MattW
Conductor
I know the Tier-III standards aren't finalized yet, but a friend of mine made me think about something. I know Tier-I is what everything but the Acelas are and are limited to 125mph. I know Tier-II is what the Acelas are. And I know the hope is that Tier-III will allow something like SIemens's Velaros. But do the last two tiers require semi/permanently coupled trainsets? For instance, in theory under Tier-III, could Amtrak or California California or California HSR order a bunch of Tier-III coaches and run the Regionals at greater than 125mph? I know there are other issues around that such as signaling, track, locomotives, etc. but is it even theoretically possible?
