[KamiCrit]

Bring on the light rail revolution. North America desperately needs more light rail options. High speed as well, but one step at a time.

[gok]

This isn't about light rail. This is about allowing lighter train cars--that aren't designed to survive collisions with freight trains--on regional rail lines.

[chrisseaton]

> that aren't designed to survive collisions with freight trains

They are designed to survive collision with freight trains. In Europe we also have freight trains on our passenger tracks. They're just designed to survive them in a different way - by deforming to absorb impact rather than being rigid to resist it.

[ams6110]

And many regional lines are also freight lines.

[bobthepanda]

Don't forget heavy rail and regional rail! European EMUs and DMUs will go a long way towards making passenger rail in the US feasible again.

It's ridiculous how few places in the US have even considered subway anymore. Seattle's light rail, for example, is pretty much a subway except for one at-grade segment.

[Shivetya]

because of cost. seattle's system is a multi billion dollar boondoggle. costs for just three stations went up by half a billion dollars on a current expansion that was to only cost two billion. systems like Seattle's burn through so much money because politicians in the local area get to decide who gets service and how instead of focusing on who needs service and where. then throw in the billions that system is already backlogged on maintenance and it will fold under its own weight if not cut back services on other parts to pay for the rail.

If you took all the money people spent to buy, maintain, and insure, their vehicles, then topped it off with the money the highway fund put into the roads to support it the cost per mile is one third what mass transit it costing.

light rail isn't flexible to the needs of a changing city. it however appeals to a romantic version of transit that does not exist nor did it ever outside of two or three cities in the world of which only one is in the US though if you push it Chicago can almost count. Instead it benefits politicians who love ribbon cutting and paying off contributors.

[ams6110]

I don't think the rolling stock is anywhere near the top of the list of reasons that passenger rail doesn't work in most of the US.

This change will benefit regional systems that are already established but I don't see it making much of a difference beyond that.

[masonic]

Light rail is the worst of both worlds: the slowness of a bus with the route inflexibility and capital expense of rail.

Silicon Valley's VTA Light Rail has the worst rate of return of any transit agency in the country, if not the world.

[tim333]

The Docklands Light Railway has worked quite well. It gets you from A to B much quicker than a bus although the top speed is not high, by avoiding jams etc. It's also driverless unlike the busses.

[prolikewh0a]

Where's the funding going to come from? USA has no money for infrastructure. MTA is struggling in NYC. Seattle's light rail is going to be completed in 2041+ and is being paid through a regressive car tab tax. I think it's a pipe dream that rail or transit will ever be improved other than very modestly in the USA.

Plenty of money and land for pipelines though https://i.imgur.com/IdwIHQB.gif

[chiefalchemist]

In other words, if we can become less dependant on oil / natural gas (i.e. pipelines for them) we'll have more money for mass transportation. The irony is, our love of personal transportation is foregoing our transition to trains and such.

[com2kid]

Seattle's light rail is coming online one station at a time. As each station is brought onboard, ridership explodes in the surrounding community.

Tokyo's railway was built up over more than a century, infrastructure takes time.

[provolone]

According to the article, this change should make rail cars cheaper.