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Emerging News:  

High Speed Train News:

• Bidding for California High Speed Train to Start in 3 Months
• Another Nail in the High Speed Rail Coffin
• New study picks same route for high speed rail
• Stimulus money will spur construction on California high-speed rail project, officials say
• California to get $2.25 billion in high-speed rail funding
• Move to delay California high-speed rail rejected
• Chinese bullet train maker orders recall
• Super high speed Euro train gets green boost from two miles of solar panels
• FRANCE has unveiled super high speed train that will travel at almost a third the speed of sound (250 MPH)   (the speed of sound is 343.2 metres per second (1,126 ft/s) – or 1,236 kilometres per hour (768 mph) .
• South Africa to Open New High Speed Train and Rail Line
• Super high speed Euro train gets green boost from two miles of solar panels
• FRANCE has unveiled super high speed train that will travel at almost a third the speed of sound (250 MPH)   (the speed of sound is 343.2 metres per second (1,126 ft/s) – or 1,236 kilometres per hour (768 mph) .
• When will I see high speed rail where I live?
• The Super High-Speed Rail Authority said the bidding process stems from plans to break ground next year on a 100 mile section of track in the Central Valley. The High Speed Rail project has a budget of about $6 billion.

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Opinions and High Speed Comments

 Rx for What Ails HIGH SPEED RAIL

by Alan LaGreen – Senior Contributing Editor Super Speed Train News

What America Needs HSR

 

At present, the general public is starting to put HIGH SPEED RAIL  in the same category as other components of the stimulus — bailouts to Wall Street, $50 million grants to green energy companies that produce 4 new jobs, Cash for Clunkers and the Chevrolet Volt.  HIGH SPEED RAIL  needs to be sold as something different — a long range investment in the future.  There can be some short term economic benefits as well — a few thousand construction workers back on the job is no small potatoes  — but HIGH SPEED RAIL ’s biggest benefits will be down the road and probably cannot even be predicted today.  Continued

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High Speed Rail Scorecard

by Alan LaGreen – Senior Contributing Editor Super Speed Train News

Where things Stand in US with HSR

With the recent shocks to the nation’s economy from the debt-and-budget battle in Congress to Standard & Poor’s downgrading of the nation’s bonds, where does this leave the ambitious national push for High Speed Rail?

As recently as February 2011 (and after an initial outlay of $10.5 billion in funding was awarded in 2010) Vice President Biden was announcing an ambitious $53 billion that would be forthcoming from the Obama Administration over a six-year period.  But with the 2010 elections shifting the balance of power in Congress and the worsening economic outlook, it appears that approval for any additional outlays will be an uphill battle.

But, what became of the initial appropriations?  Where did the money go, and how much High Speed Rail will it buy?

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Safety concerns may slow Chinese high speed rail, but expansion plan an economic necessity

By Shyam Raman, Research Analyst, Automotive & Transportation

The China Rail Investment Corp. has issued an estimated US$ 150 billion to finance HSR construction from 2006 to 2010. Further spending on HSR is expected to be 4 trillion Yuan by 2015. It is yet to be confirmed what effect this incident will have on these ambitious proposals. Following the accident, shares of Chinese rail equipment manufacturers fell by 7 to 15%. This is the first real test that China’s high speed rail service faces in terms of consumer preferences and stock market volatility.       Continued

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High Speed Junk Crashes in the Pacific

by Brian Carrillo , Editor & Senior Writer – Opinions

I am no Rocket Scientist but am I the only one who is confused as to why we keep spending billions of taxpayer dollars on these super fancy high-tech experimental planes, rockets and space probing land rovers ?  Yeah, I know – calculators, computers, toothpaste, TV Dinners – none of these great discoveries would have never been possible were it not for Man’s unyielding quest for aliens and space exploration. I get that. But why are we not outraged when we hear about these satellites that disappear, or rovers that go MIA or Supersonic gliders that fizzle out into the Pacific? Can we really afford these blunders when right here on Earth we have only explored less than 5% of the earth’s Oceans and we have traffic so bad it’s almost apocolyptic (see Carmogeddon)? What would we discover if we invested more on bridge and highways and  high speed rail and mag-lev technologies rather than a bunch of complex experiments  in outer space? Continued This way

Juno  NASA New Frontiers mission to the planet Jupiter Trumps High Speed Trains

by Brian Carrillo , Editor & Senior Writer – Opinions

I have always loved space travel and to this day, next to the study of high speed trains and rail, I spend as much time considering the idea of life in outerspace and the possibity that we will someday prove this. When I heard about NASA launching JUNO this week – the new solar powered high speed rocket designed to study Jupiters composistion and magnetosphere I could not help but wonder how much the project cost and how it compared to the cost of building a high speed train and rail network in the United States. Continued

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The DesertXpress  – Super High speed train would create equivalent of 50,000 one-year construction jobs

Most permanent jobs would be based in Victorville, Calif.

When the DesertXpress high-speed train is built, there would be up to 700 permanent jobs at an operations and maintenance facility — in Victorville, Calif.

President Tom Stone of DesertXpress Enterprises LLC, told representatives of the Associated General Contractors recently that building the privately funded, $4 billion traditional super high-speed rail system would create 50,000 person-year construction jobs over the four-year design and construction period expected to begin late this year, including planners, architects, draftsmen, engineers, construction workers, electricians and other specialists. A smaller number of permanent jobs would be based in Southern Nevada for crews that would clean and inspect trains parked overnight in Las Vegas.

The rail line is expected to be completed by 2014.  High Speed Train DesertXpress Overview

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One in Three Adults are Aware of Super High Speed Train Projects

According to one online survey among 2,566 adults between January 17 and 24, 2011 to gauge awareness, intention to use and position on funding for high speed rail. At the time of the survey, there were ten proposed super high speed rail corridors across the United Statesª. To-date, projects in California and Florida have been the most visible.

Iowa, Nevada Receive Grants from DOT to Develop Statewide Rail Plans Friday, July 29, 2011

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announced high speed rail grants for two states to develop statewide rail plans as part of the Administration’s efforts to develop an integrated passenger rail network. 

 
Chinese Government halts high-speed rail projects Move comes three weeks after Beijing-Shanghai train disaster that killed 40 :

“We will suspend for the time being the examination and approval of new railway construction projects,” the State Council said in a statement, adding that the government will now “thoroughly study” projects awaiting approval.

The railways ministry announced cuts in train speeds, with all trains now to be driven 50 km/h slower than their designed top speeds in a further indication of concerns over China’s homebuilt trains. There will also be bigger intervals between trains on the tracks to improve safety after the Wenzhou crash, in which one train rammed into the back of another that had been told to slow down.  More

• South Africa to Open New High Speed Train and Rail Line
• Super high speed Euro train gets green boost from two miles of solar panels
• FRANCE has unveiled super high speed train that will travel at almost a third the speed of sound (250 MPH)   (the speed of sound is 343.2 metres per second (1,126 ft/s) – or 1,236 kilometres per hour (768 mph) .

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