operations on tracks with at grade crossings. Again, the Midwestern states are never going to eliminate at grade crossings along the entire corridors. A few here, a few there, will be eliminated, but no where near enough to affect max train speeds.
I wrote earlier increasing max speeds to what the owners of the corridors will allow. Both UP and BNSF have stated 90 mph as that limit on shared tracks. So, even 110 mph is unlikely on freight owned tracks (the sole exception being Chicago to St. Louis UP owned corridor). 110 mph speeds will only be reached on public owned corridors, ie the Michigan owned line to Detroit.
FEC All Aboard Florida trains will reach 110 mph where their corridor isn't congested, and 125 mph where only passenger trains will be running. That's the best you"ll ever see on a freight owned corridor - and technically where they will be going 125 mph, that section of the corridor will be owned by Florida - FEC will only be leasing it.