High Speed Rail Issues
Altamont vs. Pacheco, and how routing affects success of the high-speed rail proposal. The devils ARE in the details.
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Regional Trips Key to Energy & Greenhouse Gas Savings:
In this 2002 article, we proposed a high-speed bypass route and hybrid operation on the existing San Joaquin route so Central Valley cities could be spared the eardrum-shattering 220 mph service that the HSRA now admits will run on elevated tracks dividing cities.
Emulating European High-speed Route Structure:
All content © 2008, 2010 California Rail Foundation
By October 2002, HSR Project Clearly Had Been Hijacked:
All problems visible in the current plan can be traced back to unwise decisions made in 2001 and 2002, as this late 2002 CRN article documents.
Here are links to the filings made
by CRF and its environmental allies
on the inadequacy of the FEIR/S.
Bay-Central Valley FEIR/S
Tony Waller explains why the existing high-speed rail plan is a non-starter and tells what is needed for a success.
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A Rail Professional Speaks Out on the HSRA Plan
European High Speed Rail Doesn’t Invade Neighborhoods
California’s High-speed Rail Authority has really devised something unique, a revival of Division of Highways plans to destroy cities statewide. The innovation is using 220 mph elevated trains in place of the elevated freeways of the 60’s and 70’s.
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Gamed Traffic Data Endangers High-Speed Rail Project
2001
2007
Faster Way to the Bay
European HSR Experts Say Altamont Has Advantages
Final Proof that the California Project is an Engineering Scam
The Authority unveils its first segment and it is entirely without benefits to California rail transportation, but has $3 billion of needless viaducts through Congressman Jim Costa’s Fresno-area district.
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James Mills and Richard Tolmach point out the advantages of an 80-mile project that would improve rail service statewide.
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A Rocket Scientist’s Critique of the HSRA Desert Route
Clem Tillier investigates the shorter alternative via Tejon and finds the Authority neglected a routing which is about $5 billion cheaper.
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Clem’s enlightening post on the cahsr blog is here:
SNCF closed 2013 with a net loss of 180 million euros, and reduced the book value of its high speed rail business by 1.4 billion euros. TGV service is “not sufficiently profitable to cover the carrying amount of its fleet and its renewal.”
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High-Speed Network No Longer Profitable, French Announce
Europe’s Rail Mobility Declining as HSR Networks Grow
As international express trains are eradicated, Europe’s rail network has stopped providing the easy mobility we experienced in the past.
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