Wow, that's like pornography for train buffs. And the Berlin-school trance music seems like an appropriate soundtrack for German high-speed trains.

 

That's Corderoy's "Sweetest Dreams" remix by Ferry Corsten - very similar to the type of music I put in my iPod playlist (er, soundtrack) for riding trains in Europe. Too bad that song isn't on iTunes!

 

That settles it. I'm going to Europe next year.

 

You gotta go. No rail advocate's life is complete without a visit. You will not be the same afterwards.

here's the wonderful new crossrail subway project, which will make getting across london even easier:

 

 

Welcome to Crossrail

 

Crossrail is the new high frequency, convenient and accessible railway for London and the South East. From 2017 Crossrail will travel from Maidenhead and Heathrow in the west to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east via new twin tunnels under central London. It will link Heathrow Airport, the West End, the City of London and Canary Wharf.

 

Crossrail will make travelling in the region easier and quicker. It will reduce crowding on London's transport network. It will operate with main line size trains, carrying more than 1500 passengers in each train during peak periods.

 

Crossrail will deliver substantial economic benefits in London, the South-East and across the UK. The estimated benefit of Crossrail to the UK economy is at least £36 billion (TfL figures, May 2006).

 

Royal Assent was given to the Crossrail Act in July 2008 giving Crossrail Ltd the authority to build the railway.

 

Preliminary works have commenced and are continuing during 2009. Main construction will start in 2010.

 

 

more:

http://www.crossrail.co.uk/

 

I know it's Canada. But it's overseas. The Great Lakes are inland seas...

 

http://www.railwayage.com//content/view/918/121/

 

June 9, 2009

VIA Rail CEO: We’re ready for high speed rail role

 

VIA Rail President and CEO Paul Cote says the passenger railroad is prepared for any role in high speed rail pursued by the Canadian government. While waiting, VIA will continue improving its existing system, tapping new capital investment of C$900 million (about US$800 million) since 2007.

 

 

"The current investment of $900 million that the government has allowed us to do will help to continue to build that foundation, because that is the key, when the high speed systems comes into play, if the government goes ahead," said Cote, testified last week before Parliament on high speed rail matters. "The ridership of the franchise needs to be built to achieve that."

 

Cote told the House of Commons Transport Committee that VIA Rail ridership has increased 33%, and revenue has risen 110%, since 1990 as infrastructure and service improvements have been put in place.

 

...........

 

For now, VIA Rail will continue to use trains that travel up to 160 km/h (100mph) on the Quebec City-Windsor corridor, along rights-of-way shared with freight operations.  

IBM Opens Rail Center In Beijing; Eyes China's Rail Spending

 

June 11, 2009: 03:15 AM ET

 

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200906110315DOWJONESDJONLINE000416_FORTUNE5.htm

 

BEIJING -(Dow Jones)- International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) opened a Global Rail Innovation Center in Beijing Thursday, in a bid to profit from increased spending on rail infrastructure in China and around the world.

 

IBM is setting its sights on rail projects as businesses worldwide tap public stimulus spending to supplement faltering private demand.

 

Keith Dierkx, the new director of the center, said in an interview the current buildout of rail systems is a "once in a generation opportunity," similar to the interstate highway program in the U.S. in the 1950s, and before that, the drive to extend railroads across the U.S.

 

China's massive public spending plan also offers opportunities for information technology companies in other areas. In April, IBM launched a health care solutions lab aiming to take a chunk of the $124 billion that Beijing will spend to upgrade its health care system over the next three years.

 

.............

I rode this line a couple of times in 2007 when construction works were in full swing on the new alignment which was right next to the old. Pretty amazing to watch it from the front-row seat of a passing ICE train...

 

Belgium officially opened its 42km high-speed line between Liège and the German border on June 12. The Euros 830 million 250km/h line is electrified at 25kV ac, with 14km of upgraded 160km/h 3kV dc tracks connecting it to the conventional networks.

 

The route crosses difficult terrain and required four pre-cast concrete viaducts carried on V-shaped piers, of which the longest is 1.3km. The line also includes a mainly bored tunnel between Vaux-sous-Chèvremont and Soumagne, which at 6.5km is the longest railway tunnel in Belgium.

 

The route then crosses the Hammer viaduct, which was reconstructed as part of this project, before crossing the German border and running through the 711m Busch tunnel to Aachen over tracks upgraded for 160km/h running. Trains change between left and right-hand running near Aachen.

 

The new line will be used exclusively by international high-speed services. Three German Rail (DB) ICE services started operating on the new line in June and the line will also be used by six Paris-Brussels-Cologne Thalys services from December. Journey times between Brussels and Cologne have been reduced by 19min to 1h 57min, and the Liège - Cologne journey time has been cut by 22min to 1h 1min. The infrastructure was completed last year, but opening was been delayed until communication compatibility with Alstom's Atlas ETCS Level 2 had been achieved.

 

The centrepiece of the line is a new steel, glass and concrete station at Liège Guillemins, which has been designed by Mr Santiago Calatrava and is will open in September. Its five platforms serve nine tracks and are covered by a glass and steel dome 170m long and 35m high. The platforms of the old station were too narrow and curved and will be demolished when the new station opens.

 

_______________________

 

Here's some pictures I took of the construction work:

 

The new station at Liège, Belgium under construction (pulled off the video)...

 

 

This is a section that was being realigned for higher trains speeds between Aachen and Koln, er Cologne (again, pulled off the video)...

 

 

 

 

Construction of a new Buschtunnel next to the old one (built in the 1840s!). The new tunnel will have one track while the old two-track tunnel was completely rebuilt but now has just one track through it. Despite all this construction work, our trains were delayed only 15 minutes in each direction...

 

Look at the size of this tunnel boring machine...

 

http://www.railjournal.com/newsflash/breakthrough-in-gotthard-base-tunnel.html

 

Breakthrough in Gotthard base tunnel       

Wednesday, June 17, 2009 

 

CONSTRUCTION of Switzerland's 57km Gotthard Base Tunnel reached a milestone on June 16, with the breakthrough of tunnel boring machines on the Erstfeld-Amsteg section. Gabi 1, one of the two tunnel-boring machines at work on this section, cut through 7.2km of rock in just 18 months, six months less than anticipated.

 

A total of 133 km, 87% of the twin-bore Gotthard tunnel has now been completed. The final breakthrough between Sedrun and Faido is scheduled for the beginning of 2011, and the tunnel will open to traffic in 2017.

 

http://www.citymayors.com/transport/trams-europe.html

 

Trams in Kassel, Germany,

use the same tracks as

railways

 

Trams in Nantes, France,

will be integrated into a

regional railway net

 

 

European cities introduce new tram-train technology

By Brian Baker, Senior Correspondent

 

3 June 2009: Interest in deploying the tram-trains concept is growing across Europe during the present period. As all tiers of government grapple with the challenges of beating congestion whilst also cutting carbon emissions this approach, which combines proven technologies, is attractive. By combining heavy rail routes with tramways they allow passengers to access key destinations in city centres from suburbs without making a change and attract people who previously used cars thus cutting congestion and emissions.

 

Germany pioneered the utilisation of combining heavy rail and street running fixed link systems but in the last few years there has also been an upsurge of interest elsewhere. Several schemes are in the construction phase in France and a trial is underway in the UK.

 

The trial in the UK is being jointly managed by the Ministry of Transport, rail infrastructure owner Network Rail and train operations franchisee Northern Rail. Northern Rail is jointly owned by Serco and NedRail. Northern Rail Chief Executive Heidi Mottram said “ We at Northern Rail are a can do company and we were keen to take part in this trial because we thought tram trains could provide something new which could add to what we were doing.”

 

.....

I just rode this line in May (as well as two years when GNER had it, along with the c2c service in East Anglia that is mentioned here). But the NXEC trains run every few minutes -- all very full with some packed to the doors, so I'm not sure what the problem is...

 

http://www.railjournal.com/newsflash/british-government-takes-over-nxec-franchise.html

 

British government takes over NXEC franchise       

 

NATIONAL Express (NE) is to be stripped of the British Intercity East Coast passenger franchise (NXEC) by the Department for Transport (DfT) after NE confirmed funding will run out later this year.

 

The franchise operates long-distance trains on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) from London King’s Cross to Leeds, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Inverness, and was due to run until 2015 with premium payments totalling £1.4 billion over its life.

 

 

.........

Here's some pictures I shot in Bristol, England, in March 2008 just prior to my 125 mph ride on a diesel-powered train to London over the Great Western Mainline, the oldest continually operating rail line in the world. Looks like diesels are endangered species here based on the article below....

 

Interior of a train that travels between London - Reading - Bristol - Cardiff - Swansea...

 

 

 

Proof that I was there!

 

 

 

These diesel-powered trains travel south from Bristol to the English Channel cities of Torquay/Paignton, Plymouth, Penzance and other lines. The one closest to me is a Bombardier-built train that regularly travels at 100 mph+...

 

 

 

Exterior of the Briston station...

 

 

London Paddington Station, where Great Western trains (one is seen at right side of the platform I'm standing on, with a Heathrow Express seen on the left side of the platform) end up at the eastern end of their 125 mph sprints...

 

 

http://www.railjournal.com/newsflash/british-government-announces-electrification-programme.html

 

British government announces electrification programme

Thursday, July 23, 2009

 

BRITISH transport secretary Lord Andrew Adonis has announced plans for the country's first major electrification project for more than two decades. Planning will start immediately on the electrification of the Great Western Main Line (GWML) from London to Bristol, Cardiff and Swansea, together with the lines from Reading to Newbury and Didcot to Oxford. The £1 billion project will be implemented in phases, with the final section due for completion in 2017, when London - Swansea journey times will be reduced by 19 minutes.

 

The project will include resignalling with the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), the first application of this technology on a British mainline.

 

The electrification of the GWML is being timed to coincide with the introduction of Britain's new-generation intercity passenger train, the Super Express Train (SET), which will be supplied by the Agility Trains consortium. The 200km/h SETs will be built by Hitachi in electric, diesel, and bi-mode versions, and a fleet of 70 pre-series vehicles will be delivered in 2012, with the first production trains entering service in 2015. The Great Western SET fleet will include a number of bi-mode trains, which will be used for services from London to destinations away from the electrified network, such as Carmarthen, Cheltenham, Worcester, and Penzance.

 

.......

Trains go nowhere and nobody rides them!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STNWc7Rlpfk

 

Remind me never to complain about the Lexington Avenue subway again...

A huge, electrically powered light-rail rail network in the UAE, an oil-exporting country? If the oil dealer can start the transition to the post-oil economy, why can't the world's biggest oil addict make the change?

 

 

http://www.railjournal.com/newsflash/abu-dhabi-lrt-to-open-in-2014.html

 

Abu Dhabi LRT to open in 2014

Wednesday, July 29, 2009 

 

ABU DHABI Department of Transport (DoT) has launched an international tender for the detailed design of the city's planned light rail network, which will eventually extend to 340km. The study is expected to take 18 months to complete and Mr Hashim Al Hashemi, director of the DoT's Public Transport Department, says the first line will open in 2014.

 

The $US 3 billion light rail network is a central element of Abu Dhabi's ambitious Surface Transport Master Plan, which also envisages the construction of a 130km metro network by 2030.

 

The initial 42.5km section of the metro from Abu Dhabi International Airport to Capital City, Saadiyat and Reem is due to open in 2015. Around 19km of the line will be in bored tunnel, with 16.2km in cut-and-cover tunnel, 4.9km on viaduct and 2.1km at grade.

 

Abu Dhabi's population is expected to increase from 900,000 to 3.2 million by 2030, and the existing road network is expected to reach capacity in 2015. 

Another cool project in Toronto...

 

http://www.rtands.com/breaking_news.shtml#Feature7-8-04

 

July 31, 2009

Metrolinx completes first stage of transit project assessment

 

Metrolinx issued the Notice of Completion for the Georgetown South Service Expansion project, including the Union-Pearson Rail Link, under the Province of Ontario's Transit Project Assessment Process. Over the past seven months, Metrolinx has consulted extensively with neighborhood organizations and individual citizens along the rail corridor.

 

..........

 

The extensive consultation process engaged the public in this transit expansion project and brought forth ideas. Metrolinx responded to these suggestions by incorporating significant changes in the Environment Project Report including:

 

• A new Strachan Avenue bridge design that minimizes the impact to the adjacent community and provides beautification opportunities

• Preservation of the iconic Farmer's Market at its current location in Weston

• Plans to extend the West Toronto Rail Path and connect other cycling plans along the corridor in the future

• Keeping streets open in the Weston and Liberty Village neighborhoods where possible

• Designing the new pedestrian bridge over the John Street rail crossing in Weston as part of a new community vision

• Facilitating community revitalization opportunities afforded by the new Weston GO Transit station.

 

The proposed transit expansion will bring vastly improved service to the west-end of Toronto, Mississauga and Brampton. The project will build the infrastructure needed to run more frequent and convenient GO Transit services to connect communities and meet growing demand for more train trips. It will also accommodate a much needed rail connection between Pearson International Airport and Union Station.

 

 

......

This is actually a photo from my collection, not from the Guardian....

 

 

Government unveils high-speed rail plan to ground short flights

Replacing plane journeys with ultra-fast train services 'manifestly in the public interest', transport secretary says

 

Dan Milmo and Julian Glover, The Guardian - published under license by, BusinessGreen, 05 Aug 2009

 

The government has made the demise of domestic air travel an explicit policy target for the first time by aiming to replace short-haul flights with a new 250mph high-speed rail network.

 

The transport secretary, Lord Adonis, said switching 46 million domestic air passengers a year to a multibillion-pound north-south rail line was "manifestly in the public interest". Marking a government shift against aviation, Adonis added that rail journeys should be preferred to plane trips.

 

.......

High-speed rail in Spain: From Madrid to Barcelona in a flash

Giles Tremlett

guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 5 August 2009 23.10 BST

 

Ana Portet has had an unusual commute to work. At 7.30am she popped down to Sants railway station in Barcelona. Three hours later she was in a meeting with colleagues from her brewery firm, 315 miles away in Madrid.

 

"I'll be back in Barcelona by half past five," she said as her early afternoon bullet train flew back along the new high-speed tracks at up to 210mph. "It's so quick, sometimes you are there before you have even noticed."

 

Portet is one of hundreds of thousands of travellers who have migrated from the world's busiest air shuttle, linking Madrid and Barcelona, to what is now Spain's most popular train, the high-speed AVE.

 

.........

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/05/high-speed-rail-spain-travel

China's amazing new bullet train

This year Beijing will spend $50 billion on what will soon be the world's biggest high-speed train system. Here's how it works.

By Bill Powell, CNNMoney, August 6, 2009

 

(Fortune Magazine) -- When lunch break comes at the construction site between Shanghai and Suzhou in eastern China, Xi Tong-li and his fellow laborers bolt for some nearby trees and the merciful slivers of shade they provide. It's 95 degrees and humid -- a typically oppressive summer day in southeastern China -- but it's not just mad dogs and Englishmen who go out in the midday sun.

 

Xi is among a vast army of workers in China -- according to Beijing's Railroad Ministry, 110,000 were laboring on a single line, the Beijing-Shanghai route, at the beginning of 2009 -- who are building one of the largest infrastructure projects in history: a nationwide high-speed passenger rail network that, once completed, will be the largest, fastest, and most technologically sophisticated in the world.

 

.......

UK plan: Cut short-haul flights, add high speed trains 

 

 

Britain's transport Secretary, Lord Andrew Adonis, has proposed a plan to create a network of 250-mph trains that would "progressively replace" short-haul flights.

 

"For reasons of carbon reduction and wider environmental benefits, it is manifestly in the public interest that we systematicallyreplace short-haul aviation with high speed rail," said Lord Adonis. Apublic-private partnership is envisioned.

 

He said a new company, High Speed Two, will plan the firstphase of the network, an $11.6 billion line between London andBirmingham.

 

As elsewhere, funding could be a problem. According to TheGuardian, Lord Adonis acknowledged doubts over potential a line from Londonto Glasgow costing $48 billion.

 

He also said: "Other countries which have made highspeed rail a priority have found it affordable by allocating long-terminfrastructure funding to it. The French have decided to allocate 16 billion euros [$22.6 billion] tohigh speed rail between now and 2020. It looks to me the more you build itthe cheaper it becomes."

 

http://www.railwayage.com/breaking-news/uk-plan-cut-short-haul-flights-add-high-speed-trains.html

From the song of the same name, Nooz.... Look back three messages.

China increases commitment to rail infrastructure  

 

 

China will invest more than $100 billion per year in rail construction on average during the next three years, an increase from a previously announced increase to roughly $88 billion this year, Vice Railway Minister Wang Zhiguo said in published remarks.

 

 

Wang also said the ministry would seek approval for 20,000 kilometers (12,400 miles) of additional rail construction, requiring a total investment of more than 2 trillion yuan, or roughly $280 billion, by the end of next year.

 

China has said it seeks to expand its rail network topromote economic growth and ease transport bottlenecks. It hopes to upgrade or put in place 86,000 kilometers (53,320 miles) of rail by year’s end, expanding to 110,000 kilometers (68,200 miles) by 2012.

 

http://www.railwayage.com/breaking-news/china-increases-commitment-to-rail-infrastructure.html

Remarkable....

How to accelerate from Third World to First World status...

 

http://www.railwayage.com/breaking-news/vietnam-taps-japan-for-hsr-technology.html

 

Vietnam taps Japan for HSR technology 

Aug. 24, 2009

 

Vietnam Railways says it will use Japanese high speed rail technology for its proposed HSR route linking Ho Chi Minh City with Hanoi, the capital. Vietnam may seek funds from Japan’s official development assistance program, as well as from the Asia Development Bank and the World Bank, to advance the project.

 

Work on the $56 billion, 1,560-kilometer (967-mile) line is scheduled to begin in 2020, and would be standard gauge, as opposed to the narrow gauge (1,000 mm, or 3feet, 3/8-inches) rail line  currently linking the two cities.

 

The announcement by Vietnam Railways, made August 17, prompted gains in shares of several Japanese companies on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, including Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Kinki Sharyo, and Nippon Sharyo.

http://www.railjournal.com/newsflash/hsl-south-to-open-on-7-september.html

 

HSL South to open on 7 September       

Tuesday, August 25, 2009 

 

NS HISPEED says it will begin operating its interim 160km/h Amsterdam - Rotterdam service via HSL South on 7 September, marking the start of commercial operations on the troubled high-speed line. Trains will run hourly on weekdays using Bombardier Traxx locomotives and seven ICR coaches, with the 72km journey taking 39-43 minutes.

 

NS Hispeed also has announced that Amsterdam - Brussels - Paris Thalys services will be diverted over both sections of HSL South from December 13 running at 160km/h between Amsterdam Schiphol Airport and Rotterdam, and 300km/h on the Rotterdam - Antwerp leg.

 

Trial running using the first two of AnsaldoBreda V250 emus on HSL-Zuid and in Belgium's started recently, with tests focussing on ERTMS performance and Technical Specifications of Interoperability (TSI). Amsterdam - Breda/Brussels services should start up from the third quarter of next year under the brand-name ‘Fyra'. NS Hispeed expects to achieve a 35% market share on the Amsterdam - Rotterdam route by 2011.

 

http://www.railjournal.com/newsflash/network-rail-releases-high-speed-study.html

 

Network Rail releases high-speed study       

Wednesday, August 26, 2009 

 

BRITISH infrastructure manager Network Rail (NR) has revealed its vision of a high-speed line from London to northern England and Scotland in a study that claims high-speed rail could almost eradicate domestic air travel.

 

The study suggests the strongest case is for a line from London to Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh, with branches to Birmingham and Liverpool. NR argues the line should not run via Heathrow Airport because it would reduce the value and benefits of the project by £3 billion, adding 15 minutes to journey times, and ‘does not make good financial sense'. NR adds that 90% of air passengers travelling from principal cities on the route to London would switch to high-speed rail.

 

Birmingham would be reached in 46 minutes from London, while Manchester would be 1h 6min, Edinburgh 2h 9min and Glasgow in 2h 16min.

 

The study puts the cost of building the line to Scotland at £15 billion, with £5.4 billion for non-construction costs such as surveys, design, planning and project management. Government guidelines also specify a 66% uplift of £13.5 billion, which is applied to the estimate because the line is at a very early stage of development. With the inclusion of rolling stock and operating, and maintaining the line over 60 years, NR anticipates a total cost of £41.3 billion.

 

NR says the line would generate revenues of £39.4 billion over 60 years, although the projected £16 billion reduction in revenue on existing lines would give a net increase of £23.4 billion. The line is expected to provide almost £55 billion of benefits over this period, meaning it would pay for itself 1.8 times over.

 

High Speed 2, a company set up by the government to look at options for a high-speed line north of London, will present the findings of its own study later this year.

you go brazil...fast! :clap:

 

 

 

Brazil to Start Building $18 Billion Train in 2010, Agency Says

 

 

By Carla Simoes and Andre Soliani

 

Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Brazil will start building an $18 billion high-speed train linking the country's two most populous cities in the second half of next year, the head of the country's land transportation regulator said.

 

Companies from Japan, South Korea, Spain and France will probably submit bids to build the railway bridging the 446 kilometers (227 miles) between Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro and operate it for 40 years, Bernardo Figueiredo, head of the National Agency of Land Transportation, known as ANTT, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Brasilia.

 

The winner of the auction, scheduled for no later than the beginning of the next year, will have to grant Brazilian companies access to technology used in the train, he said. The construction and operation of the railway may create as many as 30,000 jobs.

 

The project seeks to change the transportation structure between the two cities, Figueiredo said. It is a new technology that is being implemented in all the world.

 

In the first half of 2008, more than 3 million people took the 45-minute flight between the two cities, which by bus are about 5 1/2 hours apart. The high-speed train trip will take about two hours.

 

........

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=acbUbC5Dm7g4

 

I moved the above article from "What other states are doing" to this thread.

 

That route seems like a perfect corridor for high-speed rail. Two huge, densely developed population centers within 227 miles of each other, with already extensive passenger rail services within those cities. But I don't believe there are any passenger trains between those cities. The only rail line is very indirect and used only by freight trains. I hear that most people fly between Rio and Sao Paulo as the bus takes something like eight hours to travel through the rugged countryside. So many people fly that, at peak travel hours, the air shuttles take off every five to 10 minutes!

 

 

BTW, a little bit of Brazilian railroading came to Cleveland almost exactly a year ago as MRS Logistica, the railroad which travels between Sao Paulo and Rio, ordered General Electric locomotives. They are built in Erie, PA and were shipped to Cleveland, then to the Port of Baltimore to be put on a ship to Brazil.

 

Here is a photo of their new locomotives, sitting on flatcars at the Cleveland Scale Track awaiting their next move...

 

http://www.railpictures.net/images/d1/9/8/3/2983.1221398389.jpg

Dubai's new Metro at 818 MPH

$8 billion in the federal stimulus for railroads is an unprecedented investment for the US. But here comes little ol' UAE which could soon out-invest that. Ironically, we view the UAE as the oil production powerhouse with lots of money to spend, but the US produces more than three times as much oil per year....

 

http://www.railjournal.com/newsflash/uae-railway-construction-to-start-next-year.html

 

UAE Railway construction to start next year       

Thursday, October 01, 2009 

 

CONSTRUCTION will begin next year on a rail network that will link seven of the kingdoms of the United Arab Emirates. The newly-appointed chairman of the Union Railway Company (URC) Mr Hussain Jasem Al Nowais, says tenders will be issued in the first quarter of 2010 for the initial phase, which involves construction of a 574km line from Ghuweifat, on the Saudi/Abu Dhabi border, to Jebel Ali port near Dubai. This line will be extended to Khor Fakkan in Sharjah on the Gulf of Oman. A second line will link Abu Dhabi with Al Ain near the border with Oman.

 

A 1100km network is planned at an estimated cost of Dirhams 25-30 billion ($US 6.8-8.2 billion. Each emirate will finance the construction of the line within its own territory, although the UAE government-owned URC will own the assets of the railway when it has been completed. URC will also be responsible for procuring rolling stock, and the operation of freight and passenger services.

 

The construction of the UAE Railway is central to the planned Gulf States Railway, which will eventually link Kuwait with Muscat.

Here's an awesome yet disturbing article.....

 

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/david_sarasohn/index.ssf/2009/10/us_is_on_a_low-speed_track_to.html

 

U.S. is on a low-speed track to high-speed rail

By David Sarasohn, The Oregonian

October 01, 2009, 5:11PM

 

Celebrating our victory in the Cold War — how we’ve done since then is a little more complicated — we like to think about the unfortunate Russians, these days watching their Soviet-era infrastructure crumble and slowly riding nowhere on the Trans-Siberian Railroad.

 

  In fact, some people were discussing that just the other day — on the brand-new high-speed rail system between Moscow and St. Petersburg. What they were discussing was the country that really has transportation problems.

 

    As Ansgar Brockmeyer, head of public transit business for Siemens, the German company that built the new line, explained to The New York Times, the United States “is a developing country in terms of rail .¤.¤.”

 

    That’s us. Leading the world in cell phone game applications, but the Namibia of high-speed trains.

 

Read the rest at:

 

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/david_sarasohn/index.ssf/2009/10/us_is_on_a_low-speed_track_to.html

http://www.railjournal.com/newsflash/rzd-plans-major-passenger-rail-investment.html

 

 

RZD plans major passenger rail investment       

Thursday, October 08, 2009 

 

 

RUSSIAN Railways (RZD) has drawn up two investment scenarios for the period 2010-20 for the new Federal Passenger Company (FPC) which it plans to set up as an independent subsidiary responsible for long-distance passenger services. The baseline scenario calls for an investment of Roubles 257.4 billion ($US 8.5 billion) while the ambitious scenario would see Roubles 442.5 billion (almost $US 15 billion) being invested.

 

 

How Japan Profits From China's Plans

Vivian Wai-yin Kwok, 10.26.09, 11:45 PM EDT

 

Japanese train builders and parts suppliers stand to benefit from China's purchase of high-speed rail technology.

 

HONG KONG -- Now that China has chosen Japan's Shinkansen bullet train technology to run along a new high-speed railway between Beijing and Shanghai, Japanese train builders and parts suppliers are seen as major beneficiaries of China's mega-plan to build the world's biggest high-speed rail network by 2012.

 

Shares of Kawasaki Heavy Industries climbed 4.3% Monday after the Nikkei business daily said China's Ministry of Railways had placed orders worth 45 billion yuan ($6.6 billion) with Chinese train manufacturers to build high-speed railway cars. Among those companies who scored a major contract is a locomotive builder in Qingdao that holds a technology licensing agreement with Kawasaki Heavy Industries.

 

http://www.forbes.com/2009/10/26/china-japan-bullet-train-business-logistics-high-speed-rail.html

Italy completes high-speed link

Friday, October 30, 2009

 

THE 630km high-speed line from Turin and Milan to Naples has moved a step closer to completion after Italian Rail Network (RFI) announced it has completed construction of the Gricignano - Naples section. The 19km line is also the final section of the Rome - Salerno high-speed line to be completed, and will open on December 13, when Rome - Naples journey times will fall from 1h 45min to 1h 5min.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.railjournal.com/newsflash/italy-completes-high-speed-link.html

 

As much of a chaotic, bureaucratic and political mess Italy is, they have one heck of a rail system and they're making it even better.  Puts us to shame...

The US is full of half measures.  Living in China is awesome - how do I travel:

1.  Rail

2.  Rail

3.  Rail

4.  Bus

5.  Plane

The US is full of half measures.  Living in China is awesome - how do I travel:

1.  Rail

2.  Rail

3.  Rail

4.  Bus

5.  Plane

 

And your point is?  I travel by rail all the time.  I can go from one house to the other all on public transportation.  bus>plane>train.

 

And your point is? I travel by rail all the time. I can go from one house to the other all on public transportation. bus>plane>train.

 

You should also note that one house is in Cleveland and the other in New York!

 

But I understand Weedrose's point -- China's rail system is multiplying in size and quality in stunning ways.

 

And your point is?  I travel by rail all the time.  I can go from one house to the other all on public transportation.  bus>plane>train.

 

You should also note that one house is in Cleveland and the other in New York!

 

But I understand Weedrose's point -- China's rail system is multiplying in size and quality in stunning ways.

 

True on both points!

OK, so it's on the other side of Lake Erie, an inland sea......

 

VIA Rail improving Chatham-Windsor line, adding Brockville station

Friday, November 13, 2009

 

At a ceremony in the Municipality of Chatham-Kent, Ontario, officials kicked off a major rail infrastructure project to increase and improve the safety, frequency and speed of passenger rail service all along VIA's busy Toronto-Windsor route.

 

The upgrading under way on VIA's 56-kilometer (35-mile) portion of the Chatham Subdivision extends west from Bloomfield to Lacasse and includes:

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.rtands.com/newsflash/via-rail-improving-chatham-windsor-line-adding-brockville-station.html

Obama's $8 billion for passenger rail is awesome. And then Europe reminds us how far much farther we have to go. This is $12 billion just for buying trains in just one country that's just the size of Minnesota and Iowa combined, with a population density just as big as Ohio's.

 

Tell your U.S. Senators you want the House-approved $4 billion for high-speed rail in the 2010 USDOT spending bill.

Go to:  http://www.senate.gov/

 

SNCF, Bombardier in negotiations for HSR trains

 

French National Railways (SNCF) said it is in exclusive negotiations with Bombardier Transportation to acquire a significant order of up to 860 BiLevel high speed rail cars, worth up to $11.98 billion. SNCF hopes to reach agreement by next February, and would expect the first cars to enter service in 2013.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.railwayage.com/breaking-news/sncf-bombardier-in-exclusive-negotiations-for-hsr-gear.html

http://www.railjournal.com/newsflash/trenitalia-to-buy-50-high-speed-trains.html

 

Trenitalia to buy 50 high-speed trains

Tuesday, December 01, 2009 

 

ITALIAN State Railways (FS) subsidiary Trenitalia has invited tenders for a fleet of 50 high-speed trains in a deal that will be worth around Euros 1.2 billion. Bids will be submitted within three months for the fleet of trains, which must be equipped for operation outside Italy.

 

Bombardier will form a consortium with AnsaldoBreda for the contract and will offer its V350 Zefiro train. Alstom, Kawasaki, and Siemens have also been shortlisted.

 

The first train must be delivered within two years of the contract being signed, and the entire fleet should be in service within 36 months.

 

 

China unveils fastest operating route. 390 Km/h.

 

BBC News - World's fastest train unveiled in China

Unveiled: China's 245mph train service is the world's fastest...

and it was  completed in just FOUR years

 

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 1:00 PM on 28th December 2009

 

In the week that Britain's high speed rail link closed down because the wrong sort of snow interfered with the engine's electronics, China unveiled the world's fastest train service on one of the coldest days of the year.

 

Days after thousands of passengers were left stranded when Eurostar services were cancelled, China's new system connects the modern cities of Guangzhou and Wuhan at an average speed of 217mph - and it took just four years to build.

 

The super-high-speed train reduces the 664-mile journey to just a three-hour ride and cuts the previous journey time by more than seven-and-a-half hours, the official Xinhua news agency said.

 

Full story and some great photos at:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1238496/Unveiled-Chinas-245mph-train-service-worlds-fastest--completed-just-FOUR-years.html#

Viewing those pics, the United States should be totally embarrassed.  This modern day grand vision and accomplishment was the US 100 years ago.

It's not too late for the U.S. to get started, but the biggest obstacle is not the design and engineering expertise to make it happen...but the political will to get it started and to follow through with the funding to make it a reality.  The main reason China has been able to move so fast on high-speed rail is that their government (however authoritarian) made it a national priority.... and they are not done yet.

 

When the subject of transportation is raised in Congress and other political arena here, the mentality is still highway and auto-centric.  We still put the bulk of our federal and state transportation dollars into highways and a virtual pittance into transit and passenger rail.  This must change if we are to even approach having the kind of passenger rail systems we are seeing developed overseas.

Op-Ed Contributor

A Trainspotter's Guide to the Future of the World

By PAUL KENNEDY

Published: January 4, 2010

 

Was I irritated that the Chinese, who plan to build a rail network of 18,000 kilometers by 2012, can legitimately claim that they have sprung to the fore in humanity’s train development, overtaking at one leap the super-speed trains of Japan and France and Germany? Certainly not. After all, the People’s Republic of China seems as purposeful in its planned development of railways, ports, new cities and nuclear-power plants as it is in its control of civil disobedience and obstruction of free expression.

 

What was depressing to me was the laconic comment by the article’s author, one of many foreign observers attending China’s stunning demonstration of high-speed rail. After noting that the “Harmony Train” averaged 350 kilometers per hour, as compared with the maximum speed of 300 k.p.h. by the Japanese and French high-speed trains, he added: “In America, Amtrak’s Acela ‘Express’ service takes three-and-a- half hours to trundle between Boston and New York, a distance of only 300 kilometers.” Ouch.

 

The Acela is, as noted, America’s “express” train, and only exists along parts of the Eastern Seaboard. Most rail commuters in this region have to take slower Amtrak connections, or even slower trains like the Metro-North, where the overcrowding and the bone-shaking ride makes one think this must be a train rattling across the plains of northern India. But we are the lucky ones: A large number of Americans don’t have access to any rail transportation system at all.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/05/opinion/05iht-edkennedy.html?emc=eta1

Chinese rail investment to reach record level this year

Thursday, January 07, 2010

 

CHINA will step up its already-vast railway expansion programme this year with investment set to reach a record high of Yuan 823.5 billion ($US 120.6 billion), according to Railways Minister Mr Liu Zhijun.

 

......By the end of last year China's railway network had grown to 86,000km and by 2012 it is expected to reach 110,000km, of which 13,000km will be high-speed lines. The Ministry of Railways forecasts that the pace of growth will slow beyond 2012, although another 7,000km of conventional lines and 3000km of high-speed lines are planned for construction between 2012 and 2020. More than 80% of the network will be electrified by 2020.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.railjournal.com/newsflash/chinese-rail-investment-to-reach-record-level-this-year.html

 

World warming to greener train travel

By Steve Mollman, for CNN

January 11, 2010 6:53 a.m. EST

 

(CNN) -- Take more trains and fewer planes. That's what Sarah Kendrew pledged to herself a few years ago. An astronomer at the Netherlands' Leiden Observatory, she travels frequently to nearby countries on business -- and prefers to not leave vapor trails in the sky when doing so.

 

"I've been making a conscious effort to take trains rather than fly," she told CNN, "for environmental reasons initially, but I've also found them to be much more comfortable and convenient -- so it's not really an effort anymore."

 

Faced with global climate change, many around the globe -- from governments to companies to individuals -- have also warmed to train travel.

 

Full story at: http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/10/green.trains/

It's great to not be hassled, patted down, forced to remove your shoes, and be subject to a body scan (where the images are stored, not deleted). A shame that we don't have the infrastructure here in the U.S. for reliable nationwide high-speed rail.

It's great to not be hassled, patted down, forced to remove your shoes, and be subject to a body scan (where the images are stored, not deleted). A shame that we don't have the infrastructure here in the U.S. for reliable nationwide high-speed rail.

 

Agreed, but the only way we can eliminate that "shame" is to pressure our political leaders to make the necessary changes in how we fund and develop transportation.  As long as we continue to fund a primarily highway-oriented system we will not reach the level of passenger rail service described above.

 

I know I am porbably preaching to the choir, but we tend to talk of this "shame" mostly among ourselves as advocates and not enough with those who can most directly make change.

I live in China so I'm well aware of what this country has that the US could use a little more of, vision.  But only when it comes to infrastructure because there's a lot of other stuff this country has that the US would be well advised to not emulate.

 

Also, let me chime in on the issue of security - train security can be just as tight as airline security and in the US it would probably be the case.

Maybe, but not necessarily.  I hope I'm not tempting fate here, but Amtrak has been fairly terrorist-free, and you can board at many stations with no more than a glance from the guy stowing your bags.  When I lived in Canton, I got on the station at Alliance, which was really nothing more than a concrete platform--not even covered, IIRC, and not so much as a vending machine if you got hungry, but very accessible.  I parked a few feet from the platform, walked up onto the platform, and got on the train.  Very old school.

 

I think a lot of what we see at airports is "security theater" more than real security.

Minimal Security on Rail will last only until terrorists start targeting trains. The problem rail has vis-a-vis terrorism is that in addition to the people on the train trying to blow themselves up, you also have all that rail and the bridges that can be targeted as well.