[momofvegasgirls]

Originally Posted by Beardown91737

Victorville and Palmdale are always mentioned as terminus because that is where the easy work ends. After Victorville you have to go uphill a few hundred feed to get to Cajon Summit, and downhill about 2,500 feet to get to San Bernardino.

Also after Victorville, there is a choice to go south to San Diego, West to LA, Southwest to Orange County, East to the Coachella Valley, or just stay at the bottom of the hill in the Inland Empire. So the choice is where to build the remaining rail line. Maybe just count on everyone to drive to a central point. It would seem like that point could be at the bottom of the hill in Ontario, but factor in how much easier cars can go uphill than trains can. Victorville is the place where the train can pick up all the passengers who got themselves up the hill from all the dispersed places. The problem is that once a lot of these people get to Victorville, they will probably feel like they may as well drive the rest of the way to Las Vegas.

Palmdale is the same but miles west and more oriented towards the population in LA and the San Fernando Valley, and the Santa Clarita Valley.

Ok, now I see. But then I can't imagine anyone wanting to leave their car in Victorville before travelling the rest of the way into Las Vegas. And unless this thing does the hard slog all the way into DTLA, it'll just be a rusted half built boondoggle, at the end of the day.

[kttam186290]

Originally Posted by momofvegasgirls

Ok, now I see. But then I can't imagine anyone wanting to leave their car in Victorville before travelling the rest of the way into Las Vegas. And unless this thing does the hard slog all the way into DTLA, it'll just be a rusted half built boondoggle, at the end of the day.

The Palmdale station will provide a direct link to DTLA via metrolink. Palmdale is a major commuter suburb to Los Angeles.

Palmdale and Los Angeles officials are already talking about a metrolink train that will leave DTLA and go to Palmdale that will strictly serve people going to-and-from Las Vegas!

[tijlover]

Originally Posted by lvoc

The whole thing makes no sense. Add a couple of highway lanes and reserve one for automated buses at 100mph. That might work. All of the high speed train stuff is pretty much absurd. Same thing from SF to LA. When it gets done no one rides it.

I'm sure when there was talk of building a freeway between SF to LA, and a freeway from Las Vegas to LA, you would probably have said: What an absurd idea! Who's going to drive it, when you can fly down there much, much quicker! What a waste of $$$!!!

[cre8lite]

I think it'd be a wise decision for President Xi Jinping to actually drive I-15 during peak travel times, so he'd get a real feel for how much fun that road is.

[BBMW]

Actually, no. Roads are much more flexible than rail. So is air travel. The problem with rail in general is that unless you build out the entire system, have a lot of trains schedules, it's very inflexible.

Originally Posted by tijlover

I'm sure when there was talk of building a freeway between SF to LA, and a freeway from Las Vegas to LA, you would probably have said: What an absurd idea! Who's going to drive it, when you can fly down there much, much quicker! What a waste of $$$!!!

[lvoc]

Originally Posted by tijlover

I'm sure when there was talk of building a freeway between SF to LA, and a freeway from Las Vegas to LA, you would probably have said: What an absurd idea! Who's going to drive it, when you can fly down there much, much quicker! What a waste of $$$!!!

The need for a larger freeway is self evident every Friday and Sunday. And we need to look ahead to the ability to automate high speed bus or car transport that will come with the automation of driving.

A well constructed high speed rail system might have been a great idea 50 years ago. We did not build it. At this point in time it is too late and there are better approaches available.

[Raiderman]

Originally Posted by lvoc

The need for a larger freeway is self evident every Friday and Sunday. And we need to look ahead to the ability to automate high speed bus or car transport that will come with the automation of driving.

A well constructed high speed rail system might have been a great idea 50 years ago. We did not build it. At this point in time it is too late and there are better approaches available.

Yeah, my thoughts are similar. Why are we going to revert to old technology, when we should be looking at what is next?

[lvoc]

As much as it pains me the RJ agrees it is a boondoggle.

EDITORIAL: High-speed rail a big boondoggle | Las Vegas Review-Journal

[rmm0484]

Originally Posted by cre8lite

completely inappropriate but.....

will it be a happy ending ride?

As long as Gen Tsao is not in charge of the food service......

[MountainBiking]

I'm all for a high speed train but there are so many hurdles in the way to get a project of this magnitude completed especially from my end here in So Cal. Many of these issues have already been mentioned in this thread. For the time being adding one to two lanes per direction between the CA/NV state line and Barstow would cut down on driving time and would provide more safety for motorists. A project like this would create more jobs in the form of construction and a quicker drive between So Cal and Las Vegas will encourage people to travel between these two areas more frequently.

-Cheers.