# California HSR



## The Quaking Widow (Oct 10, 2022)

Thought this should be posted.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/09/...ytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

This reminds me of the story of how Czar Nicolas chose the route between St. Petersburg and Moscow: he drew a strait line between the cities, ignoring the fact that the route would necessitate many bridges over meandering rivers.


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## GDRRiley (Oct 10, 2022)

its Ralph V.
everything he says about HSR can be ignored its just a bad rehash of everything he said over the last 12 years. without the other side I'm not going to take the SNCF quotes as the truth


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## danasgoodstuff (Oct 10, 2022)

That McNamara? No, now that I've read it, um, the hyper conclusions don't seem fully supported by the detailed arguments (such as they are). No doubt, there's a need for a good look at why it's taking so long and costing so much, but I don't think this is it.


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## JermyZP (Oct 24, 2022)

What type of rolling stock do you think California High Speed Rail will get? Also, do you think it's possible for CAHSR to lease out the Acela Express sets for rail certification and testing if the order for the new rolling stock are delayed?


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## NES28 (Oct 25, 2022)

CA HSR has indicated that they plan to use world standard HSR trainsets. But, yes, Acelas could be used for testing, if the timing works out right.


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## Tlcooper93 (Oct 27, 2022)

JermyZP said:


> What type of rolling stock do you think California High Speed Rail will get? Also, do you think it's possible for CAHSR to lease out the Acela Express sets for rail certification and testing if the order for the new rolling stock are delayed?


Highly doubt it as the old Acelas are extremely heavy and antiquated in just about every way. It’s sort of like qualifying a state of the art aircraft carrier with F4 phantoms.


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## jis (Oct 27, 2022)

Tlcooper93 said:


> Highly doubt it as the old Acelas are extremely heavy and antiquated in just about every way. It’s sort of like qualifying a state of the art aircraft carrier with F4 phantoms.


I agree. I don't see the original Acelas being used for that purpose. OTOH a short term borrowed Avelia Liberty would actually make technical sense, though I don't see that happening either.

In any case the signaling and train control system I understand will be some ETCS L2 compliant implementation which of course won;t be available on anything running anywhere else on main line in the US.


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## GDRRiley (Oct 27, 2022)

JermyZP said:


> What type of rolling stock do you think California High Speed Rail will get? Also, do you think it's possible for CAHSR to lease out the Acela Express sets for rail certification and testing if the order for the new rolling stock are delayed?


these are the bidders left
1: Siemens Valero (Valero Nova?)
2: Hitachi STS ETR1000/ Zefiro
3: Alstom Avelia Liberty/?
4: Talgo
5: Hyundai Rotem
6: Kawasaki

Personally think its the Valero Nova or ETR1000 that are near the top. the ETR1000 accelerate very well for a high speed train that can do 250mph

here is a fun PDF that lists a lot of the performance of different sets https://uic.org/IMG/pdf/202100801_high_speed_rolling_stock.pdf

I expect they'll test with the AEM-7 caltrain has for 125mph but for over that they could borrow a set from brightline west as both will be ETCS L2 and 25kv


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## JermyZP (Oct 27, 2022)

GDRRiley said:


> these are the bidders left
> 1: Siemens Valero (Valero Nova?)
> 2: Hitachi STS ETR1000/ Zefiro
> 3: Alstom Avelia Liberty/?
> ...


I would like to see a Valero Nova bi-level with low platform boarding. Bi-level because it will increase capacity and the train set would be short enough to use on existing stations. Low platform because stations, already built before the completion of the system, have only low platform boarding.


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## GDRRiley (Oct 27, 2022)

JermyZP said:


> I would like to see a Valero Nova bi-level with low platform boarding. Bi-level because it will increase capacity and the train set would be short enough to use on existing stations. Low platform because stations, already built before the completion of the system, have only low platform boarding.


There are no bi level Valeros nor do we need the capacity at the start, the train length is 200m/400m (650/1300ft)
the only low floor trains right now that can meet the 250mph speed requirements are Talgos and even then with the walkthough requirement for ADA its not easy to do a 250mph train

At this point high floor is nearly locked in and I do not see the state changing


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## jis (Dec 20, 2022)

More contracts let for construction, this time for the Merced - Madera segment...









Stantec wins design contract from CHSRA


Stantec has received a $41m contract from the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) for designing an extension from Merced to Madera




www.railway-technology.com


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## Mailliw (Dec 27, 2022)

I'm surprised Avelia Liberty is still in the running. Didn't the CHSR Authority turn down the chance to do a joint order with Amtrak?


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## jis (Dec 28, 2022)

Mailliw said:


> I'm surprised Avelia Liberty is still in the running. Didn't the CHSR Authority turn down the chance to do a joint order with Amtrak?


It does not have to be an order associated with Amtrak. Avelia Liberty is an Alstom product for the US market, not an exclusively Amtrak product.


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