Posted on 01/25/2010 8:53:31 AM PST by Willie Green
TOKYO, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Central Japan Railway Co (JR Tokai) will join rivals in competing to develop a high-speed railway line in the U.S. state of Florida, as the former state-owned firm looks to sell its super-fast train systems overseas.
A consulting firm hired by the company said a railway line connecting Tampa, Orlando and Miami in Florida was one of the most promising targets for its Shinkansen bullet trains as the route would be exclusively used by high-speed trains.
"I expect competition for the contract to be fierce in Florida. We will be the last to join the bidding," JR Tokai's Chairman Yoshiyuki Kasai told a news conference. "But I believe our Japanese system will be the most suitable for the line."
Kasai did not say which other firms were competing for deal, although JR Tokai's global rivals include Canada's Bombardier, Germany's Siemens and France's Alstom.
U.S.-Japan High-Speed Rail, the consulting firm working for JR Tokai, also said that lines between Las Vegas and Los Angeles could be candidates for the company's products.
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The United States' railway market is typically viewed as one of the most promising as President Barack Obama's economic stimulus package includes an $8 billion provision for high-speed trains.
(Excerpt) Read more at in.reuters.com ...
Not to mention the gazillion dollars that have been spent to take I-4 from a 4-lane road (two lanes each way) to 8 lanes in the metro areas of Tampa and Orlando and 6 lanes for the rest of the area in between.
What, you don't want to take a couple of buses and dodge the daily downpour to take 2x the amount of time the train saved you just to do the last few miles to your destination? That's not very patriotic of you.
Plus it will take a 100 years to get it operating.
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