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Should be an interesting read - but beware, the download is 65 MB!
Bay Area Regional Rail Plan: Documents: Systemwide Nework Alternatives Maps
Update:
If you fear the huge download, SF CITYSCAPE has converted the PDFs into images.
A short article in the June 2006 edition of “Schweizer Eisenbahn-Revue” pointed me towards Spain’s plans for future investments in that country’s transportation infrastructure (all modes - road, rail, air, ship). Spain recently adopted a medium-to-long range strategic plan for investments in their transportation infrastructure - the “Strategic Infrastructures and Transport Plan” (Plan Estratégico de Infraestructuras y Transportes, PEIT). The plan covers the timeframe until about the year 2020, i.e. the next 14 years or so. I thought this would make for an interesting comparison to California’s Transportation Infrastructure Bond measure (SB 1266), that will be on the ballot this November (here’s a summary). That bond measure’s funds are supposed to be distributed over the next 10 years - a quite comparable timeframe even if not exactly equivalent.
Also, some quick research shows that the State of California and Spain are of quite similar size - with regards to economic strength and population:
California Spain GDP/GSP (2004) 1,400 billion $ 1,090 billion $ Population (2006) 37 million 40 million
So then, let’s compare the two plans, especially with regards to rail and transit content. The California bond measure allocates 400 million $ (out of a total sum of 20 billion $) for Intercity rail, plus about 3.6 billion $ for transit improvements. The rest is mainly for road-related expenditures. Well, that’s not a whole lot, but better than nothing, you might say?
Let’s have a look at Spain’s plan - the overall amount of the planned expenditures is a whopping 248.8 billion Euros (311 billion $ - let’s assume that one Euro equals 1.25 US Dollars, which is about the current exchange rate). Of this total, 108.7 billion Euros (136 billion $) are allocated to rail infrastructure and rolling stock, the major part of which goes towards construction of high speed/high performance rail lines. This does not include an additional 10.5 billion Euros (13.1 billion $) for urban and commuter rail. The total amount available for rail projects is almost 120 billion Euros (150 billion $) - i.e. almost 50% of the total. Compare that with the paltry 4 billion $ that California intends to spend on rail and transit (only about 20% of the total of the bond measure).
How much did they say that California High Speed Rail would cost? 40 billion $? That sum doesn’t seem so big if you look at how much money Spain intends to spend …
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Tags: california | spain | rail | highspeedrail | hsr
There are rumors that the French National Railways (SNCF) will attempt to set a new world record next year - using a TGV POS train on the new high speed line going from Paris towards Strasbourg. The goal seems to be to exceed a speed of 150 meters per second, i.e. 540km/h or 335mph. The current record for conventional rail vehicles is at 515.3km/h, set by SNCF using an abbreviated TGV Atlantique trainset on May 18, 1990.
I’m not sure if exceeding the MAGLEV record of 581km/h would be feasible, but I’m sure that they will try if they think it’s possible at all …
Beginning July 1, Amtrak Cascades will offer a fourth daily roundtrip service between Seattle and Portland. The new service will leave Seattle as train #513 at 11:20am (through service from Bellingham) and return departing Portland as train #516 at 2:50pm (through service to Bellingham). Both new trains will continue using Amtrak Cascades Talgo equipment.
Tags: amtrak | amtrak cascades
