France's Alstom wins massive Amtrak high-speed train contract

[Vergennes]

@Hamartia Antidote
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French engineering giant Alstom has won a two-billion-dollar (1.8-billion-euro) contract to supply new trains for US operator Amtrak's Acela service between Washington, New York and Boston. Alstom, which makes France's famous TGV high-speed trains, said the trains will be the "most advanced, reliable and safe" trains in the world.

The deal for 28 new passenger trains will boost Amtrak's speed and capacity along its most heavily used and profitable route, which carries more than 3.5 million passengers a year, from 2021.
The trains will carry more than 400 passengers, about one-third more than the existing Acela north-eastern corridor express service, with a maximum speed of 300 kilometres per hour, although normal speeds will be about 260 kilometres an hour.

Alstom agreed to make most of the new equipment for what will be known as Amtrak's Avelia Liberty line, at its plant in Hornell, New York.

Area home to one in seven US citizens
The trains will also serve Baltimore, Philidelphia and other cities on the 730-kilometre route and will be faster than the currently used trains partly thanks to Alstom's Tiltronix system allowing the trains to lean more deeply into curves, avoiding sharp slowdowns.

"This area from Boston to Washington is home to one out of every seven Americans," said US Vice-President Joe Biden, a strong advocate of high-speed rail.

The north-east corridor is "fundamentally important" to the US economy, he said.
Alstom's senior vice-president for North America, Jerome Wallut, called the new trains the "most advanced, reliable and safest" in the world.

http://en.rfi.fr/americas/20160827-frances-alstom-wins-massive-amtrak-high-speed-train-contract
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[Hamartia Antidote]

@Hamartia Antidote
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View attachment 329392
French engineering giant Alstom has won a two-billion-dollar (1.8-billion-euro) contract to supply new trains for US operator Amtrak's Acela service between Washington, New York and Boston. Alstom, which makes France's famous TGV high-speed trains, said the trains will be the "most advanced, reliable and safe" trains in the world.

Well the train business here is going nowhere as people would rather fly. Maybe they are trying to jumpstart something.

There's already Alstom high speed trains on that route. Even if it went 200km faster I don't think it would change anything.

 

[Vergennes]

Well the train business here is going nowhere as people would rather fly. Maybe they are trying to jumpstart something.

Is there any particular reasons the rail transport isn't as well developed as in other countries in the world ?
I know that the americans favorize the car or the aircraft for interior trips.

There's already Alstom high speed trains on that route. Even if it went 200km faster I don't think it would change anything.

This train would reduce the current time of travel by half on the same route.(+other improvements)
But this train couldn't go at its maximum speed because of the old rail infrastructures.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Is there any particular reasons the rail transport isn't as well developed as in other countries in the world ?
I know that the americans favorize the car or the aircraft for interior trips.



This train would reduce the current time of travel by half on the same route.(+other improvements)
But this train couldn't go at its maximum speed because of the old rail infrastructures.

It was considered "old technology" when airplanes came into vogue. Airports popped up everywhere (>5000). Direct flights to anywhere. Why jump on a train. Takes 38 minutes to fly from NYC to Boston. Probably a flight every 15 minutes. You miss your flight you can just grab the next. We were doing 10M flights a year in 2010.

Also keep in mind the US has a history of relatively cheap oil. So flying may have been less expensive than say in Europe so it took off better.

Almost 1/3 of all the flights yearly in the world originate in the US
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/t...world-s-36million-annual-flights-America.html

 

[UKBengali]

I love trains and they are the best way to travel if you are on the right train.

When I went to France a while back I took the Eurotunnel and the train was the best that I ever went on. It was so spacious and the ride so smooth.

Edit- actually the tilting train that I went on in Sweden was the best as it wound through the lakes and forests, but the Eurostar was great as well.

 

[Imtiaz_Sarwar]

When it comes to high speed trains, France is the best along with Japan. Now China is also in this business.

 

[Olaf One-Brow]

Amtrak's Acela service between Washington, New York and Boston.

Damn!!! That's the complete wrong direction!!

Maryland, Virginia, D.C. that's were we need a high speed metro because so many people, military, government and tech workers work, rather then this piece of crap that floods every time it rains:

It normally looks like this.

I've got a 2 hour commute on a good day into D.C., please make my life easier too France.

Is there any particular reasons the rail transport isn't as well developed as in other countries in the world ?

The size of the US and cost. States don't want to foot the bill and the Federal government wont, so either it's privately funded or nothing gets done. Cross state rail runs into ownership, maintenance and cost issues to, hence why private ownership is preferred.

The US is also f*cking huge and its populations are spread out across a wide and varied geographic area. Unlike China or Japan, which large populations concentrated mainly in a small area, the US population is spread out across the whole country. National or even regional high speed rail services just don't make a lot of sense in the US. Only in places like California or the East Coast, where the population is situated in a straight line do we see such initiatives gain traction.

Mountains, swamps and deserts hardly make life easier either.

Honestly, our infrastructure was built to support cars and the Freedom (TM) that they give.

Why jump on a train. Takes 38 minutes to fly from NYC to Boston. Probably a flight every 15 minutes. You miss your flight you can just grab the next. We were doing 10M flights a year in 2010.

Yup, I'm not taking a multi-day train ride to Portland, Oregon when I can hop on a plane and be there in less then two hours.

 

[Anubis]

Amtrak isn't cheap enough to compete with Air Travel.

 

[Oldman1]

Is there any particular reasons the rail transport isn't as well developed as in other countries in the world ?
I know that the americans favorize the car or the aircraft for interior trips.



This train would reduce the current time of travel by half on the same route.(+other improvements)
But this train couldn't go at its maximum speed because of the old rail infrastructures.

Indeed! We love our cars. Not interesting in speed trains. And planes is the way to go for long distance. Hence not much support for trains compare to other countries. That don't mean we are less advanced especially those who point out our train infrastructure, we just don't want it.

 

[LA se Karachi]

It was considered "old technology" when airplanes came into vogue. Airports popped up everywhere (>5000). Direct flights to anywhere. Why jump on a train. Takes 38 minutes to fly from NYC to Boston. Probably a flight every 15 minutes. You miss your flight you can just grab the next. We were doing 10M flights a year in 2010.

Also keep in mind the US has a history of relatively cheap oil. So flying may have been less expensive than say in Europe so it took off better.

Almost 1/3 of all the flights yearly in the world originate in the US
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/t...world-s-36million-annual-flights-America.html

High-speed trains can be very useful for intra-state travel. Faster than going by car, especially in high-traffic metropolitan areas.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

High-speed trains can be very useful for intra-state travel. Faster than going by car, especially in high-traffic metropolitan areas.

The problem is intra-state trains have too many stops. If they could go direct city to city that would be great...but alas..politics. Everybody wants a stop.

 

[Olaf One-Brow]

If they could go direct city to city that would be great.

This is my dream right here. I drive 55 minutes from my house to Quantico Marine Corp Base where I pick up a train (VRE), take the train for an hour so I can leave it and get on a metro... then ride it for another hour into D.C.. Then walk to where I work.

I spend more time everyday commuting then I do working! My commute is anywhere from 5-6 hours daily. The transportation subsidies I get are great, but I'd love nothing more then a direct high-speed rail line from Quantico to D.C. to cut out a few hours.

And yes people, there is a public train station at Quantico.

Not all bases are closed to the public.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

This is my dream right here. I drive 55 minutes from my house to Quantico Marine Corp Base where I pick up a train (VRE), take the train for an hour so I can leave it and get on a metro... then ride it for another hour into D.C.. Then walk to where I work.

I spend more time everyday commuting then I do working! My commute is anywhere from 5-6 hours daily. The transportation subsidies I get are great, but I'd love nothing more then a direct high-speed rail line from Quantico to D.C. to cut out a few hours.

And yes people, there is a public train station at Quantico.

Not all bases are closed to the public.

How many stops in between?

 

[LA se Karachi]

The problem is intra-state trains have too many stops. If they could go direct city to city that would be great...but alas..politics. Everybody wants a stop.

That is an issue, I suppose. But as long as it's planned properly and there are only stops at logical intervals and important cities, I think it should be fine.

I would love to have have high-speed rail here in California, for example. Densely populated metros and terrible traffic on highways. The biggest issues here are its steep cost and people who don't want it to go through their land. We have light speed rail in LA and the Bay Area. But it's just too slow to replace cars, even during rush hour.

 

[Olaf One-Brow]

How many stops in between?

On the VRE I hit 6 stops on the way to the DC metro line. On the DC metro... well I can't disclose that because It'd disclose where I work, which is bad.

Too damn many. That's how many stops.