GUEST COLUMN: Canada-USA High Speed Possibilities November 20, 2009
Posted by patlynch in International High Speed Rail, Regional USA Passenger Rail, United States High Speed Rail.13 comments
Logan and I are 30 years apart (sadly for me!) and we are both slammed by school work this semester. The Trains for America blog has been a sad casualty of that business and my own frustration with the toxic political climate that is doing so much harm to the country I love.
Since it’s been a while, I can say that Amtrak is in a bad state. It is unclear to me whether the president is the president or an interim, and the commitment (if any) to long distance trains seems vague. I may be misreading. I do know that the recent rumblings about the Sunset/Eagle schedule changes being discussed for April are, so far, nothing but wishful thinking and your typical railroad rumors.
While Logan and I have been neglectful, and we feel really bad about it, we do welcome guest columns. If you wish to contribute, the work must be attributed (not anonymous), free of libel and personal attacks, and hopefully bear some marks of journalistic evenhandedness.
Though I do not know Paul Langan of High Speed Rail Canada personally, I consider him a friend am I am delighted to submit this item for your discussion. I hope to offer more new material to TFA in the next months and perhaps offer a new look. Anyway, enjoy.
Canada-USA High Speed Possibilities – Part 1 Montreal-Boston
Paul Langan, Founder High Speed Rail Canada http://highspeedrail.ca – 11/11/09
High Speed Rail (HSR) is coming to North America the question is where will it be implemented first. I would like to examine the cross border opportunities for HSR that have been put forward.
Four possible passenger rail corridors connecting Canada and the USA exist. They are; Vancouver BC to Seattle WA , Windsor ON to Detroit MI , Montreal QC – New York NY and Montreal QC-Boston MA.
All these cross border corridors share three significant fundamental challenges.
1. A multitude of political stakeholders – The more governments that are involved the process the slower the ability to get change to occur. This is especially true between Canada and the USA where dialogue and cooperation on passenger rail issues has been historically weak
2. The immigration and customs border crossing issue. Border Immigration officials in the USA and Canada must come to an agreement on an efficient and effective means of allowing people to cross between the two countries by rail. I witnessed first hand the elimination of the Toronto , ON to Chicago IL Amtrak passenger rail service in part by over zealous USA immigration officials delaying trains. In British Columbia the Canadian Border Services Agency has been a severe detriment to increasing passenger rail service between these two countries
3. A lack of a national Canadian vision on HSR – USA President Obama has made clear his vision for the revitalization of modern higher and high speed passenger rail service for the USA . In Canada , Prime Minister Stephen Harper has not stated any national plans relating to passenger rail renewal.
Over 110 years of passenger rail service ended on the Montreal-Boston corridor in 1967 when the past passenger rail service ceased between the two cities. That trip took eight and a half hours to complete. Modest new plans are for a restored service with five and a half hour trip time.
The Boston – Montreal Corridor was designated a high speed rail corridor in 2000 by the Federal Railroad Administration. In 2003, a HSR study was completed for this 529km corridor. The full study is available to be read at the http://highspeedrail.ca .
The study lays bare some of the additional challenges facing the implementation of HSR from Boston to Montreal. They are;
- Dealing with 4 different rail owners – Getting agreements from four railway companies to restore higher speed passenger rail service in this corridor will be challenging. An example of this problem is in shown in #2.
- Pan Am Railways – Privately owned railway who own track between Nashua-Concord Hew Hampshire have no interest in high speed rail along the line and have prevented the State of New Hampshire from applying for funding for HSR http://www.nh.gov/dot/media/nr2009/nr093009rail.htm
- None of the current infrastructure currently meets the needs for higher speed rail.
- There are over 360 at grade road /rail crossings.
- North Boston Station does not have significant capacity to handle these trains.
It should be mentioned that there is also a small group of individuals that would like to see a Boston-Portland- Montreal higher speed passenger rail route along the former CN now St. Lawrence Atlantic Railway line.
Since that study ws released there has been some very positive renewed commitments to higher speed rail.
A “Vision for New England High Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail”. http://www.mass.gov/Agov3/docs/PR071309.pdf
has been collectively developed by the State Departments of Transportations in Maine , New Hampshire , Vermont , Massachusetts , Rhode Island and Connecticut (the New England states).
The New England states are successfully working through the Coalition of Northeastern Governors (CONEG) promoting the need for high speed passenger rail service renewal.
Although there are very real challenges to restoring higher speed passenger rail service to this corridor, the Phase One HSR study has been done. The study concluded that there were no fatal barriers from the implementation of HSR in this corridor.
The recent New England states vision for renewed passenger rail service and a recent meeting in Boston between Quebec Premier Jean Charest and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick to promote HSR are promising signs.
Berkshire buying Burlington Northern railroad — latimes.com November 3, 2009
Posted by patlynch in Uncategorized.6 comments
Eurostar cab ride, Paris – London part 1/12 October 19, 2009
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Eurostar set From Paris Gare du Nord to London Waterloo, filmed in 2004 included sevural TGV’s, across the Channel Tunnel an on UK’S CTRL1 (HS1) as far as just north of the Medway Bridge where the …
Eurostar cab ride, Paris – London part 1/12 October 19, 2009
Posted by patlynch in Uncategorized.1 comment so far
Eurostar set From Paris Gare du Nord to London Waterloo, filmed in 2004 included sevural TGV’s, across the Channel Tunnel an on UK’S CTRL1 (HS1) as far as just north of the Medway Bridge where the …
Mica on High-Speed Rail October 17, 2009
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Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Republican Leader John L. Mica (R-FL) statement on the need for billions of dollars in pending high-speed rail investments in the United States to be wisely spent.He argues that the original $8 billion should be spent on true (European-style) HSR projects reaching speeds of over 150 mph. He foresees three such projects and makes a compelling case for the northeast corridor. It is hard to argue with that logic.TFA presumes that the other two demonstration projects will be Illinois and California. Florida has only demonstrated the ability to build political deceptions.One would presume that California and Illinois would be the other two test sites. But there we go again, using reason and logic on a political matter. All of this has implications for Amtrak long distance service, which is the perpetual red headed stepchild. One area where Mica could use some help is the concept of “high performance rail.” Funds used on HPR are not necessarily misspent, even if not properly included in the HSR demo allocations. Many medium sized cities can logically be connected by HPR, which is much cheaper to put in place.
Preparing Texas for High Speed Rail (Triangle not T-bone) October 11, 2009
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A panel at the Megaregions + MetroProsperity: Sustainable Economics for the Texas Triangle Conference on September 25, 2009 in Houston, TX.Participants:Harris County Judge Ed EmmettFort Worth C…
HSR Summit – Highlights video October 8, 2009
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Steer Davies Gleave’s High-Speed Rail Summit 09 was the first high speed rail conference in the UK to bring together an international panel of speakers to share their experiences and insight on hig…
Fast-Tracking High-Speed Rail For California October 8, 2009
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Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, OCTA Board Director and Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle, OCTA CEO Will Kempton and representatives from Orange County will join other Southern California leaders for the news…
UPDATED: Obama nominates Anthony Coscia to Amtrak board October 7, 2009
Posted by patlynch in Amtrak, Passenger Rail Politics.8 comments
This news comes from Railway Age.
President Barack Obama nominated a top official at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to serve on Amtrak’s board of directors. Anthony Coscia has been chairman of the Port Authority’s board of commissioners since April 2003.
UPDATE: A reader posted the link to the official White House announcement, which names two proposed directors for the Amtrak board.
Bert DiClemente, Nominee for Director, AMTRAK Board of Directors
Bert DiClemente is currently serving as the Vice President of CB Richard Ellis, Inc., which is the largest commercial real estate company in the world. He has been serving in this capacity since 2003. Prior to this position, he worked for Insignia/ESG and Jackson Cross & Associates as Director and Associate Director. He was responsible for the leasing and selling of commercial real estate and represented a number of Fortune 500 Companies. Mr. DiClemente also served from 1977-1997 as the State Director for then-Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. in Wilmington, DE. In this capacity, he was responsible for three statewide Senate offices and was a senior staff advisor to the Senator on all issues and policies related to the State of Delaware. He is a graduate of the University of Delaware with a B.A. in political science.
This is good news. The Board needs to be at full strength. The next shoe dropping will be that of Mr. Boardman. Stay tuned.
(And I don’t have any inside information. There is a decision due there soon and you have to believe that current President is a long-shot.)
NYT: Chicago loses bid for 2016 Olympics October 2, 2009
Posted by patlynch in Regional USA Passenger Rail, United States High Speed Rail.12 comments
This is somewhat discouraging news for high speed rail advocates.
Chicago Loses Bid for 2016 Olympic Games
Chicago was stunningly eliminated in the first round of
voting for the 2016 Olympics on Friday, with Rio de Janeiro,
Madrid and Tokyo still in contention.Read More:
http://www.nytimes.com?emc=na
Maglev commercial September 29, 2009
Posted by patlynch in Passenger Rail Politics, Regional USA Passenger Rail, United States High Speed Rail.22 comments
What impact will the building of a high-speed train between Anaheim and Las Vegas have economically.Find out! That’s the commercial message posted here in the interest of throwing raw meat to wild animals.
FOX NEWS: Why We Need High-Speed Rail September 25, 2009
Posted by patlynch in Passenger Rail Politics, Passenger Rail Transportatio Policy, Regional USA Passenger Rail, United States High Speed Rail.9 comments
U.S. High Speed Rail Association President Andy Kunz on the possibility of a nation-wide high speed rail system. FOX is remarkable fair, although they do all hang on to that old “northeast corridor is profitable myth.” My theory is that this item got past the censors because the truck and airline lobbyists have not expressed their wishes to FOX management. Nonetheless, Look for Cato’s paid assassin to appear shortly. THANK YOU FOX NEWS.
Some notes. Florida is in no way prepared for HSR.
High performance rail, trains operating up to 110 mph., may be all that would be necessary on some corridors. The upgrades would assure 90% on time performance. Major improvement. High performance rail is MUCH cheaper to construct than true European-style HSR.
Glad the HSR expert shot down the “American cities are too far apart” argument.
And the whole bunch of ‘em could have left the Amtrak whipping boy alone. That gets mighty old after a while. What other government function gets the kind of intense scrutiny and micro-management as Amtrak? (not ignoring the obvious problems)
Amtrak Pioneer restoration report released September 21, 2009
Posted by patlynch in Amtrak, Passenger Rail Politics, Passenger Rail Transportatio Policy, Regional USA Passenger Rail.14 comments
While I am too busy with other commitments to dig down into this important document this evening, you are very welcome to give it a look and begin your comments.
SNCF Proposes Development of High-Speed Rail in Midwest, Texas, Florida, and California Corridors September 20, 2009
Posted by patlynch in International High Speed Rail, Regional USA Passenger Rail, United States High Speed Rail.4 comments
TransportPolitic has a major piece on the French railway’s keen interest in developing America’ s high speed corridors. This is a lengthy and detailed story, rich in details and contains a map. California, Midwest, Texas and California routes included. This is still more talk, but the talking is coming from a real player.
French organization submits detailed proposals for 220 mph train operation.Last December, Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters and Representative John Mica (R-FL) announced that the Federal Railroad Administration would begin accepting Expressions of Interest for the development of high-speed lines in the United States. By February, more than 80 groups, including a number of states, train operators, and train constructors, had sent letters describing their interest in being part of the development of American fast train travel. Final responses were due on September 14th.
I’ve obtained documents that show that SNCF, the French national railroad operator made famous by its development of the TGV system, has responded with detailed descriptions of potential operations in four U.S. corridors, all to benefit from train service at speeds of up to 220 mph. The organization refers to this service as HST 220 (220 mph high-speed trains). With the exception of a description of plans by the California High-Speed Rail Authority, SNCF appears to be the only group that submitted a serious, corridor-based response to FRA’s demand, though infrastructure companies Vinci, Spineq, Cintra, Global Via, and Bouygues all sent in letters promoting rather vague interest in involvement.
There is no funding associated with this call for expressions of interest; it is unrelated to the stimulus. Nonetheless, SNCF’s large response — totaling more than 1,000 pages — exemplifies the degree to which it sees American corridors as a good investment and suggests that the French company is planning an all-out assault on future U.S. rail operations.
OnBoard Winona MN September 17, 2009
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With a rail line that already exists, a unified coalition of businesses, educational institutions and local citizens alike, Winona is a model for maximizing the potential of investment in High Speed Rail.
Kill Amtrak fever September 17, 2009
Posted by patlynch in Amtrak, Passenger Rail Politics.1 comment so far
This came in from NARP.
Things continue to move fast for passenger trains on the Senate Floor
Senator John Ensign (R-NV) continues to push a hostile amendment that would eliminate unspent Amtrak funds from the current (FY 2009) appropriations law and the Recovery Act. This would threaten millions of dollars used to provide train service throughout the country.
It’s not too late to take action. Call your Senator and let them know your strong support for passenger trains, and ask them to vote against the Ensign amendment and any others hostile to American trains.
The Senate also approved an amendment (by a 68 to 30 vote) offered by Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), which gives Amtrak until March 31, 2010 to begin checking guns as checked baggage, or see their funding eliminated. Amtrak Chairman Thomas Carper has written a letter to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation warning that Amtrak does not have the infrastructure, nor the systems in place, to meet this request in such a short time frame across its entire network.
Sean Jeans-Gail
Communications Director
NARP
Oklahoma and true HSR September 17, 2009
Posted by patlynch in Amtrak, Regional USA Passenger Rail, United States High Speed Rail.5 comments
You need to visit YouTube and search “high speed rail” and restrict the search to “this week.” There is a group of lengthy videos bursting with important information on the Heartland Flyer route and regional HSR.
Most important, Oklahoma is not looking at bringing the state owned railroad between OKC and Tulsa to “high performance” standards. Instead, the route would be the Turner Turnpike. Obviously the state also owns this corridor and it is straight. Oklahoma is talking about true European-style HSR, which seems like corporate welfare for consultants. In other words, I am skeptical.
It may be that constructing a double track high performance line on the turnpike right-of-way is the best most feasible alternative. I don’t see Oklahoma spending $2 billion for high speed rail when the cities seem to have little commitment to transit. Just an opinion.
The good news here is the idea to double track the BNSF from OKC to Fort Worth. This is another excellent corridor and the light rail lines on the south end will nicely support the improved service.
UPDATED: A mirror into the soul September 16, 2009
Posted by patlynch in Passenger Rail Transportatio Policy.12 comments
TFA does not normally cover local transit issues. Plenty of other great blogs do that well, and you can probably tell that we have our hands full on inter-city rail. Nonetheless, there is an item in today’s Dallas Morning News about getting to the new sports palace constructed at a cost of over $1 Billion to house Jerry Jones’ Cowboys. The focus is on Arlington’s complete failure on public transportation.
The lack of transit options in Arlington, population 365,000, is deliberate – and comes despite the best efforts of city leaders and regional planners.
Voters in the past three decades have rejected three initiatives that would have dedicated sales taxes to transit, including twice since 2002.
“They don’t want it,” said former Arlington Mayor Elzie Odom, who retired as mayor in 2003. “It doesn’t do any good to argue. We have done that three times. The residents who bother to go to the polls just won’t have it.”
Voters did approve the new stadium, which cost $1.1 billion and was paid for in part by a half-cent sales tax increase. Even the new stadium, and the traffic troubles that come with it, haven’t persuaded voters to think again about transit, he said.
“In the last two elections, I have heard over and over, “We don’t want those kinds of people.’ People say they just want to be let alone.”
Cluck said he has often heard residents opposed to transit cite worries about race or class as their reasons for voting no. But more often, he said, the complaints center on residents’ predictions that a transit system Arlington could afford would involve buses – and big empty ones at that.
UPDATE: I promise to get off this topic AND regular readers are due an explanation for why Mr. Nash and myself have been so absent. I promise to get around to some excuse making soon BUT this story in the Wall Street Journal is just too damn rich. Again, we don’t normally do transit here and would not cover this item except it is just too damn rich.
Brody Mullins reports on money and politics.
Protesters who attended Saturday’s Tea Party rally in Washington found a new reason to be upset: Apparently they are unhappy with the level of service provided by the subway system.
Rep. Kevin Brady called for a government investigation into whether the government-run subway system adequately prepared for this weekend’s rally to protest government spending and government services.
Seriously.
The Texas Republican on Wednesday released a letter he sent to Washington’s Metro system complaining that the taxpayer-funded subway system was unable to properly transport protesters to the rally to protest government spending and expansion.
So let me see if I got this straight. These people do everything they can to destroy transportation policy and funding on the national level. They consistently oppose any expansion of transit systems, even in the poorest areas. They vehemently oppose buses and light rail calling it a plot to take away people’s cars, BUT when they come to the nation’s capitol these tea-baggers expect the full scope of city services they otherwise detest.
Rich. Just lovely.
Pennsylvania Maglev gets a study too September 13, 2009
Posted by patlynch in Regional USA Passenger Rail, United States High Speed Rail.6 comments
Thanks to the worldwide network of busy-bodies for this update on Pittsburg.
Pittsburgh also got a grant awarded this past week, along with Atlanta-Chattanooga.
At this link you’ll see a Post-Gazette article: “Pittsburgh region gets $28 million to plan maglev project”
The Federal Railroad Administration has awarded a $28 million grant for preliminary work on the long-planned Pennsylvania High-Speed Maglev project.
The grant was announced this afternoon by Sens. Arlen Specer and Bob Casey, along with Rep. Mike Doyle. The project, billed as the first phase of a cross-state high speed network, would start at the Pittsburgh International Airport and travel to Downtown Pittsburgh, then to Monroeville and on to Greensburg. The grant is the largest federal commitment to the project so far, but construction would still be well into the future. The funds to be released by the FRA are for planning and other preliminary work.
“This $28 million award is the most significant development in the 29 years we’ve been working on Maglev,” Mr. Specter said in the release announcing the project.
“The vision is to have a 250 mile-an-hour train traveling from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia with intermediate stops. Such a train would be a tremendous economic boon with thousands of new jobs in the steel and construction industry and would meet our increasing demand for transportation, reduce highway congestion, improve air quality and reduce our dependence on foreign oil.”
“This project has the chance to help establish a world-class transportation system in Pennsylvania,” Mr Casey said. “This initiative has the potential to spur job creation while helping to improve our environment and bolster the Commonwealth’s long-term economic competitiveness.”
“I’ve been working to build a mag-lev system in Pennsylvania throughout my service in Congress,” said Congressman Mike Doyle. “I believe it could be a major new engine for job creation and economic growth in our region. It’s great to see all our hard work paying off.”
Maglev Inc. of McKeesport, the developer, has spent more than $27 million in federal and state funds since the mid-1990s. The group is close to finishing an environmental impact study on the project.
Tennessee to get funding for Maglev study September 13, 2009
Posted by patlynch in Regional USA Passenger Rail, United States High Speed Rail.17 comments
This showed up in my mail.
Congressman Zach Wamp announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) will award $14.2 million to accelerate an environmental impact statement for a high-speed magnetic levitation, or maglev, train between Atlanta, Chattanooga and Nashville. The majority of the grant will be used for the studies required in the National Environmental Policy Act identifying the corridor routes and the station locations for this proposed project.
“This funding is a game changer for the prospect of high-speed rail in the southeast and dramatically increases our chances of success in the years ahead. A high-speed rail connection between Atlanta, Chattanooga and Nashville would build the infrastructure to increase economic development and bring more people to the growing Chattanooga airport,” said Congressman Wamp. “Maglev high-speed rail could change the way Americans travel, reducing congestion on crowded roads and at busy airports. These are the types of investments that will help create quality jobs, grow the U.S. economy and help our nation be more competitive.”
“These funds are a great investment as they will accelerate the project and help take us to the next level in developing alternative forms of transportation for this country. Atlanta and Chattanooga are two great cities with a bright future ahead of us, and it is exciting to see our region remain on the cutting edge of technology-based economic development,” said Jim Hall, chairman of the board of The Enterprise Center.
A joint application for the funding was filed by the Georgia Department of Transportation with support from the Tennessee Departments of Transportation. Congressman Wamp and The Enterprise Center have worked with Georgia State Senator Jeff Mullis, chairman of the Georgia Senate Transportation Committee, and others in north Georgia on regional support for the project.
A maglev train would relieve tremendous congestion in the Atlanta metro area and serve as part of a long needed intermodal mass transit system for the United States. Maglev trains can travel at more than 300 miles per hour, which would mean true high-speed ground transportation in the 116-mile corridor from Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport generally along the Interstate 75 corridor to Lovell Field and Chattanooga. A recent feasibility study determined that the Atlanta-Chattanooga corridor could also extend northwest to Nashville along the Interstate 24 alignment.
patlynch
Logan Nash
