|
|
The Telegraph (and others) is reporting that plans are underway to develop a trans-Asia high speed line that would connect China to South East Asia and additionally across Russia to Germany. The upshot of this is that you could board the train in London and take the train to Singapore, roughly a three day journey. Practicalities aside, in one bold leap for imagination this gives all the countries involved domestic high-speed systems that then connect to their immediate neighbours, giving you pan-continental high speed systems. The article states that these proposals were initiated by countries that would ultimately gain from such a developent such as India, which will essentially dove-tail into existing intentions within each of the countries involved to develop their rail systems. With China’s ambitious plans for its own high speed network covering some 19000 miles/30000 km extending the system through to Europe via India, and then down to Singapore via all the countries inbetween is a logical extension and creates a huge market for Chinese high speed rail development and construction. The most amazing point is made in the first paragraph…
China is in negotiations to build a high-speed rail network to India and Europe with trains that capable of running at over 200mph within the next ten years
Within this same time frame the UK might have it’s second high speed line, and the US might have something under construction.
Updated: This story is creating some buzz around the net with more and more news sources reporting on this; some suggest that the network might be completed in 15 years time, others a little longer. Australian news org, Sydney Morning Herald, is also using this story to ask when Australia will get in on the act.
 The projects grinds on…and off; despite the current issues with contractors BBC Scotland has a news segment about the new Edinburgh trams undergoing tests in Germany. The trams look good and once the project has completed and the things are actually carry passengers the city should come round to realising how good they actually are. These things take time, but in the end the problem will be too much demand for routes serving areas currently not considered.
BBC News Website
Not had much chance to write anything recently, but here are a few news stories making the headlines (anything other than EuroStar problems?, yes):
Eurostar breaks down again (The Times) – is it time to buy new rolling stock then? the trains do look a little battered and dated now
UK Conservative party looks to be playing politics with the proposed high-speed rail line from London to Scotland; questions arise over whether they will support the route that takes in some of the voting heartlands they will need to protect in forth coming election (The Telegraph)
Korean companies are looking to bid for contracts in the construction of Brazil’s high-speed project
North Wales could be home to a new light rail network if a feasibility study finds that such a scheme is viable. This is of particular interest to me since I come from this part of the world and would love to see such a scheme go ahead. (The Daily Post)
Hong Kong’s historic tram line is to be completely taken over by French group Veolia (CNNgo)
Monster Train – new generation of ultra long trains trialled in US; we talking about a freight train that is 3.5 miles or 5.5 km long!
The winners from US transportation handout and the potential revolution (Wired)
The failings of Eurostar, in graphics and very good ones at that (EU Infrastructure) – the first commenter makes a very good case that the EuroStar itself is never going to be perfect because it was built to a standard design (based on TGV) that had to comply with UK, French and Belgian standards. It would be interesting to see what the next generation of units would look like when the current model is replaced, until then EuroStar company needs to come up with better emergency plans.
*Updated*
The UK media is running a story that the current UK government has postponed a 7.5 Billion pound order for a replacement of Britain ageing HST fleet. Whilst making the usual excuses, the announcement includes consideration of the fact that a newer project to electrify the Western line out of Paddington potentially impacts the need for the hybrid units that were being ordered (diesel/electric solution); however, the fact remains that for the time being trains in UK will remain packed – The Guardian
Got round to adding another photo gallery today. This is part one of Czech Railways.
 Could this be a new rail revolution, or has the media in the US found something new, and kind of exciting) for those who get to travel on high speed trains somewhere in the world) to write about instead of the problems that they keep finding.
Wired is running a fabulous article about the projects in the US, detailing the issues that they face, but also the expectations. Interesting to read is that only the California system is being held up as a true ultra fast system from the outset. As previously mentioned, the most interesting one will be the Florida system that will probably being the first one to get started, and given its short distance for the first phase, will end up being the first one completed.
Christian Science Monitor also extols the virtues of high speed rail. The main arguments in “pro-rail” articles tends to be on the subject of avoiding the relative hassles of flying; certainly flying across the US, or covering long distances that separate the major cities in the US, is faster by plane, but there is always the relative issue with security checks, the having to be there three hours (or so before) , and just the general hassle associated with air travel. What a lot of these articles do not seem to consider, so maybe it is just my opinion, is that rail travel simply provides a third alternative for making intercity travel which, whilst having disadvantages, has a lot more, attractive advantages associated with such elegant means of travel (not being in a tube floating at 30000 feet is one that springs to mind). The simple perspective I can see from all this is that there is an increased awareness that the rest of the world is moving ahead with high speed rail, it is time the US got in to this game and develops its own, home-developed, system.
Kent (England) isn’t exactly in the US, but it does have a shiny new high speed rail line running through it; someone even had the bright idea of having commuter trains running along it when Eurostar isn’t. Kent serves as an example for US regions unsure about the arrival of high speed rail in that they see this new line as being crucial for the future development of the area. It could be argued that the plans for future improvement for the area would have happened anyway; however, the High Speed 1 link is being seen as the vital catalyst that is propelling the area forward. Once the Midwest line gets built, for example, I can see more people living well outside the immediate area and making the commute in to Chicago each day. We’ll see.
Could this be the moment the US hasn’t realised it has been waiting for? Today, Pres Obama will be presenting which of the 13 high speed corridors that have been proposed will be getting federal funding. In total there is expected to be 13 such routes that will be getting money together with a number of other routes that will be receiving money for upgrades. Unless he has a secret stash of cash, the money on offer is unlikely to see the US criss-crossed with a fabulous new high-speed rail network, but it is at least a start.
At the same time, the Florida corridor has been receiving much attention in the (local) news, even going as far as suggesting that the state will be the first in the Us to be running high speed trains. I like the proposed route and the idea of linking up the major points (i.e. the airports, downtowns, and major sites along the way, like Disneyworld). They key to success, at least in my humble opinion, is that for any new high speed rail links to work they need to include airports, main downtown areas (this gives you the additional benefit of feeding incoming people to the downtown areas), and then key places along the way. Even more important is to consider integration at the main stations – do you really want to get somewhere and find you can’t actually get anywhere else after that, like local metro lines.
Let’s see what is announced today, and then whether or not the routes are delivered. or even how long the things will take to build.
*Update*
The announcement will see California, Illinois (Minneapolis-Milwaukee-Chicago-St Louis) and Florida getting huge buckets of cash heading their way. The document below details all the winners, and the consolation prizes (smaller chunks of cash)
|
|
_sml.png)
