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Welcome to brain Stuff from how Stuff 10 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:37,920 Speaker 1: works dot com where smart happens. Him Marshall Brain with 11 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:43,160 Speaker 1: today's question, how does high speed rail work? Imagine getting 12 00:00:43,159 --> 00:00:46,160 Speaker 1: on a high speed train in downtown New York City 13 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:49,960 Speaker 1: and arriving at Union Station in Washington, d C. Which 14 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:54,640 Speaker 1: is two miles away, just an hour later. That is 15 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:59,120 Speaker 1: the ultimate promise of true high speed rail. Compared to 16 00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:02,320 Speaker 1: driving a car, are this train trip would be a dream. 17 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:05,680 Speaker 1: The car ride would take about four and a half hours, 18 00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:09,119 Speaker 1: making the amusing assumption that there's no traffic or construction 19 00:01:09,160 --> 00:01:12,319 Speaker 1: along the way. Even compared to an airplane, the train 20 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:15,240 Speaker 1: trip would be faster once you account for the need 21 00:01:15,319 --> 00:01:17,440 Speaker 1: to get to the airport an hour ahead of time, 22 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:20,640 Speaker 1: the time spent sitting on the runway, the fact that 23 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:24,560 Speaker 1: Dullest and LaGuardia airports are a good distance from downtown, 24 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:27,000 Speaker 1: and a whole bunch of other things, the plane trip 25 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:30,360 Speaker 1: might take nearly as long as the car trip. True 26 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:33,720 Speaker 1: high speed rail service like this doesn't yet exist in 27 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:37,440 Speaker 1: the United States, but it is common in parts of Europe, Japan, 28 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:40,319 Speaker 1: and China, and it may be coming to America in 29 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:44,360 Speaker 1: the near future with backing from the federal government. California 30 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:47,080 Speaker 1: is actively working on a high speed rail system that 31 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:50,040 Speaker 1: would run all the way from Sacramento down to San Diego, 32 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:53,920 Speaker 1: a distance of about five miles, and this will probably 33 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:56,960 Speaker 1: be the first installation of true high speed rail in 34 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:00,880 Speaker 1: the US. The closest thing that the United States has 35 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:04,800 Speaker 1: to high speed rail today is Amtrak's Acela service running 36 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:09,440 Speaker 1: in the Northeast Corridor. The Northeast Corridor connects Boston to Washington, 37 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:12,560 Speaker 1: d C. And include stops in places like New York 38 00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:16,480 Speaker 1: City and Philadelphia. Although the Ascella trains have a top 39 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:19,000 Speaker 1: speed of a hundred and fifty miles per hour, their 40 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:22,440 Speaker 1: average speed is more like seventy miles per hour, so 41 00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:25,360 Speaker 1: the two d thirty mile run between DC and New 42 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:29,040 Speaker 1: York takes nearly three hours. This is still better than 43 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:31,639 Speaker 1: the car trip or the plane rides, so the Ascella 44 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:36,080 Speaker 1: run is popular. Something like three million passengers traveled between 45 00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:38,400 Speaker 1: New York and d C every year on the train. 46 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:41,919 Speaker 1: So why is the average speed of the Ascella trains 47 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:45,640 Speaker 1: so low. The answer to this question helps clarify the 48 00:02:45,639 --> 00:02:49,919 Speaker 1: difference between normal train track and real high speed track. 49 00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:53,960 Speaker 1: One of the most important problems with normal track is 50 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:56,920 Speaker 1: the roads that cross over the track. Many of the 51 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:00,160 Speaker 1: rail lines in the United States were built with at 52 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:05,079 Speaker 1: grade crossings rather than bridges. Obviously, it's not very safe 53 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:07,320 Speaker 1: to have a train traveling at a hundred and fifty 54 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:10,160 Speaker 1: or two hundred miles per hour if a car canstall 55 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:13,600 Speaker 1: on the track at any intersection. Another problem is the 56 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:17,840 Speaker 1: radius of turns. Low speed trains can make sharp turns, 57 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:22,000 Speaker 1: while high speed trains cannot. The Acela train tries to 58 00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:25,639 Speaker 1: get around this problem with tilting cars, but in some 59 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 1: parts of the Northeast Corridor the tracks are too close 60 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:33,119 Speaker 1: together to use this tilting feature. Another requirement for high 61 00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:37,160 Speaker 1: speed travel is smooth welded track. This normally means a 62 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:41,040 Speaker 1: good concrete base for the track rather than wooden railroad ties. 63 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:45,400 Speaker 1: Also needed is overhead electric service, since high speed trains 64 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:49,040 Speaker 1: are electric. In addition, a high speed train can't be 65 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:53,280 Speaker 1: competing for the track with slow freight trains. All these 66 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:57,480 Speaker 1: requirements mean that true high speed rail needs dedicated high 67 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:02,240 Speaker 1: speed track. Building just dedicated track can get expensive, especially 68 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:06,080 Speaker 1: in congested urban areas, so high speed rail projects cost 69 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:09,840 Speaker 1: billions of dollars. The high speed track in California might 70 00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:13,280 Speaker 1: end up costing something like a hundred million dollars per 71 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:16,120 Speaker 1: mile when it's all said and done. The good news 72 00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:19,080 Speaker 1: is that a high speed rail line takes less land 73 00:04:19,080 --> 00:04:22,080 Speaker 1: than a major highway, and the high speed train gets 74 00:04:22,080 --> 00:04:25,960 Speaker 1: its passengers to their destination much more quickly than cars can, 75 00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:29,600 Speaker 1: and a new six lane wide interstate highway project can 76 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:32,120 Speaker 1: end up costing nearly as much as a high speed 77 00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:35,960 Speaker 1: rail line. You might be wondering why Europe, Japan, and 78 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:39,280 Speaker 1: China have thousands of miles of high speed track and 79 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:43,719 Speaker 1: service while the United States currently has none. This has 80 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:47,680 Speaker 1: to do with different decisions in different priorities. The United 81 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:52,000 Speaker 1: States placed its bets on the interstate highway system and airports, 82 00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:55,039 Speaker 1: partly because the US is so much bigger than Europe 83 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:59,279 Speaker 1: or Japan. There's also the fact that Americans love cars 84 00:04:59,279 --> 00:05:02,080 Speaker 1: and airplanes and haven't been nearly as keen on trains 85 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:06,520 Speaker 1: until recently. But a lot has changed in American thinking 86 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:10,599 Speaker 1: since the nine eleven attacks and gasoline price spikes. The 87 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:13,720 Speaker 1: time may finally be right for Americans to get on 88 00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:17,599 Speaker 1: board with high speed rail. Do you have any ideas 89 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:20,800 Speaker 1: or suggestions for this podcast? If so, please send me 90 00:05:20,839 --> 00:05:24,000 Speaker 1: an email at podcast at how stuff works dot com. 91 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:26,440 Speaker 1: For more on this and thousands of other topics, go 92 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:29,320 Speaker 1: to how stuff works dot com and be sure to 93 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:31,640 Speaker 1: check out the brain stuff blog on the how stuff 94 00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:37,720 Speaker 1: works dot com home page. 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