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Originally Posted by webexplorer
Thank you. I didn't realize that you are serious about it.
I like to ride on the train. The problem with this service which isn't fast transportation because there were so many car accidents on the train tracks.
The reason why there is so many accidents with car and trains is due to the intersections. The true high speed rail is grade seperatly completly from traffic while the Amtrak Aleca isn't, so the speed suffers and too many twisties to deal with which slows it down.
Ten years ago, my friend's husband was in a serious train accident. He drove his car to the dumpsite on Saturday morning. He drove his car slowly to make sure that there was no train on the track. There was a light stop sign, but it does not have the arms to block the cars from across the track. He saw the train coming pretty far away so he drove across it quickly. Suddenly, the train smashed his car, and his car was in a total damage. He was bought to the hospital by an ambulance. The train company ordered its employees real fast to cut down the tall grasses for a better visual view before any new reporters showed up on the scene so that the company cannot be sued. It took six years for him to win his case which received 50,000 dollars. He expected to get a few million dollars. The company had a dirty business to hide it. His health got worst, and he now lives in the nursing home. He lay on the bed for rest of his life. He is 58 years old.
Wow, that is very dirty thing he did. I can't believe that they did something like that to prevent anyone knowing what's going on. That's pretty sad thing to a railfan like me. I don't appreciate when they do that. Trains cannot stop on a dime. Did he race the crossing arms? If he did, then he's at fault.
Now, do you think that it would be a good idea to have the fastest trains in our country? How can we prevent a train accident with this new and powerful trains?
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Like I said above....it has to be wider radius curves, grade seperated completely from traffic to reduce accidents. Japan's Shinkansen high speed trains have NEVER had a train accident since the first debut back in 1964. In fact, high speed trains are very safe mode of transportation compared to driving in ur own car. It's probably safer than flying.
If you wondered how the train engineers know when to accelerate or when to stop....they have the on board signaling which they call it ATC or in cab signaling. They have the instructions on the dashboard telling you to speed up to the target speed or slow down to the target speed, brake when the traffic control instructor tells you when there's other train coming up (slow freight or whatever). I think if you go faster than around 90 mph on the train, in cab signaling is required. Below that speed, it's not required to have that. You basically are going too fast to miss the track signs, etc.