Quote:
Originally Posted by rationalplan4
Longer distances should be covered by Metro's and (European style) regional rail systems that connect suburban hubs to central cities and major inter changes.
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I don't see why longer distances can't be covered by light rail. If a light rail line has its own ROW and is either fully or substantially grade-separated with near 100% signal priority, light rail can go just as fast if not faster than heavy rail lines. This applies to LA Metro's LRVs in particular, which not only far more resemble traditional heavy rail rolling stock compared to traditional trams that LRVs are based on, but are also much faster than other systems' LRVs. For example, of LA Metro's LRV rolling stock, Kinki Sharyo P3010 LRVs can go at 65 mph, Siemens P2000 LRVs can go at 70 mph, and the AnsaldoBreda P2550 LRVs can go at 77 mph. This is compared to the maximum speeds of around 55 mph in most other light rail systems in the US. These trainsets coincidentally happen to be much wider and taller than Paris Metro rolling stock, coincidentally.
Metro's LRT speeds actually compare pretty well against the speeds of other heavy rail lines both in LA and in other networks. For example, the list below compared speeds on all LA Metro rail lines vs the DC Metro's lines:
LA Metro
A line (former Blue) - 24.9 mph (LRT)
B line (former Red) - 30.3 mph (HRT)
C line (former Green) - 34.4 mph (LRT)
D line (former Purple) - 22.6 mph (HRT)
E line (former Expo) - 19.8 mph (LRT) (this is the really slow line for LA that everyone complains about)
L line (former Gold) - 26.2 mph (LRT)
DC Metro
Yellow line - 25.9 mph (HRT)
Blue line - 27.9 mph (HRT)
Green line - 29.3 mph (HRT)
Red line - 31.4 mph (HRT)
Orange line - 32.9 mph (HRT)
Stats for DC Metro speeds:
https://ggwash.org/view/4524/average...-metro-compare
The C Line is completely grade separated, even though its a LRT, so it is faster than any of DC Metro's heavy rail lines or the B and D heavy rail lines in its own network. The A and L Line (which will eventually be split into portions for the A and E Lines) have comparable same speeds as the DC Yellow/Blue Lines. The only real slow light rail line is the E Line, due to its lack of signal priority in downtown sections. This could be rectified in the future through increased grade separation (Metro is already studying grade separating the Flower St. Junction and bury tracks from the junction to 7th Metro, which would solve a major portion of the delays encountered on the A/E Lines)