Re:Getting High-Speed Rail Wrong
by bombcar on Thursday May 13, 2021 @01:06PM
(#27144546)
The usual solution to this is having local vs express service - lines run alongside each other where there is a bumpkin train that stops every few miles, but every 50 or so it stops at a station that is also serviced by an express or even a high-speed stop.
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This is how it is supposed to work. If you are going someplace distant you can take the high speed train most of the way and then transfer to the slow regional for the last leg of the journey.
Unfortunately this system means you need parallel tracks, one set for the high speed express trains and another for the regionals. This isn't as bad as it seems, it requires double the steel and concrete, but the land is the expensive part of the deal and even though the parcel you need is wider the expense is not doubled.
Or you can run the high speed rail on routes that are optimal for it and leave the regional rail in its byzantine routes from the 30s that serve the locals well.