| Top Commercial Speed: | 200mph, 320km/h |
| To be introduced: | 2004 |
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| Source: Official FOX site |
The Florida Overland Express will be the USAs first very high speed project. It is still in the planning stages and is sheduled to be operational in 2004. It will run Tampa-Orlando-Miami. The Orlando-Tampa will have a 55 minute journey time, and Orlando-Miami will have a journey time of 1 hour 26 minutes.
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| Above: Thalys PBKA top speed 200mph (320km/h) |
The trains used on the line will be identicle to TGV Thalys PBKA train sets, with a top speed of 200mph (320km/h). Already such trains are operating at up to 186mph (300km/h) on the high speed line between Paris and Brussels in Europe. These trains were chosen based on their proven technology. TGVs have an exceptional record for saftey, reliability and efficiency.
Tampa and Orlando are 85 miles (136km) apart. With a 55 minute journey time that is an average of only 93mph (148km/h), which is incredibly low considering this will be dedicated track
Orlando and Miami are 228 miles (365km). The 1 hour 26 minute journey time gives an average speed of a much more impressive 159mph (255km/h), which just beats France's current fastest service of 158mph (254km/h), although not quite as fast as the 164mph (262km/h)from Japan.
I cannot find any reason for this apparent discrepency in average speeds. It will be interesting to see if once operation commences these Journey time projections will be accurate
Building a brand new railway line in the world's least rail-friendly country is by any measure a risky business, and some suggest this will be a financial disaster. Building a new railway line is a very large infrastructure project, and there are those that say the situation in the USA is completely different to that in Europe and Japan. Nevertheless I think it is a good idea, even though it may be hard I believe every effort should be made to bring fast trains to the USA. Hopefully if successful this will lead to other high speed rail projects in America.
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