I hereby toss this raw meat into the midst of wild animals. I shall now close my eyes. May God have mercy!

Maglev 2000 Inventor Jim Powell on the future of high-speed rail in the U.S.

Berkshire buying Burlington Northern railroad — latimes.com

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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 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 …

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.

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…

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…

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…

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.

Eurostar has unveiled the 100 millionth passenger to use its cross-Channel train service. Next year the high-speed line faces on-rail competition on its routes between London and Brussels and Paris…

Will Bullet trains come to the U.S ?The highest speed trains in the U.S. – Acela – run at a maximum of 150 mph or 240 kph.Their average speed is 80mph or 128 kph.The U.S, once had the one of t…

A brief update on what is going on with high-speed rail in Virginia. It’s a brand new effort, lots of “content,” and fast.

August, 19th 2009 Springfield, IL- Protesters gather on Carpenter Street between 2nd and 4th to voice opposition to proposed high-speed rail on the 3rd Street corridor.

Opened August 1, 2008, the new high speed commuter train significantly reduced travel time between Beijing and Tianjin. Take a look at Asia’s largest railway station and join me as the train goes 320 kph. (198 mph.)

Created by NC3D for the California High Speed Rail Authority, this video is a combination of various animated renderings of the proposed high speed rail route from Anaheim’s proposed ARTIC to an ex…

Thanks to a friend from the northwest for a nudge on something I had some conscious about, but had neglected. It never hurts to drop a line to the publisher and his associate.

Oregon state is getting serious about improving intercity rail.  Oregon wants to improve service and it will take money to do so.  It announced on July 16th that they were applying for $2.1 billion in federal stimulus funds to improve intercity rail in Oregon.  You can read the Governor’s press release and the pre-application request at:

http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/RAIL/Passenger_Rail.shtml

What’s interesting about the request is they put the actual form on line.  The state wants some money for station improvements, but most is for track improvements and money to help the line reach 110 MPH.  Money for two train sets is also part of the request.  Currently of the Amtrak Cascades trainsets, four are owned by Washington State, and two by Amtrak.

Also on the same webpage is the Draft ODT Intercity Passenger Rail study.  It is about switching the Amtrak Cascade route from the very busy UP mainline to an older Oregon Electric line.  The OE line handles far fewer traffic, but needs upgrades and improvements to make it feasible.  I assume much of the money being requested would support those efforts.

The topic of Positive Train Control has emerged in discussions about renewing Sunset service between New Orleans and Orlando. PTC was also a topic during the recent Intermodal Steering Committee and Texas High Speed Rail Commission joint meeting in Little Rock.

During this conference, representatives of operating rail lines cast PTC as both an unfunded mandate and an opportunity to optimize operations. This innovative system will demand trackside monitors and computers in the cabs. It’s a brave new world.

Progressive Railroading features a good discussion from the locomotive engineer’s viewpoint, with expansion from the FRA and reader’s reactions.

In an optimized train pacing process fuel would be conserved by reducing energy losses due to braking and reduced throttle running position on the paced train. There is no reason to run up to the approach in throttle 8, dump the kinetic energy by braking, pull into the siding and wait 30 minutes when a properly designed train pacing process would allow for a timed meet that would optimize fuel consumption with minimum effect on average train velocity.

It does not answer every question, but you will gain some insight.

There’s a flurry of news out there about state requests for federal HSR stimulus money. Thankfully, Yonah Freemark over at the Transport Politic has compiled a list of state applicants for federal HSR money, both confirmed and likely. There are the high profile projects on there of course, ones likely to take home a good chunk of that money (California, New York). But the FRA’s calls for projects in the planning phases, which obviously will be asking for less money (for now), seem to have not gone unheeded either, as Pat’s post about Arkansas’ new awakening to the possibilities of fast rail indicates.

This would seem to be in line with the different “tracks” set out in the guidelines for funding requests put out last month. Projects more in the planning phase would receive money out of the congressional appropriations hat rather than the stimulus package.

Of course, not everyone can get funded. How this money is distributed will be a good indication of this administration’s commitment to getting high-speed rail built. Regional political pandering is, unfortunately, an important legislative strategy, but an overemphasis on these types of proposals will leave necessary improvements undone and the country not much closer to a functioning ideal of American HSR.

Recorded on June 19, 2009 using a Flip Video camcorder.Keith is the former director of Central Arkansas Transit, and an old friend. He is a font of information on California HSR. He also has some insights on track sharing in Germany between streetcars and HSR.

Recorded on June 19, 2009 using a Flip Video camcorder.Ms. Dickey explains, to some extent, the Texas position and the role of High Performance Rail.