General railway discussions

[Admiral Beez]

That's not really my experience when flying to Newark vs the 9-hour drive (if there's no traffic). But I don't get to the gate (?) 3 hours beforehand. And the train from Newark International to Manhattan is very similar to the UP schedule, taking less than half-an-hour and running every 15 minutes.

Yeah, we decided today against the train and instead to fly Porter from Billy Bishop to Newark. It was about $900 more for Porter (for four adults) including charges for checked bags. I had $1,800 in Expedia points so figured might as well use them. I’d still like to take the train to NY, just without the kids.

I considered taking the train one way and flying back, but the discounts for round trips are just too strong. Booking one way trips in both directions is a killer.

 

[micheal_can]

Yeah, we decided today against the train and instead to fly Porter from Billy Bishop to Newark. It was about $900 more for Porter including charges for checked bags. I had $1,800 in Expedia points so figured might as well use them. I’d still like to take the train to NY, just without the kids.

I considered taking the train one way and flying back, but the discounts for round trips are just too strong. Booking one way trips in both directions is a killer.

When you get back, it would be nice to know the total time from when you get to the airport to when you get out of the airport so as to compare real world times.

 

[Admiral Beez]

When you get back, it would be nice to know the total time from when you get to the airport to when you get out of the airport so as to compare real world times.

I’ll report back. From my house to Billy Bishop is about 30 min by Uber. The train from Newark airport to Penn Station (the same station the VIA/Amtrak goes to) is about 30 mins as well, plus the time on the AirTrain.

 

[nfitz]

Porter's service to Newark is great! Though we did get delayed a couple of hours on the way home, because of high winds stopping all airlines.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Porter's service to Newark is great! Though we did get delayed a couple of hours on the way home, because of high winds stopping all airlines.

On 1 May 2024 I flew Porter from Chicago Midway to Billy Bishop. Our 1 pm flight was delayed by over ten hours due to fog in Toronto, to the point that the Q400 intended for the 8 am flight was still at the Gate at Midway (I missed the cancelation notice, so went to Midway, where I spotted the Q400 across the apron). We managed to get onto this 8am flight that departed at 3pm. The train might slow down in the fog, but it will still get there.

 

[Allandale25]

Track being laid in CA for HSR. Includes the ceremonial picture. Maybe it's the angle the picture was taken but it makes the gauge look bigger. Also curious why there aren't concrete ties but maybe it was just a ceremonial piece of track.

California high-speed rail to "finally" begin laying track

Track construction on California's high-speed rail system can begin after a lengthy preparation phase, according to Governor Gavin Newsom.

www.newsweek.com

 

[drum118]

Track being laid in CA for HSR. Includes the ceremonial picture. Maybe it's the angle the picture was taken but it makes the gauge look bigger. Also curious why there aren't concrete ties but maybe it was just a ceremonial piece of track.

California high-speed rail to "finally" begin laying track

Track construction on California's high-speed rail system can begin after a lengthy preparation phase, according to Governor Gavin Newsom.

www.newsweek.com

Cannot spike concrete ties and why wooden ones been used.

 

[crs1026]

Looks like the rail in the foreground has not been laid to gauge...likely left that way for the photo op.

Interesting that Kern County (where the photo op happened) is the Bakersfield end of the line. I had thought the plan was to complete the north end first.

- Paul

 

[Bojaxs]

I'm going to be in "Real" London later this month. My hotel is a short trip to Euston station. I was hoping to get some photos of HS2 construction, but based on Google maps, it might be difficult as there are walls up around all the construction sites. I would need to go somewhere up high to get good photos.

I've spent the last couple weeks binge watching Geoff Marshall and staring at the Tube network on Google maps basically just familiarizing myself with the network..

Interesting to note. If you go on the satellite view on Google maps, I believe you can actually see where HS2 is being constructed between London and Birmingham. Really exemplifies the sheer scale of this project.

I was considering taking a day trip to somewhere outside of London such as Birmingham, but train tickets are VERY expensive in Britain. I went on the Avanti West Coast website and they wanted to charge me over £100 one way, which is well over $100 CAD. A round trip to Birmingham would have cost me well over $200 CAD. Probably closer to $300. The currency exchange rate between CAD and GBP is killing me. Worst than USD.

 

[nfitz]

Train fares in the UK are absurdly high - best thing to do is book days and weeks in advance. Something we can look forward to if they actually do ever build HFR.

Coach is probably the best value option - especially for something like London to Birmingham.