DOUBLE-DECKER BULLET French TGV Duplex high-speed trains such as this one, shown leaving the Gare de Lyon of Paris, were built in two batches--between 1995 and 1998 and between 2000 and 2004.
Image: COURTESY OF WIKIPEDIA/A1NO
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When the Obama administration promised $8 billion for rail service improvements earlier this year as part of its $787-billion economic stimulus package, it opened a flood of interest in high-speed railroads, a mode of transport that has languished in the U.S. despite successes in east Asia, Europe and other parts of the world.
The lure of stimulus money, plus a separate five-year, $5 billion investment in high-speed rail beginning as part of the administration's suggested fiscal year 2010 budget, has led to 45 applications from 24 states for a total of $50 billion in long-term, high-speed rail corridor projects, and another 214 requests from 24 states for a total of $7 billion for the smaller, "shovel-ready" work. Interest has been so great that the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has had to push back the first round of grants, which the FRA initially promised to award by late summer, until early next year.
President Obama's plan is to invest federal money "in an efficient, high-speed passenger rail network of 100- to 600-mile [160- to 965-kilometer] intercity corridors that connect communities across America," according to an announcement the administration made in April. This is a change in strategy for the U.S., which has focused more on road and air transportation since World War II, whereas the governments of the more densely populated countries in Asia and Europe put their money into relieving their overcrowded railways. Rising fuel costs and an emphasis on "greener" modes of transportation are shifting priorities in the U.S.
Still, the proposed U.S. projects have their work cut out for them if they hope to match the speed and popularity of established high-speed rail systems in other parts of the world. China in particular is expected to invest about $300 billion in its railway infrastructure over the next three years, expanding its network by more than 20,000 kilometers, including 13,000 kilometers of track designed for high-speed trains capable of traveling up to 355 kilometers per hour (pdf). This is one of the reasons Erie, Pa.–based GE Transportation inked a deal on last week with China's Ministry of Railways to better learn how to develop high-speed rail projects in the U.S.
View a slide show of international high-speed rail lines for a closer look at how these projects have developed around the world
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7 Comments
Add CommentActually Italy has newer trains than the historical one shown in page 8. Check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ETR_500 for the 300 km/h model in service now.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt is a myth that high speed trains 'replace' other forms of transportation. They actually add to the total passenger volume between point a and b.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisA million people taking the train between New York and Chicago does not mean a million less on the roads or by air. Amother means of transport 'adds' to the reason for travelling...personal, business, cultural, etc. This is why cities around the world lobby hard for airlines to choose them as a destination. It means hundreds of thousands of added visitors for 'whatever' reason.
'More' folks travel London to Paris because of high speed train...they go shopping, buy weekend properties, have a weekend out, etc. More students live in another city and go home for the weekend, etc. The environment is not helped.
What of English Electric?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTalking here of the -err- Class 91 east coast type with its spacious mk4 coaches. A quick check has reveled that it does attain the 140mph 'in service' speeds for which it was designed. Apparently it has something called a 'cardan shaft' which is why it goes faster. As far as I am aware the Hitachi does not have one of these.
Well, HSR uses about 6X less carbon emission per mile than comparable air transit. HSR basically captures all competing air traffic at distances up to 300-350 miles. Yes, it does build traffic in the mid to high single digit rates.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThese are not small footprint projects. Your approach depends on whether you take the "better efficiency" appproach to environmentalism or the "small is beautiful" approach.
Most of the countries that have efficient high-speed networks also have a state owned rail system. In Canada and the USA, the government will fund private companies and also have to coordinate their services to make a seamless transportation network.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisA lot of work and public money to make private companies profitable.
It would be sad day indeed if USA just wants to ape the European model of rail development. We have an opportunity to learn from the mistakes of century old rail development which are still derailment prone and can capsize with serious consequences.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWe can have derailment free railway, more economical than the technology of European systems, and safer and save more than 40% of energy too compared to Europe if we adopt technology developed in USA itself.
US engineers can re-discover themselves to to do better than merely copying the Europe. details at www.atrilab.com
Ah, ah, ah! In Italy there were also steam trains in the past century, ah, ah, ah. But romans they have use carts, ah, ah, ah.
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