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Spanish high speed network reaches French border
If the Spaniards and French can get it together to run a high speed train from Paris to Madrid via Barcelona, then how come we can’t get the Lake Shore Limited to do the same from New York to Chicago?
Spain can’t afford it? No problem. Let the EU members pay for it. Socialism all the way. Socialism can’t make everybody rich and happy. But it can make everybody poor and miserable.
I would love to be aboard soon. I’ve ridden the ICE train from Mannheim to Paris, and the AVE from Barcelona to Madrid. When the day comes that I’ll be able to ride high speed trains from where I currently live, near Kaiserslautern, Germany, all the way to Madrid, will be a great moment in railroad history to say the least. The only weak link will be getting from Gare de l’Est, where the trains from Germany terminate, to Gare de Lyon to board the TGV to Figueres. That little jump would require one of the three possibilties: a walk or Metro ride to Gare du Nord (about five blocks or one stop), then an RER green line to Gare de Lyon. Although a high speed line runs a ring around Paris, the travel times would be too long to introduce high speed services to Spain that bypass Paris.
Claes Jonasson asked -
If the Spaniards and French can get it together to run a high speed train from Paris to Madrid via Barcelona, then how come we can’t get the Lake Shore Limited to do the same from New York to Chicago?
The answer to that is simple – it’s SOCIALISM in the case of Spain, and CAPATIALISM in the case of the US. The best for evereryone? No way! Socialism is a bad word in the US, but it works for the rest of the world. Why is that? Let em sink with the Lake Shore Limited – let em drive for two days. They deserve it.
Isn’t most of the trackage in Spain “broad gauge”? Is there an on-line map that shows broad/standard/narrow gauge in Spain? I’ll Google RENFE and see if I can find one.
At 9 hours and 55 minutes between Paris and Madrid, that would be a great place to have an overnight High Speed Train.
At least Spain’s socialism and anything govenment does,
“miserable”…as I read in his note above.
“Rail is socialism. Roads aren’t.” Keep repeating ad nauseam ad infinitum (that means endlessly until we’re all sick). Is that modern conservatism?!
Hey! Trains Editor! Use native units and then provide translations for us dumb Americans in parentheses …
Also, you the correct conversion factors! I seriously doubt that the new line is 352.044 km/h max which is what your probably-faulty conversion indicates. It’s much more likely to be 350 km/h.
I would love to see high speed trains from Chicago to New York. But I think Americans as a society see taking the train as taking too much time. Why take the train when you can fly practically anytime you like and get there a lot faster. I am hoping the high speed line to Chicago to St. Louis is a huge success. Maybe then people will start thinking about train travel differently.
Does Mr. Guse have anything positive to say about ANYTHING?
I am not sure if Jeffrey Guise’s comment is on topic. It certainly isn’t thoughtful or respectful. It says nothing about the new high speed line, but It does, however, say something about its author - namely that he has no understanding whatsoever of how the EU works. I suggest he limits his comments to topics he knows anything about - probably trains - and does not abuse these pages for hateful and quite wrong political comments.
YEAH Guse–stuff it!
On a recent trip to Spain, I traveled on the high-speed train between Madrid and Barcelona. What an enjoyable ride! I hope that the United States continues to invest in rapid intercity rail transportation, so that someday, I don’t have to drive my car everywhere I travel.