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ROUTE ALIGNMENT CALIFORNIA NEVADA SUPER SPEED TRAIN
Posted Sep 19th, 2011 By admin in California High Speed Rail Authority, Super Speed Trains - High Speed Post With | No Comments

CALIFORNIA/NEVADA SUPER-SPEED TRAIN.

Route Alignment: Las Vegas to Anaheim with intermediate stops in Primm, NV, Barstow,. Victorville and Ontario. …

Route Alignment: Las Vegas to Anaheim with intermediate stops in Primm, NV, Barstow, Victorville and Ontario. The alignment generally follows the I‐15 and SR 91.

Technology: Maglev.

Speed: Top speed 185 mph.

Status: A Programmatic EIR/EIS was initiated in 2004 but has not been completed to date, and $45 million of federal funding was earmarked for the environmental review. Plans call for building the first 40‐mile segment either from Las Vegas to Primm or Anaheim to Ontario. To date, no funds for construction have been identified. Momentum for the project has slowed since Senator Harry Reid switched support to the DesertXpress.

Regional Connectivity: The project would have very good regional connectivity, with connections to CA HSR, Amtrak, Metrolink and various fixed‐route transit services. In addition, it would directly serve Ontario airport, which is currently operating under capacity, and connect with the Anaheim resort area.

Ridership: The California/Nevada Super‐Speed Train Commission has produced initial estimates of 40.4 million annual riders for 2018, with the Anaheim to Ontario segment garnering 12.6 million annual riders.

Funding: Currently not funded.

Project/Alignment Duplication: Both the project and its alignment is duplicated by the DesertXpress project between Las Vegas and Victorville.

Inclusion in LRTPs/RTPs: Not included.

Commission/COG Support: OCTA supported CNSSTC’s request for Federal funds in 2009.

Stakeholder Support/Objection: Supported by the cities of Barstow, Ontario, Anaheim and Newport Beach, and the County of San Bernardino.

Staff Recommendatio:

Include the Anaheim to Ontario segment in the Strategic Plan; however, do not include the entire project in the 2012 RTP.

SCAG HSR Subcommittee, September 2012
Juno – Voyage to Nowhere Trumps Super Speed Trains?
Posted Sep 14th, 2011 By admin in Related Technology, Super Speed Trains - High Speed Post, Transportation With | 6 Comments

Opinion by Brian Carrillo – Editor-but-not-Chief of Super Speed Train, Los Angeles CA

I have always loved space travel and to this day, next to the study of super 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 a few weeks ago - the new solar powered super 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.

Juno is a NASA New Frontiers mission to the planet Jupiter. It was originally proposed at a cost of approximately US$700 million for a June 2009 launch. NASA budgetary restrictions resulted in postponement until August 2011 on board an Atlas V rocket in the 551 configuration. As of June 2011, the mission was projected to cost $1.1 billion over its life. Juno was launched from the Kennedy Space Center on August 5, 2011; after several delays, including a hold at T-4 minutes, the spacecraft launched at 12:25 p.m. EDT.

The spacecraft will be placed in a polar orbit to study the planet’s composition, gravity field, magnetic field, and polar magnetosphere. Juno will also search for clues about how Jupiter formed, including whether the planet has a rocky core, the amount of water present within the deep atmosphere, and how the mass is distributed within the planet. Juno will also study Jupiter’s deep winds, which can reach speeds of 600 kilometers per hour (370 mph).

Juno’s name comes from Greek and Roman mythology, in which the god Jupiter drew a veil of clouds around himself to hide his mischief, and his wife, the goddess Juno, was able to peer through the clouds and reveal Jupiter’s true nature.

Granted, Americans have always loved space travel and exploration – I do as well – but at what expense and what cost to other key projects? is the return on investment in space travel any better then developing better high speed train systems and rail?

After reaching Jupiter in 2016 and orbiting our Solar System’s largest planet 33 times, the JUNO probe will de-orbit and destroy itself by crashing into the planet. Would a High speed train ever be designed to do that? Probably not. Yes we all love space and I am sure great science comes from these projects but how much and why don’t we hear the same amount of resistance to these Spaceships “to nowhere”.

I am not suggesting we should put our space exploration projects on hold – God no. I love space and look forward to what we may someday discover and uncover within the rocks and gasses of our solar system and deeper space. I am only asking, why not take some of the money and invest into something like high speed trains that will have a long lasting value and which will help elevate our countries transportation train and freight systems to the level of Japan, China and other Europeon countries.

Why “dis” high speed trains – we know what they can do and we know we need them at least in certain parts of our country? They can take people places faster and more efficiently. The construction of high speed rail networks and stations will also put many people to work before, during and after construction.

There are plenty of ways to save money and reduce our national debt – let’s not do it at the expense of High Speed Rail or High Speed Rocket Ships to “somewhere”.

Update: September 14, 2011

NASA unveils giant new rocket design:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The design for NASA’s newest behemoth of a rocket harkens back to the giant workhorse liquid rockets that propelled men to the moon. But this time the destinations will be much farther and the rocket even more powerful.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and several members of Congress joined Wednesday in unveiling the Obama administration’s much-delayed general plans for its rocket design, called the Space Launch System. The multibillion-dollar program will carry astronauts in a capsule on top and start test launching from Cape Canaveral, Fla., in six years.

“This is a great day for NASA, I think, for NASA and the nation,” Bolden said.

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., called it “a monster rocket.” He said the holdup in presenting the design was so all the details would be in order, before the program was presented and defended by the administration…

Seem like NASA is still spending money on things other than things that matter today!

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High Speed Rail In the Running for More Funding
Posted Sep 14th, 2011 By admin in Transportation With | No Comments

High Speed Rail In the Running for More Funding in President’s $447 Billion Jobs Bill

September 13, 2011

by Alan LaGreen Senior Writer and Editor Super Speed Train

While President Obama’s September 8, “Jobs Bill” address to a joint session of Congress was lacking in specific references to High Speed Rail, the full bill released Monday, September 12, opens up the POSSIBILITY OF ADDITIONAL funding for HIGH SPEED RAIL projects.

In his address to Congress outlining his $447 billion plan, the President made two references to rail, one being that other nations are building HIGH SPEED RAIL and the US should not be left behind, the other a passing mention that the first transcontinental railroad came about thanks to funding from the Federal government. Beyond this, there were no direct promises of Washington’s backing of any specific HIGH SPEED RAIL plans.

The actual bill, as released September 12, that will be submitted to Congress still does not allocate funds to any specific HIGH SPEED RAIL project, but it opens up two doors for HIGH SPEED RAIL to receive some degree of funding.

The bill, if passed, would “make available $4 billion to improve the existing intercity rail passenger network AND develop new high speed corridors.” No indication is provided as to how the $4 billion might be split between HIGH SPEED RAIL and existing passenger services. But, unlike many of the appropriations made under the previous stimulus program that required matching funds from the states, this time around, the grants available would have a 100 per-cent Federal share. This could make HIGH SPEED RAIL more attractive in some locations.

An additional $2 billion is allocated to Amtrak for “repair, rehabilitation and upgrade of Amtrak’s infrastructure and rolling stock. Another $3 billion is set aside for transit projects including the purchase of American-made buses and $6 billion would be made available to modernize existing “fixed guide way” transit. Finally, there will be a $5 billion “wild card” — funds that can be allotted for projects across all surface transportation modes with grants made on a competitive basis.

The Jobs Bill also creates a secondary source of funds for HIGH SPEED RAIL and other rail projects — the “American Infrastructure Financing Authority.” AIFA is envisioned as a wholly owned government corporation that would provide both direct loans and loan guarantees to fund infrastructure projects of “regional or national significance.” To be considered, projects would have to be in the $100 million or more range. No indication is given in the bill as to the ultimate size or lending capacity of AIFA.

AIFA will cover a broad range of infrastructure — in addition to transportation; it will include dams, levees, waste treatment, energy generation and distribution, storm drains and energy efficient building upgrades.

Funding for the bill would come from limiting itemized deductions for families with taxable income of $250,000 or more a year, ending some tax breaks for oil companies and corporate jet owners, and cutting out a tax break for investment-fund managers. The White House says the tax changes would take effect in 2013 and estimates they would raise $467 billion in additional revenue over 10 years.

Republicans in Congress, who had been striking a more conciliatory tone about backing at least parts of the President’s proposal, disputed the White House contention that the plan would cause no additional job losses in the struggling economy.

Despite the President’s demand that Congress act rapidly on the legislation, neither the jobs nor tax proposals are likely to be approved or take affect any time soon. Democratic leaders are expected to bring the bill to a vote in the coming weeks, but it is not expected to pass the Senate and faces an even more uphill battle in the GOP-dominated House.

More likely some of the proposals in the bill could be passed piecemeal or could be included in a broader deficit-reduction plan crafted by the congressional “supercommittee” charged with finding at least $1.2 trillion in savings over the next 10 years. The congressional committee faces a November 23 deadline to agree on a deficit-reduction package, which must be put to Congress for an up or down vote by December 23.
What will be left for HSR after Obama’s jobs address?
Posted Sep 7th, 2011 By admin in Transportation With | No Comments

Speech before joint session of Congress now set for Sept. 8.

Will High Speed Rail be Part of this Speech?

by Alan Lagreen, Senior Editor Super Speed Train News

As part of an effort to spur additional job creation, the Obama administration will push Congress to keep surface transportation spending at current levels rather than subject it to cuts, according to administration sources. Both the Huffington Post and TheHill.com reported that the President will call for Congress to pass a “clean extension” of surface transportation funding at an event with the heads of both the AFL-CIO and U.S. Chamber of Commerce set for Wednesday, Sept. 7 and it may also be included in his highly publicized speech on job creation set for the following day.

Democrats on and off Capitol Hill say that the current spending levels must be maintained if the party is to be viewed as serious about jobs. Current surface transportation spending is set to run out on September 30; if it were allowed to lapse, thousands of federal construction jobs would simply be lost.

Specific legislation in both the House and Senate that would extend the funding has caused friction between Republicans and Democrats. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), who chairs the Environment and Public Works Committee, has outlined a two-year extension at the cost of $109 billion, which would keep spending at its current levels. House Transportation and Infrastructure Chair John Mica (R-FL), meanwhile, has pushed for a six-year extension but with a 34 percent reduction in the amount spent.

A top Republican aide explained that a six-year extension would “give states and transit agencies the predictability it needs to plan for long term projects.” The aide added that given diminished revenues coming into the Highway Trust Fund, it would be necessary to reduce the total amount being spent on surface transportation. “You can’t continue to write these checks that we can’t cash,” said the aide.

For Obama, however, the immediate hurdle to jump is job creation. And according to Boxer’s office, the numerical difference in dollars spent between her plan and Mica’s is the equivalent of 630,000 jobs. It was, perhaps, little surprise that at a time when it’s extremely difficult to get information about the president’s job speech, CBS News reported that the White House wanted the $109 billion, two-year package as part of Obama’s plan to “spend big on the nation’s roads and bridges.”

Conservatives attacked the plan as further evidence that the President cannot tame his spending urges, though Democrats note that $109 billion does not signal a spending increase, rather a continuation of current spending levels. The last surface transportation bill expired in September 2009. There have been seven temporary extensions since then in order to continue work on authorized projects.

While it’s not entirely clear whether Obama will make a formal pitch for Boxer’s proposal when he delivers his jobs address, her outline does have at least one prominent Republican supporter, Environment and Public Works ranking member Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK.) With all spending set to expire in one month, the window for passage is incredibly tight and both chambers of Congress will rarely be in session simultaneously during September.

Most transportation advocates predict that Congress will resolve the issue as it has in the recent past — by simply extending the current law until some future moment. That would keep current projects funded for now. But it would also mean that lawmakers will have punted on specific legislative changes that could spur even more job creation, such as allocating $1 billion for a program, which helps communities use federal credit assistance — direct loans, loan guarantees, and lines of credit — to leverage their transportation projects.

Beyond these efforts, it remains to be seen if High Speed Rail will receive specific mention in Thursday’s address.
Super Speed Winged Roller Coaster to Debut
Posted Sep 2nd, 2011 By admin in Related Technology With | 1 Comment

Riders will sit in pairs suspended on either side of the track with their feet dangling. The coaster will include a 12-story plunge, 3,000 feet of drops and reach speeds of 55 mph. Six Flags announced the new coaster Thursday.

Six Flags Great America president Hank Salemi says “the coaster’s train actually looks like a plane with seats suspended on either side of the track.” A news release describes the ride speeding “straight toward a structure, before making a last-minute vertical flip to fit through a keyhole cut-out.”

Construction starts this fall and X-Flight will open in the spring.

________________________________________________________________________________

History (Wikepedia)

The Wing Rider was derived from John F. Mares’ 4th Dimension roller coaster concept from the 1990s. However, unlike 4th Dimension roller coasters, cars on a Wing Rider train do not spin – they are locked in place facing forward in a seated position. In 2007, the first Wing Rider roller coaster opened. Manufactured by Intamin AG, Furius Baco at PortAventura launches riders from 0 to 135 kilometres per hour (84 mph) in 3.5 seconds. Six rows of four people (two on either side of the track) make up a single train.[2]In 2010, Bolliger & Mabillard announced that they would be building a prototype Wing Rider design at Merlin Entertainments’ Gardaland.[3][4] Raptor opened April 1st 2011 as the world’s second Wing Rider.[5] As part of a deal with Bolliger & Mabillard, Merlin Entertainments will also open a second Wing Rider called The Swarm at Thorpe Park in 2012.[6][7]. The first announced wing coaster in the United States, X-Flight, is also slated to open in 2012 at Six Flags Great America.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

From Coaster.net

First coaster of its kind to be announced in the U.S.
September 1, 2011 – Ryan Shrout
Gurnee, IL -

New Winged Roller Coaster Announced

X Flight will feature multiple near miss encounters like this Keyhole element.Last year, Bolliger and Mabillard stunned the coaster world with its introduction of Raptor at Gardaland in Veneto, Italy. Now, Six Flags Great America is making waves as the first North American park to announce the construction of a similar Wing Coaster, X Flight.

Raptor was a prototype design of B&M’s first new coaster model since they debuted their Diving Machine in 1998 with Oblivion at Alton Towers. B&M has dubbed this new model a Wing Coaster due to the fact that the seats are situated outside the rails instead of directly over or under them. The concept was originally used on Arrow Dynamics, and later S&S’s 4D coaster models, and in 2007, Intamin produced a model without spinning cars known as Furious Baco. B&M’s take on the concept also features stationary cars but also attempted a much more convoluted layout than Baco, including three inversions and several “near miss” elements involving the ride’s detailed scenery.

© Six Flags Great America X Flight at Six Flags Great America will up the ante even more, featuring five mind numbing inversions in its 3,000 ft layout. Of special note in this layout is a first of its kind “inverted” first drop, where the train will roll over at the top of the lift hill before plunging down to reach its top speed of 55 miles per hour. The rest of the layout includes two Zero-G Rolls, an Immelmann, and an elongated Inline Roll. When this incredible ride opens in the Spring of 2012, it will bring new life back into the County Fair section of the park which recently just lost the stand-up coaster Iron Wolf as it moves to Six Flags America in Marlboro, Maryland. Its fitting I guess that, although Six Flags Great America is losing the first ever coaster by B&M, they are replacing it with the first B&M Wing Coaster in the United States

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Rx for What Ails HIGH SPEED RAIL
Posted Aug 25th, 2011 By admin in Super Speed Trains - High Speed Post, Transportation With | No Comments

It’s a construction project, not a political platform

by Alan LaGreen – Senior Editor Super Speed Train

High Speed Rail is mired in the politics of stimulus, debt reduction, earmarks, pork barrels — you name it. That said, the only way to get HIGH SPEED RAIL off the ground (well actually moving 200 mph on the ground) is to extract the political factor from it.

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.

Let’s rebrand the whole HIGH SPEED RAIL effort. Let’s give it a catchy name everyone will get. Let’s call it Apollo 2. It’s kind of like the space program of the 60’s — we do it for national pride (how dare those Frenchmen and Chinese out do us?) we do it to stay at the cutting edge of technology, we do it because it’s THERE! And let’s put a timetable on it — an impossible timetable — put a man on the moon by 1970 when all we can do is put a tin can 50 miles up for 5 hours? Who are we kidding? But we did it.

Whatever it is called, if we want to see true HIGH SPEED RAIL anywhere beyond the Northeast Corridor in our lifetimes, the politics have to be taken out of the equation. As we all know, the nature of politics is that it follows two and four year cycles. With HIGH SPEED RAIL politicized to the extent it currently is where Republican congressmen vote to cut any and all funds for HIGH SPEED RAIL and GOP governors refuse to accept Federal grant money for projects in their states, it will NEVER be built. The time line is just too long. Even if the Democrats regain a veto-proof majority in Congress, and retain a Democrat in the White House to sign the bill, you still can’t get the project designed, built, and up and running fast enough before the political tide shifts.

It’s time to infuse the “Baseball, Hot Dogs and Mom’s Apple Pie” factor into the HIGH SPEED RAIL debate. Unless it is something valued and accepted by both sides in the present politically polarized climate, it will not happen. It needs to be in a similar category as defense. One side may venerate the Army more than the other, but in the end the money is always there.

Yes, Republicans are on a slash-and-burn mission through the Federal budget, BUT at the same time, they have been known to embrace government spending for roads, dams, fighter planes and fire stations. You can’t change the underlying philosophy of the GOP, (and, as of this writing, at least, it appears there will be more conservative congressmen, senators, governors and possibly a Republican president next year) but move it into that select club of “good government projects” and maybe the logjam is broken.

Let the politicians nit pick the details so that they can feel useful, Republicans will cut the cost by 10-15% and demand that all the equipment is made in the U.S.A. and Democrats will make sure that the project uses union contractors and is Green, Green, Green. Bring on the amendments, as long as the bill gets through.

Now, while any rebranding effort has to bring conservatives back into the fold, there should be no reason it would, at the same time, alienate Progressives. As much as they would look at wrapping HIGH SPEED RAIL up in the flag as schmaltzy at best and disingenuous at worst, they still want good public transit, so they’ll go along with having flag decals on the sides of the cars if that’s what it takes.

As long as HIGH SPEED RAIL is solely a Progressive dream, well, dream on…
High Speed Rail Score card – Where things stand
Posted Aug 18th, 2011 By admin in California High Speed Rail Authority, Related Technology, Super Speed Trains - High Speed Post, Transportation With | 2 Comments

August 17, 2011

High Speed Rail Scorecard

by Alan LaGreen – Senior Contributing Editor Super Speed Train News

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?

According to Brie Sachse of the U.S. Department of Transportation, of the original appropriation, more than $6 Billion has been awarded to states to date. The Federal Railroad Administration anticipates the remaining grants will be disbursed before the September 30, 2012 date for the Recovery Act to expire. In May 2011, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced $2 million in new grants (although some of these had, in fact, been previously announced.)

Grants awarded to date range from $87,000 for improvements to the existing Amtrak depot in Lawrence, Kansas to a little over $1 billion to complete improvements to the Union Pacific’s Chicago-St.Louis mainline to provide faster runtimes for Amtrak “Lincoln Service” trains. The largest dollar amounts go to California for its proposed LA area-San Francisco HSR.

While the projects are certainly improvements to America’s overall passenger rail infrastructure, other than the fact that they were issued under the High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program (HSIPR) few of the projects are what the general public would associate with “High Speed Trains.” In all, almost $5 Billion has been designated for improvements to existing Amtrak, or regional rail routes, with a few bucks aimed at developing some new Amtrak corridors. Except for various planning studies, most of these grants fall under the “shovel ready” category, and range from $125 million for track improvements to ease the bottleneck going into Chicago’s Union Station, to almost $6 million to repair the roof of the Portland, OR station.

“True HSR” scored one major grant — of the $8 Billion, almost $3 Billion goes to the California High Speed project for first phase planning, design and construction of the Fresno-Bakersfield leg and some funds for equipment.

Several other grants, most in the half-million dollar range were awarded to several states for rail planning, but these efforts may or may not yield plans for true HSR. In the grants to California, $400 million are earmarked for the Transbay Terminal in San Francisco, which will be the Northern terminus for the HSR line, but will also be used for other rail services such as CalTrain.

So, not counting several planning projects, which could lead to HSR projects in several states, California comes out as the primary true HSR line to receive any significant funding. For the time being, and except for the existing Amtrak Acela service, the fledging California HSR project appears to be the only game in town.

Here’s a scorecard of where the initial $8 Billion down payment has gone (figures from the FRA as of August 5, 2011.) HSR grants and studies that could result in HSR proposals are indicated in bold:

High Speed Rail Scorecard

Grants awarded as part of the initial funding of the High Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program from the “Stimulus Plan” (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act)

NORTHEAST US

New York

     Adirondack Corridor capacity improvements                         $3,318,333

     Empire Corridor improvements                                   $58,000,000

     Station Improvements Rochester, NY                                     $1,500,000

     Station improvements additional Rochester, NY                  $1,400,000

     Station Improvements Buffalo, NY                                              $727,400

     Planning Empire Corridor                                                         $1,000,000

     Bridge replacement                                                                    $2,000,000

     Manhattan track improvements                                            $295,000,000

Connecticut

     N.E. Corridor track improvements                                      $40,000,000

Rhode Island

     N.E. Corridor track improvements                                        $25,000,000

     Providence Station improvements                                       $3,000,000

Maine

     Boston-Portland service                                                            $35,000,000

     Boston-Portland corridor planning                                               $600,000

     Boston-Portland additional funding                                        $3,385,495

Vermont

     New England Central RR improvements                               $50,000,000

     Vermont-New York State planning                                               $500,000

Massachusetts

     Corridor improvement project                                                    $72,800,000

New Jersey

     Portal Bridge project construction                                            $38,500,000

Pennsylvania

     Grade crossing improvements                                                  $18,000,000

     Philadelphia-Harrisburg signaling improvements                $46,300,000

     Philadelphia-Harrisburg planning                                                $750,000

Delaware

     Planning project                                                                               $450,000

     Susquehanna River Bridge repairs                                     $22,000,000

Maryland

     Baltimore & Potomac Tunnel project                                       $60,000,000

     Baltimore Airport station improvements                                  $9,400,000

District of Columbia

     Union Station access improvements                                      $4,270,500

West Virginia

     High Speed Rail planning                                                       $1,000,000

North Carolina

     Charlotte-Raleigh station improvements                                $16,907,922

     Charlotte-Raleigh conventional pass. equipment                $20,333,936

     Charlotte-Raleigh engineering                                                            $21,663,532

     Charlotte Station construction                                                  $22,000,000

     Charlotte-Raleigh corridor construction                              $461,094,610

     Environmental analysis for Charlotte-Richmond HSR   $4,000,000

Georgia

     Macon-Jacksonville feasibility study                                           $250,000

     Planning study                                                                                $250,000

     Atlanta-Birmingham feasibility study                                          $250,000

Florida

     Tampa-Orlando High Speed preliminary engineering    $66,660,000

Michigan

     Battle Creek station improvements                                          $3,620,552

     Kalamazoo-Dearborn track and signal rehabilitation        $196,500,000

Ohio

     Cleveland-Cincinnati preliminary engineering                     RETURNED

Illinois

     Track improvements Chicago area                                       $125,986,998

     Chicago-St.Louis double track planning                                $1,250,000

     Chicago-St.Louis corridor construction                               $100,133,604

     Bridge replacement                                                                    $3,710,960

     Chicago-St.Louis corridor construction                            $1,042,190,396

     Conventional passenger equipment                                   $268,201,084

Wisconsin

     Milwaukee-Chicago track improvements                               $11,074,934

     Milwaukee station platform construction                                     $678,021

     Milwaukee-Madison planning                                                  RETURNED

     Milwaukee-Madison High Speed Rail planning                   RETURNED

Minnesota

     Minneapolis-Duluth HSR engineering work                         $5,000,000

Iowa

     Track improvements                                                                   $17,309,080

     Statewide rail planning                                                                 $400,000

Missouri

     Kansas City-St.Louis track improvements                                   $570,000

     Kansas City-St.Louis grade crossing projects                       $1,920,000

     Kansas City-St.Louis track improvements                                   $611,200

     Kansas City-St.Louis passing sidings                                                     $836,800

     Kansas City-St.Louis passing sidings                                                     $958,800

     Kansas City-St.Louis grade separation                                       $850,000

     Kansas City-St.Louis double track project                              $1,418,800

     Design new Mississippi River bridge                                      $13,500,000

Kansas

     Station improvements, Lawrence station                                      $87,563

     Statewide rail planning                                                                 $250,000

Oklahoma

     Statewide rail planning                                                                 $375,000

Texas

     Dallas-Houston HSR engineering and environmental    $15,000,000

Colorado

     Statewide rail planning                                                                 $400,000

     Denver area rail and transit study                                            $1,000,000

Nevada

     Statewide rail planning                                                                  $640,000

Washington

     Seattle-Portland additional Amtrak service                       $590,000,000

     Seattle-Portland additional service                                       $145,458,912

     Vancouver grade separation                                                    $15,000,000

Oregon

     Portland Union Station roof repairs                                         $5,900,000

     Bridge improvements                                                                      $500,000

     Eugene station trackage analysis                                           $1,500,000

California

     Los Angeles-San Diego Corridor improvements                       $950,000

     LA-San Diego maintenance of way sidings                          $1,720,000

     Bicycle storage on passenger cars                                          $8,230,000

     Locomotive emissions upgrade                                               $13,295,511

     San Jose-Roseville route station improvements                   $18,000,000

     San Jose-Roseville track relocation                                        $6,200,000

     San Diego-Paso Robles planning study                                     $200,000

     Statewide rail planning                                                              $1,500,000

     Conventional locomotives and passenger cars                    $68,000,000

     High Speed Phase 1                                                              $231,500,000

     High Speed Rail Fresno-Bakersfield                             $2,234,676,231

     San Francisco Terminal (HSR and commuter)              $400,000,000

    San Francisco-San Jose HSR                                               $16,000,000

     HSR rolling stock acquisition                                             $100,000,000

Multi State

     Purchase of locomotives and cars for Midwest trains       $268,200,000
High Speed Pieces of Junk – Really?
Posted Aug 12th, 2011 By admin in Related Technology, Super Speed Trains - High Speed Post, Transportation With | 1 Comment

Contact Lost? Marbles Maybe! I am no Rocket-Scientist

Commentary by Brian Carrillo – Armchair Space Expert and High Speed Train Observer. Editor but not Chief of SST

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 experimental planes, rockets and Mars 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 most of us sit in traffic all day because our freeways are so messed up? What would we discover if we invested more on high speed rail and mag-lev technologies rather than a bunch of experiments in outer space?

As you may know, the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle-2 was launched Thursday atop a rocket, successfully separating from the booster and entered the mission’s glide phase before being lost after the launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base on the central California coast. Where did it go? Alien Abduction perhaps?

The agency says telemetry was lost, but released no details. What would happen if we had a High Speed Bullet Train disappear inside a tunnel or underpass? The story would end up on the History Channel that’s what!

But, believe it or not this is not the first time one of these high speed supersonic flying machines disappeared after launch. In April 2010 the US Air Force together with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) test-launched a glider, but lost contact with it almost immediately. So now, over a year later, they’ve built another and are giving it a second go with the same results. Really?

I can’t imagine how expensive these bad-boys cost – and then to have it fall into the ocean – no passengers – no pictures – no extreme crashing videos on Youtube – WTH! There’s no exact figures released on the cost behind the Falcon, but according to my intense online research (Wikepedia) Henry F. Cooper, who was the Director of the Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars) under President Reagan, said the space plane projects swallowed $4 billion in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s – and this does not include the Space Shuttle,” and that the Falcon was “allocated a US$170 million for budget year 2008. That’s a whole lot of infrastructure!

Again, I am here not to argue against sending monkeys to Jupiter or developing missiles that can wipe out an entire band of terrorist from space in favor of developing High Speed Rail in the U.S. , that would be insane. I am not insane – monomaniacal about Super Speed Trains maybe but not insane. We really do need to send probes to the outermost regions of our solar system – have you seen how expensive land is in California? And those drones they are flying over Afghanistan would never have been possible if we did not send men to the Moon. What I am saying is we need to wake up America and get behind the development of high speed trains not so much for the profits we can someday make but rather because high speed rail and transportation is good for America. (Trains can move people faster and better and more efficiently then busses and planes! Jobs will also be created when we build the trains and the rails systems).

Stop screwing up these experiments you Bands of nutty Rocket Scientist, you are supposed to be better than that. We all know that rocket scientist are smart. I am no Braniac myself but please get the experiments right the first time using those cool pocket calculators and computers that are available because of the trillions spent on sending man to space. Let’s take that money to build bridges and highways and super speed trains and rail right here in America. And with the change left over, let’s build cool submarines that can really explore the Ocean! Something good will have to come out of that.

Just my opinion

Brian Carrillo

Hoo! Hoo!
Chinese high speed rail an economic necessity
Posted Aug 11th, 2011 By admin in Super Speed Trains - High Speed Post, Transportation With | No Comments

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

By Shyam Raman, Research Analyst, Automotive & Transportation
Email: shyamr@frost.com

On 23rd July 2011, a collision between two high speed trains in China’s Zhejiang province resulted in the death of 35 people and left 192 injured. Initial reports suggest that the first train was stationery due to a power outage caused by a lightning strike when the second train struck it from behind.

This has prompted authorities to fire three high ranking rail officials in light of this tragedy, network safety fears, and amid corruption allegations. Rail officials have now suspended the services of 58 trains, and called for a nationwide safety and reliability check.

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.

Possible cause for alarm

It should be noted that the accident happened on a route that opened to commercial service in 2009, the trains that collided are from the first generation of China’s high speed trains (with a top speed of 250km/hr) and not the latest generation trains that are capable of traveling at speeds excess of 350 km/hr. While lightning strikes are beyond human control, the cause for the power outage can definitely be identified and future trains will have improved power protection.

Investigators had initially speculated that there was a miscommunication or lack of communication to the train behind. In China, high speed lines that operate within 200-250km/hr utilize CTCS level 2 control for rail signaling (Rail signaling is a system that is used to control railway traffic to prevent trains from colliding). CTCS 2 constitutes of track circuits, balises (balises serve as ‘beacons’ that pinpoint the location of a train) and automatic train protection.

Faulty communication or failed automation?

The automatic train protection system is microprocessor based and uses audible warnings to warn the train driver. The system applies brakes if the driver fails to respond to the warnings. Officials initially suspected that the lightning strike could have caused the ATP onboard the affected train to send wrong signals to the control network. Hollysys and CSR Times Electric which supplied the parts for the trains cars’ ATP security system have released a statement saying that the ATPs functioned normally during the accident

If the fault is in the signaling infrastructure, China could be looking at upgrading faulty systems on its entire high speed network. It is still too early to comment on the cost of these works. Hollysys recently won the contract to supply its signaling solution for the Panjin-Yingkou high-speed line at approximately US$3.03 million. With China’s target of 45,000 kms of high speed in operation by 2015, the market size for signaling is estimated at US$ 1,274 million (approximate).

There is also the possibility of human error where the driver in the succeeding train may have disregarded the warning signals. Even if the train failed to issue alarms to the driver of the succeeding train, the ATP should have forcefully stopped the train by applying the brakes. The global rail community now waits anxiously for the results of the investigation that will determine the cause of the crash.

Implications on High Speed Rail

The immediate implications to China’s HSR network will be an increased focus on safety (which was already high), and markets could open up to usher in traffic management systems, control systems and power electronics that learn from this tragic event, and are adapted accordingly. The investigation process, new ministry, and corruption scandal could cause delays in the awarding of new contracts as well as ongoing HSR projects. Many companies that supply technology to Chinese HSR have a high level of accounts and unbilled receivables. Failure to collect payments could affect company cash flow, stock value and operations.

By 2013, China plans to add 26,000 km of new lines; including 9,200 km of high-speed lines to ease pressure on the country’s congested and constrained rail network. By late 2013, 800 additional high speed trains will be in active service. China’s high-speed railway is expected to amount to half of the world’s total length by the end of 2012 as they are adding 5,000km (average) of high speed lines every year, compared to 1,000km (average) in the whole of Europe. Currently, rail construction projects worth 2.1 trillion yuan (US $300 billion) are under way in China. Experts fear that such rapid and aggressive expansion plans may have compromised safety.

However, although current confidence levels in China for HSR have reduced, it is likely that they can regain their position in the market place as time passes, and the necessary safety and regulation checks are undertaken. Domestic and regional airlines struggled to stay afloat post 9/11 as passengers used alternate methods of travel due to apprehensions about safety.

Growth of high speed rail inevitable

HSR aims to attract passengers from conventional rail services and other modes of transport. To do so passenger fares must be competitive and not expensive. It is far more detrimental for trains to be traveling back and forth with low occupancy rates due to high ticket prices compared to trains running full due to cheaper affordable tickets in a place like China, where other modes of transportation are particularly congested. Mass transportation is for the masses and operators must keep this in mind and trade off margins for volumes. The new Chinese railway minister had already reduced the top speed on main high speed lines from 350km/hr to 300km/hr.

Reduction in train speeds will result in the reduced energy consumption and costs, which could allow the operator to lower its ticket prices. Cheaper fares increase attractiveness to passengers which will help boost passenger volumes in the short term, which could be a necessary step to overcome initial consumer fears. Season tickets must be marketed aggressively, like the “rail pass” in Japan which allow for unlimited travel on any JR train service. Such measures will surely increase patronage and increase desirability of the high speed service.

China’s export of high speed rolling stock and technology will not be affected to the extent that some analysts are claiming it will. The Eschede train disaster (1998) in Germany with death toll of 101 has not stopped the export of German HSR technology to the world. After investing such enormous amounts of money, effort, and developing ground breaking technology, it is outrageous to think that China will abandon its plans for high speed rail. In the short term, the power failures plaguing the new Beijing Shanghai line and the bad press associated with the accident will make things difficult for China to secure new orders, especially in Europe and North America. However, China is also lending money to emerging economies to fund their high speed aspirations (example Turkey) where it is expected that Chinese technology will be favored.

There is no denying that roadways are becoming further congested and nations around the world are looking at integrated multi modal transportation solutions that reduce congestion. There is speculation that China’s commitment to high speed rail might reduce and further expansion could be halted. Europe and Japan both stand testimony for safe and effective high speed rail networks that provide public transport services as well as a viable business model. Rail transport is not just an option for China but the only way to tackle spiraling pollution and congestion linked to road traffic; for both passenger and freight.

HSR accidents are very infrequent and do not allow for the calculation of accident rates. Whilst this incident in China is both tragic and what’s worse seemingly avoidable, China should learn from this to ensure the most stringent of International rail safety standards are adhered to going forward, but not abandon their pioneering HSR program.

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Martians on Mars? Looks like a High Speed Train to us!
Posted Aug 9th, 2011 By admin in Related Technology With | 1 Comment

Now that we have your attention, hs anyone figured out what the armchair astronomer found on Google Mars? Perhaps NASA should drive their little rover to that site on Mars?

We think it is a High Speed Train or Big-foot! Well not really. But it is pretty cool. What do you think?

Google Mars is a pretty cool concept–it shows an interactive map of mars–but also leaves a lot to the imagination.

Perhaps every armchair astronomer on the Internet hopes to use it to find life on Mars. And it seems one of them may have–or at least that’s what David Martines claims, according to NPR.

The video shows the location of what Martines calls “Biostation Alpha,” is hotly disputed. While the supposed object does appear on Google Mars, scientists challenge the idea that it signals there’s life on Mars.

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In the words of David Martines:

“This is a video of something I discovered on Google Mars quite by accident. I call it Bio-station Alpha, because I’m just assuming that something lives in it or has lived in it.

“It’s very unusual in that it’s quite large, it’s over 700 feet long and 150 feet wide, it looks like it’s a cylinder or made up of cylinders. It could be a power station or it could be a biological containment or it could be a glorified garage – hope it’s not a weapon.

“Whoever put it up there had a purpose I’m sure. I couldn’t imagine what the purpose was. I couldn’t imagine why anybody would want to live on Mars.

“It could be a way-station for weary space travelers. It could also belong to NASA, I don’t know that they would admit that. I don’t know if they could pull off such a project without all the people seeing all the material going up there. I sort of doubt NASA has anything to do with this.

“I don’t know if NASA even knows about this.”

The coordinates of the find were listed on the video as 49’19.73″N 29 33’06.53″W. However, experts say that Martines didn’t really find a structure, but instead was fooled by what’s knownn as a “linear streak artifact produced by a cosmic ray.” That’s what Alfred McEwen, planetary geologist at the Lunar and Planetary Lab at the University of Arizona and the director of the Planetary Imaging Research Laboratory told MSNBC.

McEwen is also the chief investigator of the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE), a orbital telescope currently above Mars.

Google doesn’t identify the source image, but the assumption would be the Google Mars imagery came from an orbiter. Without the protection of Earth’s atmosphere, if cosmic ray passes through a camera’s image sensor, it “deposits a large amount of its electric charge in the pixels that it penetrates.” If the angle is shallow, it would affect several pixels along the path, resulting in a bright streak on the image.

That sort of streak is exactly what David Martines saw – or was it?.

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