[4K] - Full Ride - Austin's CapMetro Rail - Northbound - Downtown - Leander

[@oneshotfan]

wow it's SO slow in the beginning they should at least speed it up to 15-30mph, and the top speeds are so slow- it's a commuter rail it should at least be running 70mph in between suburban stations

[@OliversElevators]

To address your first point: it’s really slow in the beginning due to the track geometry and the signaling system. The tracks from downtown to Plaza Saltillo (and all the way to MLK, to a lesser extent) are quite curvy and there are a lot of pedestrian and road crossings, all of which limit the safe speed of trains to about 20mph. In addition, the PTC signaling system restricts trains to 10mph near Downtown station due to the number of switches and sharp curves that trains might have to negotiate to enter or leave the station, so the speed starts out at 10mph leaving Downtown station and then jumps up to 20mph once the train is clear of the switches. They can’t really increase train speeds in this area without risking knocking over standing passengers in the train. It’s very common for commuter rail systems to start off at very slow speeds near their big terminus stations with lots of switches.
To your second point, speed between suburban stations is also largely limited by track geometry. The Red Line was built on existing freight rail tracks which weren’t exactly designed for high-speed passenger operations. Thus, these tracks have some sharper curves and less tilt on said curves than passenger rail tracks might, so trains can’t safely navigate most of the line at speeds higher than 40 or 50 mph. The exception is on the final stretch between Cedar Park and Leander, where the perfectly-straight track could theoretically handle speeds closer to 80 mph. CapMetro originally planned to run trains at 75 mph in this area, but because the Red Line uses lightweight European DMUs, the FRA restricted their speed to 60 mph for safety reasons. This is the fastest that Red Line trains can run, unfortunately.
Does all that make sense? Essentially, train speeds are mostly limited by track geometry due to the fact that the tracks weren’t purpose-built for passenger rail operations.

[@oneshotfan]

@@OliversElevatorsyeah i get that but still there are stretches that could probably be improved on like mckalla-kramer (unless there was construction going on at the time of filming)

[@oneshotfan]

i also wasn't aware that the curve geometry was that bad, ty for letting me know

[@OliversElevators]

@@oneshotfan McKalla to Kramer is another example of the PTC signaling system restricting train speeds. In this video, the cammer is on board a northbound train that is approaching a red signal at Kramer which protects a switch that transitions the two-track mainline back to one track. The signal stays red until the southbound train heading to Downtown clears the switch, at which point the northbound can continue onto the single track mainline.
As the northbound train approaches McKalla (and the red signal at Kramer), the PTC system begins forcing it to slow down to ensure it doesn’t overrun past the red signal. This slowdown begins at the 26:00 minute mark and ends once the train reaches 10mph. After the train stops at McKalla, it’s still under that 10mph speed restriction until the red signal at Kramer changes to green. In this video, the signal doesn’t change until the 31:03 mark (listen for the three beeps coming from the driver’s cab). Once the signal changes, the train can resume normal track speed. Essentially, northbound trains get slowed down by the PTC system from McKalla to Kramer to ensure they don’t overrun past the red signal at Kramer.
Fun fact: this was never an issue until the PTC signaling system was installed in 2020. Before PTC, trains were able to fly through the area at track speed and the engineers were trusted not to blow past the red signal at Kramer. Not anymore, unfortunately.