How is the train powered?
The technology uses electricity to power the locomotive. While this is a more efficient system than the present Diesel powered locomotives, electric power supplies in California are becoming a serious challenge. Alternative, renewable energy is presently more expensive than that from conventional sources. The state grid is “maxed” out. Power infrastructure development is running far behind growing demand. Contrary to the implied message from the train promoters, electric power is neither free nor plentiful. Travel by rail becomes more competitive in areas of higher population density or where gasoline is expensive, because conventional trains are more fuel efficient than cars (though sometimes less fuel efficient than buses). Very few high-speed trains consume diesel or other fossil fuels but the power stations that provide electric trains with power can consume fossil fuels. In Japan and France, where the most extensive high speed rail networks exist, a large proportion of electricity
