LOS ANGELES | Transportation News & Discussion

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist

I realize that California's population has declined slightly in recent years but that is not always going to be the situation. California's population is likely to grow again. The travel times for vehicle trips mentioned above are current travels times. Brightline will provide service for at least the next four or five decades. Over this time, unless more capacity is added to I-15 (at considerable expense) travel times are only likely to increase (perhaps substantially) for automobile trips.

Additionally, over the past two decades, much of the population growth in Southern California has been in the Inland Empire, closer to the Rancho Cucamonga station than elsewhere in Southern California.

Based on new numbers the will be released in May, CAs population grew once aydin in 2023

[FromSD]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Not necessarily. German ICE tech (which Siemens is proposing for their American Pioneer trainsets) can handle pretty big grades up to 4.5%. There are a few sections of I-15 that exceed this, I think at Cajon Pass and Mountain Pass.

In those locations the rail line will need to exit the median to follow a different alignment and profile, or they may widen the freeway or do retaining walls. But most of I-15 is sub-4.5% so they can follow the same profile.

My understanding is that Brightline West will stay in the median of I-15 along the entire route, except in Las Vegas and Rancho Cucamonga and where it has to deviate to accommodate one of the intermediate stations. By doing this Brightline West saves money even though speeds will have to slow on the sections of I-15 with sharp uphill grades or tight turns. So Brightline West is not designed to as high a standard of high speed rail as CAHSR is in the Central Valley.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXF_g_aq8vc