The French are interested in operating U.S. high speed rail

[WMAveteran]

TRAINS magazine reported the following on March 20, 2009:

"PARIS - France's state-owned railway SNCF would be interested in operating a high-speed rail network in the United States, the French newspaper Les Echos reported Thursday, according to Reuters. In France's experience, high-speed rail systems are most efficient when they link large cities 600 to 900 miles apart, the newspaper quoted SNCF International President Jean-Pierre Loubinoux as saying. Such conditions exist on the U.S. East coast, in California, and in Texas and Florida. "We could have more than a track, we could have a network," Loubinoux said. "If there is the possibility (of operating this network), we would definitely study it with great interest."

I only have one thing to say: how soon can they start?

[C40LF_2464]

Didnt the french make the world record of the fastest train ever like in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw4zn-qw1oM
Now that would be AWSOME in the US!

[WMAveteran]

Didnt the french make the world record of the fastest train ever like in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw4zn-qw1oM
Now that would be AWSOME in the US!

Way cool!  Thank you.  Now it's our turn.

[WMATAGMOAGH]

Didnt the french make the world record of the fastest train ever like in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw4zn-qw1oM
Now that would be AWSOME in the US!

Good luck finding a place to build a train that could go that fast in this country.  The TGV tracks are practically straight.  I took the TGV last March from Geneva to Paris and it is hard to not notice the difference between the conventional track that the train uses for the first part of the trip and the LGV Sud-Est, which is the high speed corridor especially built for TGV trains in that part of France.  The same goes for the Thalys trains that run from Paris to Cologne.  Once you get into Germany, the trip is no longer high speed and the difference is quite noticeable, especially where the trains are limited to 25 MPH.  I would expect that a great deal of eminent domain would need to be exercised to build a successful high speed line in the US, and doing that will not be easy.

[WMAveteran]

Didnt the french make the world record of the fastest train ever like in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw4zn-qw1oM
Now that would be AWSOME in the US!

Good luck finding a place to build a train that could go that fast in this country.  The TGV tracks are practically straight.  I took the TGV last March from Geneva to Paris and it is hard to not notice the difference between the conventional track that the train uses for the first part of the trip and the LGV Sud-Est, which is the high speed corridor especially built for TGV trains in that part of France.  The same goes for the Thalys trains that run from Paris to Cologne.  Once you get into Germany, the trip is no longer high speed and the difference is quite noticeable, especially where the trains are limited to 25 MPH.  I would expect that a great deal of eminent domain would need to be exercised to build a successful high speed line in the US, and doing that will not be easy.

Yes, I quite agree but perhaps that's what the stimulus money is to be used for.  Acela barely averages 80mph and that's a national disgrace!