Am I the only one who questions the wisdom of running âhigh-speedâ trains on a railroad with numerous grade crossings in a state where most drivers are very old and/or very stupid?
Darwin in action + Florida.
Brightline was too cheap to spend money on grade separation.
Now it looks like theyâre also too cheap to invest in PR managers or image consultants - look at these stories that keep coming out!
I wonder what else they are scrimping on.
From the article: âIn those cases, and many of the other fatalities, drivers appear to be ignoring crossing lights and driving around gates as they try to outrun the train. Most other fatalities on Brightline tracks appear to be suicides.â
Setting aside the suicide statistics, I honestly canât comprehend the concept of people driving around the crossing gates. Like, do people not know what a train is!?
To be clear, I agree grade separation is preferred, but itâs not like Brightline is at fault in any of these collisions. Apparently Floridian drivers just crave death.
This is correct. They donât know what a train is. They canât fathom mass transit outside of airlines. This is their mentality.
Its always the driverâs fault with these train incidents. There is enough ad campaigns and awareness about railroad crossing safety along with common sense to not get creamed by a train. The fact people donât know that you are to stop when the gates are down really isnât the railroadâs fault at all and they should not be blamed. Unfortunately based upon the headlines of some of those news articles it makes it seem like the railroad is at fault (it isnât) that people keep killing themselves at their crossings. Florida is truly a cesspit of idiots who donât know how to stop at a railroad crossing or use any common sense.
Just as a general statement this happens everywhere, just not as often.
$400 to travel between Vegas and Rancho Cucamonga on a train with an ad wrapper so you canât even look out the window?
Preliminary work for Brightline West will cause shoulders along I-15 to close.
Iâm glad that another High Speed Rail line is starting in the US. An actual high speed rail line, not Brightline Florida.
It has its fair share of problems due to the company cheaping out on construction, but it will be a huge benefit for the region. Especially with connections to Californiaâs own HSR system, and other growing transit systems in the bistate area.
Which bistate area?
I just meant the Nevada and California area, though it is mostly in California.
Ok, I was wondering if you were including Nevada, as it definitely does not have any growing transit systems. In fact, the stateâs only rapid transit, the Las Vegas Monorail, is likely to shut down at some point.
Last I heard it was $5.00 per trip.
Vegas talks about light rail every once in a while. They should build a proper network.
No kidding. And it would be so simple! A single subway line under Las Vegas Blvd (~5 miles from Tropicana Ave to Fremont Street, a little further if you connected it to Allegiant Stadium and/or the airport) would hit every major attraction and have outrageously good ridership from day one. Even assuming it cost a billion dollars per mile, this would quickly pay for itself â and thatâs before you give the casinos the opportunity to contribute for direct underground connections to their casino floors, sold station naming rights and advertising, put slot machines in the stations, etc.
Agree. A proper subway line, from downtown, through the strip, to the airport, would solve a lot of problems for that town. And yes, the ridership is 100% there already.
That, with connections to light rail along a few east-west corridors like Charleston and Flamingo, would be transformative for the city.
I was surprised they went with monorail as opposed to subway in the first place. Maybe Vegas is changing enough to get past a flyover anti subway mentality.