Wuppertal Suspension Railway

[George K]

@Jolly said in Wuppertal Suspension Railway:

What is the advantage of overhead vs. conventional?

There are none. Monorails and suspension railways are expensive, unreliable.

Why it works in Wuppertal:

Link to video

[Mik]

Won't hit any dump trucks unless it falls on them.

[George K]

@Mik said in Wuppertal Suspension Railway:

Won't hit any dump trucks unless it falls on them.

And it wouldn't be going 89 mph.

[Mik]

My brother was sharing nonsense about how the US needs high speed rail between all major cities. Said you could go from NY to Chicago in 2.5 hours. You can barely do that in a jet.

[George K]

@Mik said in Wuppertal Suspension Railway:

My brother was sharing nonsense about how the US needs high speed rail between all major cities. Said you could go from NY to Chicago in 2.5 hours. You can barely do that in a jet.

That's 380 mph, without startup to get to speed and slowdown once our arrive. Currently the fastest train on the planet averages about 250 kmph - about 155 mph. So, bullshit on that.

However, going downtown to downtown is a wonderful thing.

Now, where NYC you gonna build a terminal? Where in Chicago?

Also, there's this thing where rail has to stop every now and then to load and unload passengers at intermediate stops.

Then there's this pesky infrastructure thing. Look at how well that's going in California - years behind schedule and billions over budget.

Fortunately we can get electricity from unicorn farts.

[taiwan_girl]

@George-K @mik I agree. It works in countries that do not have the "car culture" that the US does. Or maybe between certain heavily populated cities.

Taiwan has a high speed rail between Kaohsiung (on the south) and Taipei (in the north). It generally does pretty well.

(Fun fact - before the high speed rail was built, the air route in the world with the most scheduled trips was between Kaohsiung and Taipei. There were flights on different airlines about every 10 minutes. You would never make reservations - just go to the airport, check which was the next flight and buy your ticket. If that was full, wait 10-15 for the next one. About a one hour flight, but the air attendants would still rush down the aisle giving you a box meal and a drink. They got a workout! LOL)

[Jolly]

Shucks, you could stick Taiwan in West Texas and the only thing that would notice it are cows and a half-dozen cowboys.

[Mik]

It also works for small areas. Not the vast expanse of the US. Taiwan's like 125 miles end to end, maybe 40 wide.

[George K]

@Mik said in Wuppertal Suspension Railway:

It also works for small areas. Not the vast expanse of the US.

[Mik]

Yeah, but it's mostly in the densely populated east, and they have the need to move a LOT of people quickly. Planes won't work for that.

[Klaus]

@Jolly said in Wuppertal Suspension Railway:

What is the advantage of overhead vs. conventional?

The main advantage is that it's drawing tourists to the city.