Other People's Rail: Amtrak, commuter rail, rapid transit news & views outside New England

bdurden said:
Certainly a huge accomplishment for LA. I wish the Santa Monica NIMBYS lost the effort to extend the line to Pier and link up with the E line.
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There will eventually be two "crosstown" routes to link the gap between D and E, so at least there will be some options. The K Line will make it's way northward to West Hollywood and cross the D. And the Sepulvida Transit Project will bring a connection further to the west.
 
www.trains.com

Siemens to build high speed trainsets for Brightline West - Trains

LAS VEGAS — Siemens Mobility has been selected as the “preferred bidder” to build the initial trainsets for the Brightline West high speed rail project, Brightline announced today (Wednesday, May 1). Siemens will build 10 “American Pioneer 220” trainsets and receive a 30-year contract for...
www.trains.com www.trains.com

Brightline West orders Siemens Velaro 7-car HSR trainsets. Vegas-California is starting to get pretty real with shovels hitting ground on the I-15 median and now this.
 
F-Line to Dudley said:
www.trains.com

Siemens to build high speed trainsets for Brightline West - Trains

LAS VEGAS — Siemens Mobility has been selected as the “preferred bidder” to build the initial trainsets for the Brightline West high speed rail project, Brightline announced today (Wednesday, May 1). Siemens will build 10 “American Pioneer 220” trainsets and receive a 30-year contract for...
www.trains.com www.trains.com

Brightline West orders Siemens Velaro 7-car HSR trainsets. Vegas-California is starting to get pretty real with shovels hitting ground on the I-15 median and now this.
Click to expand...
Starting to wonder if Brightline should takeover CAHSR to get the project done.
 
F-Line to Dudley said:
www.trains.com

Siemens to build high speed trainsets for Brightline West - Trains

LAS VEGAS — Siemens Mobility has been selected as the “preferred bidder” to build the initial trainsets for the Brightline West high speed rail project, Brightline announced today (Wednesday, May 1). Siemens will build 10 “American Pioneer 220” trainsets and receive a 30-year contract for...
www.trains.com www.trains.com

Brightline West orders Siemens Velaro 7-car HSR trainsets. Vegas-California is starting to get pretty real with shovels hitting ground on the I-15 median and now this.
Click to expand...
If only they had a real last mile solution in LA. Then it would be a true HSR solution.
 
bdurden said:
Starting to wonder if Brightline should takeover CAHSR to get the project done.
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Brightline west is definitely making their life a billion times easier by using the existing right of way in the median of i15 vs the route CAHSR went having to buy/aquire/eminent domain every parcel along the way from LA to SF. I think this is definitely a good model going forward when determining the next cities to build out routes.

I do think it was a good idea that Cali chose the route that included the central valley cities vs skipping them and using the median of i5, but unfortunately route 99 doesnt have room in the median for a train. I wonder if looking back on it they wished they used the route 99 right of way anyways and built the entire thing on an elevated viaduct like they do in east asia. I know building on flat ground for as much as possible is usually preferred for keeping costs down, but in order to do so they have had to spend so much acquiring land and building grade separations that I wonder if just building elevated in the route 99 route would have saved time and money in the end.
 
JeffDowntown said:
If only they had a real last mile solution in LA. Then it would be a true HSR solution.
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Isnt what the high desert corridor is for.

HDC-Map.png

https://dpw.sbcounty.gov/transportation/high-desert-corridor/
 
stick n move said:
Isnt what the high desert corridor is for.

HDC-Map.png

https://dpw.sbcounty.gov/transportation/high-desert-corridor/
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Palmdale expansion is on the back-burner right now, as it doesn't make much sense to implement until CAHSR gets its act together on last-mile to L.A. Until CAHSR comes, Palmdale will only connect to the service-poor Metrolink Antelope Valley Line, which only runs 11 round-trips daily on a somewhat slow/meandering schedule almost 2 hours long, with a super-anemic (6 RT's) weekend schedule. They're opting in the interim to build to Rancho Cucamonga on the Metrolink San Bernardino Line, which gets 18 RT's (8 weekend) and only takes 1:10 into L.A. Union.

It's the correct decision if they want to get any service starts this decade. Having dependencies on waiting for CAHSR to finish is a fool's game at this point.
 
Brightline west is definitely making their life a billion times easier by using the existing right of way in the median of i15 vs the route CAHSR went having to buy/aquire/eminent domain every parcel along the way from LA to SF
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Recently, I had the "pleasure" of driving from central Florida to the Kennedy Space Center. A decent chunk of the drive paralleled the Brightline line. One (obvious as soon as I thought about it) thing I didn't really consider was that a dedicated passenger line can be much less restricted on grades. There were quite a few places where the line gains and loses elevation relatively quickly to pass over another road.

BTW, seeing an actual passenger train moving at speed going in the opposite direction felt almost surreal. We didn't have time, but the family was "all aboard" with taking a jaunt to Miami the next time we were in the area.
 
So I’ve used Moynihan a few times since it opened as a replacement for Penn station for Amtrak. It’s nice having high ceilings and natural light, but there are literally zero seats, therefore hundreds of people are left standing and waiting. Also, the escalator entrances to the platforms are absolutely tiny. I get that the platforms are as well, but is this the final product here? Or is there to be further construction to not make this experience an incredibly hostile one to travelers? Will the eventual connection to Grand Central change things in terms of how many people board at Penn? I had thought that the Moynihan project would lead to a much improved experience, but they only thing that’s better is aesthetics.
 
FK4 said:
So I’ve used Moynihan a few times since it opened as a replacement for Penn station for Amtrak. It’s nice having high ceilings and natural light, but there are literally zero seats, therefore hundreds of people are left standing and waiting. Also, the escalator entrances to the platforms are absolutely tiny. I get that the platforms are as well, but is this the final product here? Or is there to be further construction to not make this experience an incredibly hostile one to travelers? Will the eventual connection to Grand Central change things in terms of how many people board at Penn? I had thought that the Moynihan project would lead to a much improved experience, but they only thing that’s better is aesthetics.
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There is a Ticketed Waiting Room on the west side of the Concourse, which has seating and dedicated rest rooms for about 100 travelers.
 
FK4 said:
So I’ve used Moynihan a few times since it opened as a replacement for Penn station for Amtrak. It’s nice having high ceilings and natural light, but there are literally zero seats, therefore hundreds of people are left standing and waiting. Also, the escalator entrances to the platforms are absolutely tiny. I get that the platforms are as well, but is this the final product here? Or is there to be further construction to not make this experience an incredibly hostile one to travelers? Will the eventual connection to Grand Central change things in terms of how many people board at Penn? I had thought that the Moynihan project would lead to a much improved experience, but they only thing that’s better is aesthetics.
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There is lots of seating, but the location isn't obvious because it's behind some of the service desks. You also need to have an Amtrak ticket to go to the passenger lounge, but really, those are the only travelers who would be using Moynihan. If you are less interested in amenities, a good hack is to board from the Jersey Transit part of Penn Station. The Amtrak assignments are posted there before they are announced in Moynihan, and you can board with a lot less stress.
 
GIL said:
There is a Ticketed Waiting Room on the west side of the Concourse, which has seating and dedicated rest rooms for about 100 travelers.
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HenryAlan said:
There is lots of seating, but the location isn't obvious because it's behind some of the service desks. You also need to have an Amtrak ticket to go to the passenger lounge, but really, those are the only travelers who would be using Moynihan. If you are less interested in amenities, a good hack is to board from the Jersey Transit part of Penn Station. The Amtrak assignments are posted there before they are announced in Moynihan, and you can board with a lot less stress.
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The ticketed waiting room is for travelers on any of the three railroads serving the station: Amtrak, LIRR, NJ Transit — and regional rail travelers on all lines are actively in the mix of Moynihan users.
 
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