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[spikejones52002]

40 Million dollar ticket to ride a train at 357 miles per hour (574.8 K) French train on standard rails.

It would take 40 minutes to go from NY.NY to DC.

[Phoebe Vet]

We now turn the floor over to the same couple of people who will explain why passenger trains are a waste of money.

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

If I have my facts straight, the train in question was a modified short (2 power cars and one intermediate car) TGV and was operated in part for testing and in part for bragging rights.  The record speed was for a short burst and was appreciably faster than the normal cruising speed.

[Phoebe Vet]

Right.  It will only run somewhere between 250 and 300 MPH in service.

Let me know when they build that 300 mph highway along the same route.

Then, before you start pointing out that a flight from Boston to DC takes less time than Acela, ask youself if the airplane stops at:

Boston - South Station, MA

Boston - Back Bay, MA

Westwood - Route 128 Station, MA

Providence, RI

New London, CT

New Haven, CT

Stamford, CT

New York - Penn Station, NY

Newark, NJ

Iselin - Metropark, NJ

Trenton, NJ

Philadelphia, PA

Wilmington, DE

Baltimore - Penn Station, MD

BWI Airport - Thurgood Marshall Airport, MD

Washington - Union Station, DC In fact schedule a 500 MPH jet to make that trip with all those stops and see how long it takes.  Of course, you can make all those stops using several smaller airplanes, but that really changes the cost calulations, doesn't it?

[spikejones52002]

Yes it was a test run. Was the first flight of a jet plane a passenger flight between two commerical airports. I would not like to step onto anything that was not tested and found safe to use.

That is why our railroads have a big test location in Pueblo Co.