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A comment on Apology after Japanese train departs 20 seconds early. Parent comment

Re:Apology after Japanese train departs 20 seconds early by lmm on Thursday November 16, 2017 @11:39AM (#15714055)
Increasing population density to Japan-like levels (and also removing governmental subsidy for roads, but that's a relatively small amount).

The Tokaido Shinkansen is around 520km long and connects Kobe (pop 1.5M), Osaka (2.7M), Kyoto (1.5M), Nagoya (2.3M), Yokohama (3.7M) and Tokyo (8.9M). Where could a US railway of similar length connect anything remotely like that many people?

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Re:Apology after Japanese train departs 20 seconds early by aquadrop on Thursday November 16, 2017 @12:07PM (#15714363)
Boston - New York - Philadelphia - Washington

San Diego - Los Angeles - Silicon Valley - San Francisco

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Re:Apology after Japanese train departs 20 seconds early by deaddodo on Thursday November 16, 2017 @03:06PM (#15716094)
There's no way you're connecting San Diego to San Francisco directly via 323mi of track, let alone via LA and SJ/MV.

That's a 520-550mi ride, buddy.

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Re:Apology after Japanese train departs 20 seconds early by aquadrop on Friday November 17, 2017 @08:50PM (#15727361)
You can drop San Diego, even that would be enough, pal.
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Re:Apology after Japanese train departs 20 seconds early by deaddodo on Monday November 20, 2017 @12:49PM (#15741690)
Still over the limit by about 70mi, friend.

And you cut out the second largest city in the state, to do so.

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Re:Apology after Japanese train departs 20 seconds early by aquadrop on Monday November 27, 2017 @06:53AM (#15786654)
Depends on how you define 'connecting' cities, and we aren't talking about rigid boundaries on the railroad, just "comparable". And LA->SF route has enough people to be profitable, mate.
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Re:Apology after Japanese train departs 20 seconds early by jandrese on Thursday November 16, 2017 @12:56PM (#15714827)
The Boston<->Washington line you mentioned there is one of the only reliably profitable lines for AmTrak.
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Re:Apology after Japanese train departs 20 seconds early by ng12 on Thursday November 16, 2017 @02:01PM (#15715441)
And yet somehow it's more expensive and slower than flying (incl. getting to the airport and going through security).
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Re:Apology after Japanese train departs 20 seconds early by jandrese on Thursday November 16, 2017 @02:26PM (#15715698)
The Acela is more expensive than a plane ticket, but the NE Regional is usually cheaper and just about as fast as the Acela. The Acela got dicked over by some NIMBY types pretty hard and doesn't really deserve the HSR appellation.
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Re:Apology after Japanese train departs 20 seconds early by ng12 on Thursday November 16, 2017 @02:43PM (#15715856)
I guess it depends on which leg you're traveling but I've found flying from New York to Boston is almost always cheaper. You can get a flight from LGA to BOS two weeks ahead of time for under $60.
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Re:Apology after Japanese train departs 20 seconds early by seanmcdirmid on Thursday November 16, 2017 @01:54PM (#15715383)
California is not nearly as dense as the area along the Tokaido line. More to the point, those cities aren’t as integrated as the eastern Boston-DC megapolis.
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Re:Apology after Japanese train departs 20 seconds early by aquadrop on Friday November 17, 2017 @09:02PM (#15727401)
It doesn't need to be just as dense, it has enough people. SF area and LA have massive growing population and economy, don't you think high speed train connecting those in under 2 hours would have enough ridership?
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