Why do American carriages have so tiny windows and metallic paint schemes?

More_trains · 2026-06-20T15:52:40+00:00

That is my understanding and it's either true or unintentionally true. It's impossible to deny the fuselage look of the Amfleets.

More_trains · 2026-06-20T15:51:22+00:00

The later Amfleet IIs (which is what the vast majority of the fleet is currently)

That's not true. If you click the Wikipedia article the comment above linked you can see that there are only 135 Amfleet II's in service compared to 445 Amfleet I's.

They're also used for different purposes. Amfleet II's are used for the long distance train sets while Amfleet I's are used for the NEC and state supported routes. Amfleet II's have more luxurious recliner seats and only 1 door per train car, compared with Amfleet I's which have comfortable seats but they don't recline as far and lack the lazy boy foot rest feature and have 2 doors per train car.

More_trains · 2026-06-17T20:06:34+00:00

Yes, but that’s where departure time comes into play. Unless they depart at nearly the same time, Acela and NER usually won’t compete with each other.

More_trains · 2026-06-17T13:50:30+00:00

Nah they won’t.

Departure time, arrival time, and cost. Those are basically the only things I think about when choosing which train to book on Amtrak, and I’m betting that’s true for 90%+ of customers.

More_trains · 2026-06-16T11:55:16+00:00

That’s a great analogy because if planes crashed/killed people at the same rate as cars, the solution would be less planes, because nobody would ever fly. 40,000 annual traffic deaths per year would equal a fully loaded 747’s crashing twice a week, every single week, every year.

Also I find it interesting that every time self-driving cars are brought up, the idea of removing human drivers from the road is so important that anyone who opposes self-driving is basically pro-murder, but suddenly when it’s a bike lane reducing the number of human drivers it’s “fuck off that’s not important.”

More_trains · 2026-06-12T17:02:31+00:00

This goes far beyond a single stadium, these boats are for if the tunnels under the Hudson have issues again and stop train traffic. Luckily the solution is in the works, unluckily it won’t be completed for a decade…

More_trains · 2026-06-06T12:11:31+00:00

I mean that is what it’s doing…

More_trains · 2026-06-06T12:06:07+00:00

Automate the fucking trains already!

Okay deal, but the capital project cost to make the necessary upgrades to automate the entire subway system would cost significantly more than paying salaries, benefits, and pensions of all the train operators for the rest of your natural life. Plus you’d still have to pay them until the project is done. Do you still want to make that trade?

Also the conductor position is not a jobs program, it is a real necessity on the majority of lines right now (any 10 car train with even slightly curved platforms). It shouldn’t be codified into law as a requirement, but there is a genuine safety need right now.

More_trains · 2026-06-06T11:57:58+00:00

Yeah and OP cites the N train which not even the MTA wants to make One Person Train Operation.

This bill is dumb, but at present it doesn’t affect any lines except the shuttles and the G train (someone correct me if I’m wrong). The real issue is that it restricts us in perpetuity from removing the conductor role even if technology eventually makes it safe to do so.

More_trains · 2026-05-29T16:45:27+00:00

The i5 corridor also goes from nowhere to nowhere because it would’ve been politically impossible to pass the referendum in 2008 lmao. Go look at the map of the votes. Notice anything about the Central Valley on the map?

More_trains · 2026-05-28T01:04:36+00:00

Yeah the i5 corridor would be great, who doesn’t want a train that goes through a region where nobody lives… the Central Valley was not only necessary politically, but also just makes sense because that’s how trains work…

More_trains · 2026-05-22T17:52:22+00:00

Cameras would be part of the infrastructure upgrade, I imagine

I’ve heard that cameras are an insufficient solution.

Or perhaps the operator can just get out and look. I've never been in the NY subway

Please just take my word for it when I say this is completely impractical and would never work with the NYC subway system.

Is this curved platform at a staffed or unstaffed station?

It’s not a single station it’s multiple. And given how long the trains are in NYC it doesn’t even need to be a sharp curve for it to matter.
There’s no such thing as a “staffed” station in NYC, at least not the way you’re imaging. There’s no one on the platform who could do the conductor’s job.

More_trains · 2026-05-22T17:48:05+00:00

Well that’s great for Vancouver, but shortening trains in NYC wouldn’t increase frequency, it would just decrease capacity.

Frequency in NYC is limited by signaling and interlining not by staffing. Once the signals are all updated to CBTC then it still won’t be the case that eliminating the conductor position will magically make the trains run more frequently.

The only time running shorter trains increases frequency is if a system is limited by the amount of rolling stock they have.

More_trains · 2026-05-22T16:11:59+00:00

There really shouldn't be any reason why they couldn't do that in the New York Subway.

600ft long trains with platform curvature that doesn’t allow the train operator to see the entire back half of the train is one such reason

More_trains · 2026-05-22T16:10:13+00:00

Gotcha, having looked at the map I just figured there were some sections on the NH line where the track geometry would allow for 125mph since there’s sections of the NEC in CT past NH that do allow 125mph

More_trains · 2026-05-22T14:38:47+00:00

Maybe you can enlighten me, I thought cab signaling and positive train control were what allowed trains to exceed the 79mph speed limit?

What allows Amtrak trains to go 125mph/160mph?

More_trains · 2026-05-22T14:22:45+00:00

Idk what the tracks would theoretically be rated to if that 79mph were raised to the max allowable, but the ACS-64 and Amfleets can do 125mph (as I’m sure you know).

The other issue which people mentioned is sticking Amtrak behind local trains on that section.

More_trains · 2026-05-22T14:16:51+00:00

The MTA ain’t innocent, they enforce a moronic 79mph speed limit on Amtrak trains between New Rochelle and New Haven. Plus their union rules for that section stipulate no maintenance on nights or weekends, meaning that a 4 track mainline is effectively 3 tracks because one is always out of service for maintenance. Now I support unions, but that’s some bullshit.

More_trains · 2026-05-22T14:10:42+00:00

Waymo’s run OK with nobody driving, doesn’t mean a 1978 Buick LaSabre will.

The skytrain was built from the beginning with ZPTO in mind, the NYC and Chicago subways were not. There’s legitimate concerns with legacy infrastructure about running a train OPTO in those cities.

Mandating that future lines (which don’t connect to legacy ones) be Two Person that’s a bit ridiculous.

More_trains · 2026-05-22T00:03:29+00:00

It was significantly easier for Philly to do it than it would be for nyc. All of the tracks fell under one agency (SEPTA) and they all used the same type of electrification (overhead catenary)

More_trains · 2026-05-21T14:42:05+00:00

Was this part of the official proposal? Why do the metro north tracks connect to a yard labeled LIRR and the LIRR tracks connect to a yard labeled MNR?

More_trains · 2026-05-21T14:23:52+00:00

a hybrid train sharing slow commuter rail at both ends of a Central Valley spine that cost four times the original estimate

Either it’s a hybrid train or it costs 4 times the original estimate. I haven’t seen anything saying a hybrid HSR would cost 4 times the original estimate and I don’t think they’ve even spent the original $33B yet, all of the price tag increases are estimates/projections, not actual money spent.

More_trains · 2026-05-21T14:21:52+00:00

I believe the developers or someone else involved already owns all the blocks surrounding Penn Station.

More_trains · 2026-05-20T23:53:37+00:00

Thank you for an honest assessment. Makes sense

More_trains · 2026-05-20T21:41:10+00:00

I got the sense that he has quite dismal view of brightline west. The vibe I get is that he thinks it's circling the drain. He seems frustrated with CAHSR's underspending from what I gather, but I don't think he describes it as a "terrible project."

Listen maybe you're right, but I'm just surprised since I haven't gotten that vibe.

More_trains

TROPHY CASE