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Usually when freight and higher volume passenger rail run together the freight separates into their own freight terminals.
It really has nothing to do with terminals since freight and passenger terminals have never been integrated in the United States to my knowledge...I might be wrong on that but I'm not aware of there having ever been shared terminals. As far as the tracks goes it can and does cause congestion if a lot of freight and passenger rail traffic use the same train tracks. If your moving dozens of freight trains through the same tracks and trying to move dozens of passenger trains through the same tracks it will lead to traffic jams.
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Not all freight lines are that busy. The commuter rail lines by Boston could handle electrification fine, not all of them have lots of freight and the freight can manage.
You realize in the above scenario freight has the right of way right? It's due to the weight difference since freight trains need more time and distance to stop so they get the right of way. That's one of the huge problems with passenger rail in the United States currently. As far as Boston goes the area is having rather large problems with commuter rail at the moment.
Not all freight lines are that busy. The commuter rail lines by Boston could handle electrification fine, not all of them have lots of freight and the freight can manage.
The MBTA system would be an excellent candidate for commuter rail electrification. I'm actually puzzled as to why they have diesel and not electric commuter trains on the line that runs on the electrified Northeast Corridor. Electrics trains/trainsets tend to have excellent acceleration capabilities compared to diesels, very welcomed feature in commuter service.
No, i don't believe freight trains in the Boston area have priority over passenger and commuter trains, not on MBTA or Amtrak tracks. They have windows (none during the rush hours) which minimize the interaction with the passenger traffic. Most times in these cases, a freight train work window is immediately after a passenger train departure, the slower freight train can roll along while the faster passenger train leads the way, minimizing any need for the freight to stop enroute while on the shared tracks. And of course, for many freight trains, evenings and nights are a convenient time to run, not alot of passenger traffic at those hours.
cwa, Google "BNSF Racetrack" in case you are in doubt heavy freights and frequent commuter services, along with several Amtrak passenger trains can't seamlessly share the same tracks.
You realize in the above scenario freight has the right of way right? It's due to the weight difference since freight trains need more time and distance to stop so they get the right of way. That's one of the huge problems with passenger rail in the United States currently. As far as Boston goes the area is having rather large problems with commuter rail at the moment.
No, freight does not have the right of the way in the above scenario. Size has little to do it, it's from ownership and the specific contract rights. For Boston, the state owns the rail in most cases, the freight train travel in slots they're allowed to travel. The freight train isn't supposed to be there when a passenger train is scheduled. Ditto with the Metra lines where the freight company owns the lines: a freight train isn't supposed to show up in the way of a scheduled passenger train.
The MBTA system would be an excellent candidate for commuter rail electrification. I'm actually puzzled as to why they have diesel and not electric commuter trains on the line that runs on the electrified Northeast Corridor. Electrics trains/trainsets tend to have excellent acceleration capabilities compared to diesels, very welcomed feature in commuter service.
The MBTA still uses diesels because it's easier to use the same equipment throughout. Rather dumb, since other agencies can manage. Conneticut's Shore Line east uses diesel trains on electric tracks; the trains were bought pre-electrification. I think they're planning on use electric trains after another New Haven-Hartford-Springfield line opens and the diesels move there.
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And of course, for many freight trains, evenings and nights are a convenient time to run, not alot of passenger traffic at those hours.
You do realize trains don't just run on the mercy of the universe, right? They are powered by diesel.
Even the electric ones are powered by coal plants.
Denver has a couple of cute little trains, but they don't run to 99.9% of places.
We're going nuclear unless you're going to invest in renewables.
At least Denver's got the intiative.
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Originally Posted by Mandalorian
Who wants to make 92141324x stops when they can just fly direct?
The person who wants a comfortable ride straight into the city center without having constitutional rights which generations have died for violated by the TSA.
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Originally Posted by cwa1984
The problem isn't maintenance the problem is the cost of building all new rail lines in the first place. Your looking at a few trillion to do nationwide electrified higher-speed rail and high speed rail. You can make an argument for an against if we should go on a huge nationwide passenger rail projects. However it will be anything but cheap by any standard.
Then we need start building passenger rail with their own right of way. Going to the moon wasn't cheap either.
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Originally Posted by tpk-nyc
Because we live in a federal republic, which make it very difficult to get anything done between states. It's instructive that the two systems with the best chances of moving forward are entirely with single states (California and Texas).
It's also very hard to get Congress on board because HSR will never be viable in the majority of states, like Alabama or North Dakota, etc. The Senate won't want to vote for it because any system would necessarily be centered in a handful of high-population areas.
Then, we need to buy a news network, spin passenger rail like Roger Ailes, and form some kind weird grassroots campaign with social media.
No, freight does not have the right of the way in the above scenario.
If your running across freight lines those lines are owned by the freight rail road companies ie Norfolk Southern and CSX almost exclusively because of the duopoly on the east coast. They will not have there freight trains stop and be delayed if passenger rail is running behind.
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Size has little to do it, it's from ownership and the specific contract rights. For Boston, the state owns the rail in most cases, the freight train travel in slots they're allowed to travel. The freight train isn't supposed to be there when a passenger train is scheduled. Ditto with the Metra lines where the freight company owns the lines: a freight train isn't supposed to show up in the way of a scheduled passenger train.
They aren't suppose to be on each others lines around the same time but due to delays that can and does happen and it forces one of them to stop and allow the other to go through first. The one who goes through is the freight train.
If your running across freight lines those lines are owned by the freight companies ie Norfolk Southern and CSX almost exclusively because of the duopoly on the east coast. They will not have there freight trains stop and be delayed if passenger rail is running behind.
They're not owned by freight companies, they're owned by the state (MBTA), as said earlier. They carry freight traffic, however:
They aren't suppose to be on each others lines around the same time but due to delays that can and does happen and it forces one of them to stop and allow the other to go through first. The one who goes through is the freight train.
If it's the passenger train's slot, the freight train should wait.
Simple answer: the US has already overextended its commitment to the highway system. We can't barely afford to keep that system up, let alone fund the expansions new exurban citizens are demanding.
No, i don't believe freight trains in the Boston area have priority over passenger and commuter trains, not on MBTA or Amtrak tracks. They have windows (none during the rush hours) which minimize the interaction with the passenger traffic. Most times in these cases, a freight train work window is immediately after a passenger train departure, the slower freight train can roll along while the faster passenger train leads the way, minimizing any need for the freight to stop enroute while on the shared tracks. And of course, for many freight trains, evenings and nights are a convenient time to run, not alot of passenger traffic at those hours.
If all the tracks are owned by Amtrak (or Septa, MBTA etc.) then no. If they are owned by Norfolk Southern or CSX than yes that is the case and the majority of the rail infrastructure on the east coast is owned by Norfolk Southern and CSX. So if your going to run a bunch of commuter rail around the US unless you buy the rail lines from CSX and Norfolk Southern or build all new rail lines you will not have right of way on the rail lines.
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cwa, Google "BNSF Racetrack" in case you are in doubt heavy freights and frequent commuter services, along with several Amtrak passenger trains can't seamlessly share the same tracks.
I covered this in my other post. Didn't put my answer in my reply to yours but I did respond to this.
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If it's the passenger train's slot, the freight train should wait.
Usually it's the passenger train that is late getting held up for various reasons. Freight trains get delayed as well...more then they should but it comes down to priority and the freight train throughout most of the US will get priority.
Last edited by cwa1984; 02-02-2015 at 03:32 PM..
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