Free Republic

Click on the link to view the Beijing to Tianjin High Speed Rail link The Chinese are really up to something.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 19, 2008 – Union Pacific is a company that is proud of its strong ties with the military. Hundreds of thousands of Civil War veterans helped build the first transcontinental railroad in the 1860s, which was considered vital to national defense. During World War I and II, the railroad canteen in North Platte, Neb., was a resting place for many troops on their way overseas. Union Pacific’s partnership with the military continues today and, in some respects, is stronger than ever, said Roy Schroer, assistant vice president of human resources. Of the company’s more than 50,000 employees, more...

Melanie Allen has been "scared to death" this week knowing her son was scheduled to begin a risky escape from the country of Georgia, where Russian troops are poised for further invasion. Lee Allen, 34, and his Georgian wife, Tiko, were to have become part of a caravan fleeing the war-torn country. It may be days before Melanie Allen learns if the couple made it out safely. She was at her Ocean Springs home Tuesday night with friends who are supporting her. -----snip On Monday, four days into the fighting as Russia seized several towns and a military base deep...

"...Bombardier's team was stumped. Europe is a mishmash of disparate rail systems that predate the European Union, back when governments banked on the incongruity "to protect themselves from invading armies and competition from foreign industries," says Oliver Sellnick, director at the International Union of Railways in Paris. While the European Union has managed to unify most of the continent on everything from a common currency to farm policy, combining railroads hasn't been easy. Traveling by train from one country to another has long required coordination with multiple national railways. Drivers and locomotives, for instance, are changed at the borders for...

WASHINGTON — This is not your economy. It's not even your parents' economy. To a surprising degree, this is your great-grandparents' economy. Quietly, while attention has focused on the technology, finance and service sectors, businesses that stood astride 19th century industrial America but then collapsed have been resurrected to meet the needs of a feverishly industrializing world. In the process, much of what Americans think they know about their economy is being upended. Steel makers, railroads, mining concerns and agriculture, long considered part of a fading past, suddenly have bright futures. And segments of the economy long lauded as the...

Want to invest in a green industry that employs the latest technology, reduces U.S. oil consumption and is priced very attractively? Look no further than the railroads. Laggards for decades after the 19th-century boom ended, they're hot again. "There was steady traffic growth until last year, and the trend looks good once the economy gets back up to speed," says Kenneth Kremar, an economist who follows the railroad industry for consulting firm Global Insight. Perhaps that's why railroad stocks have largely escaped the battering that other sectors have taken so far this year. Of course, their business could still be...

Germany has come up with the funds to launch its first magnetic levitation - or maglev - rail service. The state of Bavaria is to build the high-speed railway line from Munich city centre to its airport, making it Europe's first commercial track.

The state faces "a perfect storm" as far as paying for transportation infrastructure is concerned... With that in mind, it only makes sense for the state to divert scarce transportation dollars from the proposed Rail Runner extension to Santa Fe and plow those dollars into road construction and maintenance. [While] Rail Runner's projected total cost is $400 million, those costs are not evenly-distributed. Phase I of the project from Belen to Bernalillo, which is now in service, cost $135 million. The Bernalillo-Belen segment of the proposed RailRunner route is approximately 51 miles long— more than half of the system's proposed...

Eurostar has set a record on its inaugural journey from Paris to London via a new high-speed line in Britain. The train, carrying journalists and VIPs, arrived at St Pancras, instead of Waterloo, for the first time. It took two hours, three minutes, 39 seconds.

Congo train crash kills at least 100: government By Joe Bavier A train crash in a remote part of Democratic Republic of Congo killed at least 100 people and injured more than 200, the central African country's minister of information said on Thursday. "We are still discovering the dead. So right now we are putting the death toll at about 100," Toussaint Tshilombo told Reuters, adding that the cause of the crash was still unknown. "It happened late last night, so we haven't had time to look into how it occurred. But we are sending a team tomorrow, and we...

Switzerland has opened the world's longest rail tunnel on land - the 34-kilometre (21-mile) Loetschberg tunnel under the Alps. It will cut the journey time between Germany and Italy by at least a third.

WASHINGTON - The Capitol Limited, an Amtrak train from Chicago, is scheduled to arrive in Washington every day at 1:30 p.m. But frequent rider Edda Ramos knows better than to make plans for the afternoon or evening. She knows a late arrival — sometimes by an hour or two, sometimes by seven or eight — "is the one thing you can count on." The 764-mile route is among Amtrak's most dismal performers, with just 11 percent of trains arriving within 30 minutes of their scheduled time last year. But the problem exists to one degree or another on the majority...

Phil Maymin, the Libertarian candidate in the Fourth Congressional District, doesn’t want voters to flush away their ballots this November, calling a vote for a Democrat or a Republican a “waste.” “If you’re unhappy with the course the country has been taking for the past 10 years, you have to realize that the Democrats and Republicans have made this mess,” he said at a meeting with reporters and editors from Hersam Acorn Newspapers Thursday, September 7. Mr. Maymin, a Greenwich hedge fund manager, is running against Republican incumbent Rep. Christopher Shays, and Diane Farrell, the Democratic challenger. Just added to...

Transportation pick headed highway administration when it investigated rail company President Bush's nominee to replace Norman Mineta as secretary of Transportation, Mary Peters, presided over the Federal Highway Administration when the agency shut down criminal and civil investigations of CSX Transportation regarding fatal railroad-crossing accidents, according to a former employee of the rail company. Dave Nelson alleged to WND that the CSXT investigation was shut down by the Federal Highway Administration while John Snow, formerly CEO of CSXT, was Treasury secretary. Nelson said both Snow and Peters should be asked, "What did you know and when did you know it?"...

June 24— The Qatari man designated an enemy combatant by the Bush administration was planning another Sept. 11 attack, sources told ABCNEWS. Ali Saleh Kahlah Al-Marri, 37, was deemed an enemy combatant by the Bush administration on Monday after officials said he was positively identified by an al Qaeda detainee as being part of a planned second wave of terror attacks on the United States. Government officials said they believed al Qaeda's top leadership sent Al-Marri to the United States to coordinate a new round of attacks. "Al-Marri was sent to the United States as a facilitator for other al...

Revelations in the Peoria Journal Star earlier this week that the Peoria/Champaign area is one of seven in the United States on a terrorist “circuit” were frightening. “Terrorists enter the United States in San Francisco and Los Angeles, then move to Phoenix, then Denver," reported Phil Luciano of the PJS. "From there some head to Peoria and Champaign. Some terrorists remain in those communities, while others head on to New York City" (emphasis added). Luciano was provided this information by Peoria County Sheriff Mike McCoy, who received it at a recent FBI conference held in Springfield. Names of larger cities...

A $491 million public-financing deal promoted by Florida Gov. Jeb Bush as a boon to commuters actually paves the way for shipping more cheap goods from China to the North American marketplace, charges a whistleblower. Ex-CSX Transportation employee Dave Nelson told WND the deal in Florida amounts to providing CSXT with a public subsidy. Money from the public purse will position the railroad company as a major freight carrier throughout Florida, transporting cargo containers filled with cheap goods coming into the NAFTA marketplace from China. CSXT is positioned to receive millions in the deal. Under the terms of the agreement,...

Can the Port of Humboldt Bay be a participant in the new “Silk Road” as experts predict West Coast shipping trade traffic with China will triple by 2020? It could happen with the help of the Port of Oakland, which is setting the stage for a agreement with its northerly neighbor to begin an formal relationship in the upcoming months with the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District. But actual container shipping between Oakland and Humboldt's deep-water port couldn’t happen any sooner than 2011, according to Port of Oakland Maritime Director Wilson Lacy, who presented an overview of the...

The illegal invaders are threatening our Ports on May 1. Go here to read the transcript: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/12/ldt.01.html CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): They've already marched in the streets. Now supporters of unconditional amnesty for illegal aliens are taking their protests to a whole new level, trying to shut down the nation's ports and rail lines. ERNESTO NEVAREZ, L.A. PORT COLLECTIVE: It will come to a grinding halt, transportation, commerce. They are going to put a wall along the border with Mexico. We're going to put a wall between us and the ocean. And those containers ain't going to move....

This morning we learned that Senator Trent Lott was "tired of hearing from" the "so-called porkbusters." What was Lott defending that he was so insistent about? Lott, and other lawmakers from the Mississippi delegation are using a Senate "emergency" supplemental spending bill to fund a massive $700 million new rail line along the gulf coast of their state. Nevermind the fact that this is supposed to be "emergency" funding. And nevermind the fact that $300 million was just spent to repair an already existing line adjacent to where they want to build the new one. The Senate appropriators claim that...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. Mid-South gamblers may be able to knock back a few more drinks in Tunica, and then take the train home. The Mississippi Legislature Monday approved a transportation bill that includes $500,000 for a feasibility study of a monorail network that would link casinos to one another as well as connect to the Tunica Airport and Southaven. The light rail line could even reach into Shelby County, connecting to the proposed Memphis rail system that is to link Midtown with Memphis International Airport. The bill is now on the desk of Mississippi...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.The Georgia Department of Transportation plans to hire a firm to conduct a study that could determine the fate of a proposed rail link between Atlanta and Chattanooga. State officials say the proposed super-fast, magnetic levitation rail line could cost upwards of $4 billion to build. That's about twice as much as the state spends each year on all road and highway projects. The idea to link the two cities with the so-called maglev rail began in the late 1990s. That's when the US Congress began exploring the the technology in which...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. U.S. Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Johnstown) has announced that the House of Representatives and the Senate last week passed legislation that includes funding for important road improvements and other transit projects, as well as community initiatives, in Fayette, Greene and Washington counties. The bill is awaiting the president's signature. Included in the fiscal year 2006 Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, and Judiciary spending bill are the following projects: Fayette Area Coordinated Transportation - bus replacements and renovation of the Uniontown transfer station, $1.5 million Waynesburg College Center for Economic Development...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. VICTORVILLE - With high gasoline prices forcing Inland Empire commuters to reshuffle their budgets, many are expected to welcome the concept of a super speed train propelled by electromagnets., Congress has authorized spending $45 million for maglev in the current federal transportation bill, said Bruce Aguilera, chairman of a bi-state commission overseeing the $12 billion project. Visionaries say the proposed maglev train eventually may whisk passengers the 269 miles between Anaheim and Las Vegas in 86 minutes. Under the maglev system, short for magnetic levitation, trains propelled by electromagnets would zip...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. SHANGHAI, Nov. 14 (Xinhuanet) -- Germany's Siemens AG announced that it has got a contract to work with a Chinese partner in supplying 60 high-speed trains for China. "In the next 15 years, China will lay 12,000-km-long rail trackfor passenger trains. The signing of the deal marks another step of Siemens' market success in China," said Klaus Kleinfeld, chief executive of Siemens, in Shanghai on Saturday. The high-speed trains, named CRH3, will travel at a speed of 300 kilometers per hour. They will be first put into operation on the Beijing-Tianjin...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. Trains could ascend and descend at much higher speeds One of the big questions concerning rail in the mountains has to do with how to handle the steep grades. The legendary narrow-gauge trains that made their way over Colorado's passes in the 19th and 20th centuries did it by going very slow up and very slow down. But if people are going to be convinced to leave their cars at home and take a train to the ski area, creeping down the hill to Silverthorne or Vail at 10, 20 or...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.California High Speed Rail Authority Approves Nation's First Environmental Impact Report for High-Speed Train System SACRAMENTO -- The California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) voted unanimously today in the State Capitol to approve their environmental impact report on one of the nation's largest transportation projects. "California is a giant step closer to building a 700-mile high-speed train system serving Sacramento, the San Francisco Bay Area, the Central Valley and Los Angeles, the Inland Empire, Orange County and San Diego," said CHSRA Chair Fran Florez. According to the environmental impact report, which affirmed...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. China has completed the final section of the pan-Himalayan Golmud-Lhasa (1956 km) railway at 5,072 metres above sea level. The final section of 1,142 km, running across Tibet's snow-covered plateau — dubbed the roof of the world — presented some unprecedented difficulties. The engineers had to contend with building on a 550 km frozen belt, with the snow alternately melting and freezing in summer and winter! Workers had to breathe bottled oxygen in order to cope with the high altitude and there was not a single mortality on this count! And...

Freight rail lines running in the middle of major roads will be a thing of the past, if voters approve Proposition 1. Proposition 1 would amend the Texas Constitution to create a Rail Relocation Fund to be used by the Texas Department of Transportation and regional mobility authorities. Early voting began Monday for the Tuesday, Nov. 8 election. Essentially, Proposition 1 is asking voters if they want to spend taxpayer money and taxpayer credit to move rail lines like the one in the middle of MoPac. Round Rock Rep. Mike Krusee supports the idea. "For a long time, a goal...

Gov. Rick Perry's ceremonial signing of the eminent domain bill Monday in Waco didn't get a positive reaction from his rival for his 2006 reelection, Republican Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, or from Richmond resident and private property rights activist Jack Myska. Strayhorn accused Perry of grandstanding and said the bill is filled with loopholes, and Myska concurred. "I agree with her wholeheartedly," Myska said Tuesday morning, adding he has not yet read the bill thoroughly. Perry officially signed the law into effect on Sept. 1, but the ceremonial signing was postponed due to hurricanes Rita and Katrina. He said Monday...

AUSTIN -- For years, El Paso officials have studied the multimillion-dollar plan to move hundreds of acres of rail yards out of Downtown to make way for more-attractive development. Texas voters might give the officials help with their plan next month. Proposition 1 on the Nov. 8 constitutional amendment ballot would create a state fund of up to $2 billion to help move and improve rail lines statewide. Proponents of the measure say the fund would be the only way to generate billions of dollars needed to move rail yards out of urban areas. Critics contend that the fund would...

AUSTIN - The first of nine state constitutional amendments proposed on the Nov. 8 ballot would establish a fund through which taxpayers would help pay for relocating freight rail lines from congested urban areas. Like most of the ballot proposals, except for the ban on same-sex marriages, Proposition 1 has received little attention. But it is beginning to spark some debate and, depending on how it fares at the polls, could become an issue in the March Republican governor's primary. Proposition 1 supporters, including Gov. Rick Perry, think the new fund would be an important step toward easing traffic congestion...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. The map seems logical. And thought of renewing an old form of travel with a modern twist is intriguing. Hop on a train in Cleveland and shoot off to places like Columbus, Detroit, Pittsburgh or Toronto at 110 mph. You'd be in Columbus, for example, in one hour and 38 minutes. It would take around four hours to get to Chicago. The idea, in various forms, has lingered for decades. But now, in part because of interest from Congress and isolated successes of similar routes across the country, train advocates are...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. HAMILTON — With measurable public support and federal funding legislation in the works, the movement for an Ohio passenger rail network is gaining steam after being batted around for years. Surveys and public hearings held by the Ohio Rail Development Commission across the state from September to May showed that more than three quarters of the participants would use service connecting Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus and Cleveland. The larger network proposed by the commission could include Ohio's Great Lakes cities and Detroit with connections to other systems to the west — serving...

People will be debating the causes of the New Orleans tragedy for years to come. But one thing is already abundantly clear: For individual New Orleanians, automobility made the difference between safety and disaster. "The white people got out," an article in The New York Times declared shortly after Hurricane Katrina hit. But that isn't quite true. White families with cars got out, as did black families with cars. Families without cars, white and black, for the most part did not. Over the past century, the number of deaths due to natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and fires...

The nation's transportation system is in peril. Vehicle-miles traveled more than doubled from 1980 to 2003, going from 296 billion to 702 billion, on essentially the same roads, creating more and more congestion. Most airlines are sucking wind. Amtrak is on life support. And so last month's $286 billion federal transportation bill came to the aid of - fishermen. The bill includes $3.44 million for a tunnel under railroad tracks in Enfield that will allow anglers to get to a favorite fishing spot on the Connecticut River. It seems that rod-and-reelers used to walk across the tracks to get to...

During the 2004 campaign our Executive Director contacted the candidates running for Congress from the 5th and 8th Districts to ask about their support for passenger rail. When he reached an aide to the Republican candidate for the 5th District seat, he received the answer, "We support passenger rail only if it pays for itself." Our Executive Director works with political figures day in and day out, so he's something of a diplomat. Had I been on the phone, I would have shot back, "When did I-90 ever pay for itself?" Hanging around conservative Republicans like I do, time and...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. The newly reauthorized federal transportation bill allocates $45 million for a super high-speed train connecting Las Vegas to Anaheim, a project that was first proposed over 17 years ago. "I believe the Maglev train will be the future of travel between places like Southern Nevada and Southern California," said Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., who helped secure funding. "Airports are overburdened with the amount of short-haul flights and we must start reinvesting in train travel." Maglev (magnetic levitation) uses high-powered magnets to propel trains above an elevated track. Since there is no...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. A 300MPH super-train connecting Liverpool to London in only 58 minutes is being planned. The Maglev train - which uses magnetic power to support carriages on a guide track and propel them up to speeds of 311mph - would connect London with Glasgow, via Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Edinburgh, over a 500 mile route. The UK Ultraspeed consortium behind bringing the train to Britain says Liverpool could be the first link to be established. Business leaders including the CBI (Confederation of British Industry) and North West Development Agency believe the...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. Good grief! Automobile travelers are routinely delayed as the result of chronic highway congestion, and air travelers face chronic delays, security concerns and long lines. Who gets punished for all this mayhem in transportation? The traveler who opts for the convenience and efficiency of passenger rail – Amtrak What could be more anti-American then the United States government cutting out or reducing the nation´s passenger rail system. It boggles the mind that the administration of President George W. Bush and the legislators of the United States Congress can't see the tremendous...

Traveling by rail is fast, comfortable and efficient. Well, maybe it was in some bygone era. Today, Amtrak almost isn't even worth traveling by. Back in September, I took a train from San Francisco to Eugene, Ore., and I was appalled at how terrible it was. The train was three hours late, apparently because it was caught behind slow-moving freight trains somewhere near L.A. On the way up through northern California and southern Oregon, there were stretches when the train was moving so slowly I literally could have reached Eugene faster on foot. Later on, I took another train from...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. Rick Harnish, executive director of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association, is waiting for the day when there are four daily passenger train routes between Quincy and Chicago. Before that happens, Harnish said Congress must fully fund Amtrak. In fact, he hopes the United States makes high-speed passenger rail a priority. "We could be done with a high-speed route between Chicago and St. Louis in two or three years once we get the funding," said Harnish, who spoke at a joint meeting of the Quincy Area Chamber of Commerce and the...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. It's a standard Washington story of clashing forces. The president threatens a veto if Congress passes a new multibillion-dollar transportation bill costing more than his budget allows. The House goes along with the $283.9 billion he recommends, but the Senate adds an extra $11 billion. The measure heads for conference. Will Congress dare defy the president? If it does, will the president veto — or flinch? But don't be fooled. Veto or not, there will be a final surface transportation bill, a little short of $300 billion for the next five...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.Study shows new £16bn line could relieve transport chaos Described as "flying on the ground", Shanghai's 270mph magnetic floating railway has impressed British ministers. But plans to build a London to Scotland line would cost at least £16bn, according to feasibility studies sanctioned by Downing Street. Known as the Maglev (magnetic levitation) train, China's flagship transport system takes eight minutes to hurtle along a 19-mile track through the paddy fields surrounding Shanghai airport - a journey which takes up to an hour by car. The sleek white carriages, first of their kind...

OP-ED COLUMNIST Nearly five years ago, as Amtrak officials were hailing their new Acela train as "a giant step forward" for America and "the kind of rail system we've all been dreaming about for decades," a former Amtrak official named Joseph Vranich offered another perspective. "I say without equivocation," he told The Hartford Courant, "that the Acela program is turning into the world's worst high-speed program." I quote him now not merely because he was right, but because he offers a useful model for coping with the latest Acela fiasco, the shutdown of service because of faulty brakes. The passengers...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. Those who spoke during the East Texas Corridor Council's inaugural meeting Friday delivered a unified message to the more than 100 people who attended the meeting. The partnerships exemplified by the crowd who attended the meeting at the Longview Public Library will be necessary to bring higher-speed rail to this area, many of the speakers said. Former Marshall mayor and rail advocate Audrey Kariel kicked off the meeting Friday, noting the presence of representatives of Union Pacific, Amtrak and the Texas Department of Transportation. A number of elected officials and other...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. Securing higher-speed rail service through East Texas is the focus of a group that will hold its inaugural meeting Friday in Longview. The East Texas Corridor Council will meet at 10 a.m. Friday in the Longview Public Library. Griff Hubbard, the Longview Amtrak station manager, said that between 125 to 150 people are expected to attend. Hubbard has been working with the group's steering committee, which has been meeting regularly since September. "(Higher-speed rail) is extremely important," Hubbard said. "Higher-speed rail is going to be a necessity for our children and...

Traffic: Can't live with it; can't live without it. That's the dilemma Dallas leaders face as they survey the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor, Gov. Rick Perry's plan for a new network of highways crisscrossing the state to be built as toll roads by private companies. Dallas' interstates are choked with traffic, but if Mr. Perry diverts that traffic – especially the long-haul commercial trucks – beyond the city limits, he will siphon off the city's economic lifeblood. No wonder city leaders are squawking over preliminary maps that show the new corridor being located as far as 50 miles from Dallas' doorstep....

Union Pacific plans signal, yard changes; more diversions possible The nation's largest railroad moved to help relieve a nagging rail bottleneck in Chicago, promising to centralize signals in Iowa and improve rail yards in Chicago. But the extensive--and expensive--plan by Omaha-based Union Pacific Railroad to upgrade its system might derail further rail traffic diversions around Chicago only temporarily. Union Pacific executives said Monday that without congressional approval of a federal transportation program to fund a $1.5 billion upgrade of the Chicago freight system endorsed by Mayor Daley and state officials, more railroads are likely to bypass Chicago altogether. "We have...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. Midwest group points to holiday travel problems SOUTH BEND -- On Monday, airlines were trying to comfort angry passengers. Drivers were digging their cars out of snow-covered ditches in the Midwest. And the Indiana High Speed Rail Association made its customary appeal to the federal government -- develop high-speed rail, sooner than later. The association sent a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta on Tuesday, suggesting the department make high-speed rail development in the Midwest "the centerpiece" of its transportation policy. Speedy trains could have lessened the blow to air...