Traveling in comfort and style could be on the horizon for those in California, according to renderings for the California High-Speed Rail.
A series of mock-ups released by the California High-Speed Rail Authority provided a glimpse of potential interiors for the train that will travel at 220 mph between Merced and Bakersfield. The digital renderings included images of "cocoon" seating with pull-down privacy dividers, two-across and three-across seating with a table in between facing rows, and a beach-themed play area for families.
The California High-Speed Rail Authority also displayed a plywood train mock-up at Cal Expo, allowing focus-group members to give feedback regarding the design, which is not set in stone.
CA High-Speed Rail (@CaHSRA) shared a "quick preliminary design walk-through" of the train's interior, which included a passenger capacity of 900, 32-inch wide aisles, and wheelchair accessibility, and a designer provided a deeper dive.
Check out this quick preliminary design walk-through of California's train interiors. Options in mobility is what high-speed rail is all about!
— CA High-Speed Rail 🚄💨 (@CaHSRA) January 26, 2024
👪 ~900 passenger capacity
💺 32 inch wide aisles
♿ Wheelchair accessible, end to end#FactFriday #California4All #BuildHSR pic.twitter.com/cV9qneNoyz
High-speed rails can be much more beneficial to our environment than other ways of getting around. By taking such public transportation, we can help cut down on congestion, increase mobility across the country, and reduce harmful pollution that comes from cars and planes, as various transportation organizations point out. High-speed rails can also be economically beneficial, as a report in Spain found.
While China already has incredibly smooth high-speed rails that move at 215 mph and connect over 28,000 miles of country, the United States has plans for projects in Florida and California-Nevada — while funding and further exploration of rail options has also increased.
America is full of car-centric cities, and the cost that comes with the construction of high-speed rails can be exorbitant. Some estimates have all of the California projects put together costing upward of $100 billion.
While work on the California high-speed rail continues, it could be a while before we see these renderings of the trains themselves come to life.
"There is a long process to be navigated from these initial concepts to the actual trains to be built," the news release from Trains.com reds.
While the high costs and long timelines of construction deter enthusiasm in some, the prospect of smooth, comfortable, and efficient travel has excited others as an important and worthwhile investment.
"I'm so excited about the potential of this," one X user said.
"WOW - Superior to traveling by car & far superior to traveling by plane... can't wait," another user wrote.
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