pometablava said:
Some thoughts on the BBC story:
The costs given for the California High Speed Rail (CAHSR) are not to be trusted. Originally promised to cost $35-37 billion, the cost estimates s had ballooned to over $110 billion with no end in sight. When Gov. Brown stepped into the fray, the cost magically shrank to $68 billion. A few weeks later, after the press died down, it was discovered how that price was reached: The average speed of the trains was lowered, 220mph is now only a peak speed that doesn't have to be sustained for any time to meet their new claims. There is no schedule now for when if ever the promised SF to LA trip time will be achieved. There is no plan for where the power to run the trains is going to come from. In fact, the train segment for which they're hoping to start construction next month does not have any power to electrify the trains. That's OK, there's no provision for actual trains, either. The promise to build profitable segments during the construction has been abandoned. The land acquisition price has been artificially lowered, etc. Even the new price claims are being widely questioned. The fare estimate is not based on the costs of the system or cost recovery, but rather simply as a percentage of whatever the airlines happen to be charging,
So, for a more accurate comparison the Hyperloop should be compared against a $110 billion system.
That said, CAHSR proposes 11-12 stations on the SF-LA route (got to spread the tax money around among the local politicos, you know), while Hyperloop has only two. Also, I must look with a jaundiced eye on Musk's assumption of an average 120 W/sq. meter from the solar panels. When you allow for the times when the panels aren't getting the absolute maximum solar radiation, the times the panels aren't clean, the conversion efficiency, storage for low solar activity (e.g. night) and assuming zero transmission loss (i.e. the solar panel energizes only the area directly under it), etc. that seems a really high figure. Of course, he does say he'll tap the power grid when solar power snit available.
This could be interesting to watch.
) a rocket being used to speed up the postal service. OK, what we ended up with (the internet) is maybe less spectacular but a lot more useful. All this is a long-winded way of questioning the [long-term] need for such things. Maybe in the future, long distance travel will be a purely leisure activity? Maybe this system will have use in cargo transport?
