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Proposed high speed freight service in France
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RE: How "train speed" is defined. <br /> <br />As an outsider with an ear to shippers, it makes sense for them to calculate a trains speed as how long it takes the railroad to move their cargo once it either leaves the dock in a boxcar or is transloaded from a truck at the railhead, then to the point where the cargo is either transloaded back to a truck or the boxcar is parked at the destination dock. The shipper doesn't care how many times a train needs to stop for meets, refueling, or crew changes, or how many times a boxcar needs to be reclassified at the next hump yard, it all counts the same. That's why when they read that trains average 25 mph, they assume that means the cargo will make it accross the country in 5 to 6 days, so when it actually takes two to three weeks, they think the railroad is lollygagging with their cars while UPS and other bigshot companies get the percieved red carpet treatment. <br /> <br />That's why I don't think 60 mph average for HSR would be sufficient, even with dedicated bi-modal or TOFC between coasts. A truck competitive HSR not only has to compensate for terminal transload times, it also has to compensate for the inevitable long waits in sidings and refueling depots.
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