Free Republic

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...