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Posted by JPS1 on Friday, November 8, 2019 8:24 AM

blue streak 1
 Another European airport will be getting a HSR connection (German).  That as the US contines todrag its feet. 

Houstonians just passed a significant mobility bond issue.  Included in the package is a provision to extend the light rail system to Hobby Airport. 
 
DART and the “T” have light rail trains that run from Dallas and Fort Worth to DFW International Airport.  Most of the people that ride them appear to be airport workers or passengers bound for intermediate stations.  A major deficiency on both services is the lack of dedicated areas for luggage.
 
Austin hopes to extend its commuter rail line to Bergstrom International Airport, but at this point the money to do so is not on the horizon.  Some authorities believe that extending Austin’s Rapid Bus service to the airport would be more cost effective than a rail line.
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Posted by blue streak 1 on Thursday, November 7, 2019 7:45 PM

Another European airport will be getting a HSR connection (German).  That as the US contines todrag its feet.

https://www.railwaygazette.com/infrastructure/stuttgart-airport-rail-connection-contract-awarded/55071.article 

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Posted by blue streak 1 on Thursday, November 7, 2019 7:39 PM

10 Japan HSR train sets will be scrapped due to unrecoverable damages that would make their safety be in question.  2 JR west trains and 8  JR east train sets. New E-7 Trains scheduled to be delivered in 2nd Q 2020 will fill into present service holes.  Older E-4 equipment that had been scheduled to retire will now stay in service until additional new equipment is ordered and finally delivered.

https://www.railjournal.com/fleet/flood-damaged-hokuriku-shinkansen-trains-to-be-scrapped/ 

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Posted by blue streak 1 on Monday, November 4, 2019 7:46 PM

UK Victoria line increasing capacity.  Extended times of 100 second headways.  No mention if longer trains possible ?

https://www.railwaygazette.com/uk/longer-peaks-increase-victoria-line-capacity/54973.article

 

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Posted by blue streak 1 on Wednesday, October 23, 2019 5:31 PM

China is testing 14 HSR lines that are scheduled to open by the end of the year.  Unfortunately the total Km ( mileage ) is not listed.  If even 12 lines make the end of the year mark that is going to be a very significant accomplishment.

https://www.railjournal.com/passenger/high-speed/testing-underway-as-china-prepares-to-open-14-high-speed-lines/

 

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Posted by blue streak 1 on Sunday, October 20, 2019 2:23 AM

JR east may have to scrap 120 train cars.  Cannot use JR west trains due to the non compatible of the 50 Hz trains not being able to work on 60 Hz.  That seems a shame that they were built that way ?

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/10/17/national/jr-east-may-scrap-120-flooded-shinkansen-cars/?fbclid=IwAR0QJUshM-HqpvJa1f1xGrTadi5e_OKpa4iy0nKe2ypasKzsjN5IFRQpzKI#.XawKNm5Fycw

 

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Posted by blue streak 1 on Friday, October 18, 2019 7:10 PM

blue streak 1

Night jet overnight trafic up 10%.  Could this be a harbinger of what may happen in the US ?  

https://www.railjournal.com/passenger/main-line/nightjet-passenger-traffic-up-10-says-obbs-ceo/ 

 

Nightjet is now trying to get some intermittent rail cars for their service until Siemens cars are delivered.

https://www.railjournal.com/fleet/austrian-federal-railways-to-hire-sleeping-cars/ 

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Posted by Miningman on Wednesday, October 16, 2019 12:38 AM

Well that is encouraging ... wouldn't that be something, always thought it made great sense. 

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Posted by blue streak 1 on Tuesday, October 15, 2019 11:15 PM

Night jet overnight trafic up 10%.  Could this be a harbinger of what may happen in the US ?  

https://www.railjournal.com/passenger/main-line/nightjet-passenger-traffic-up-10-says-obbs-ceo/ 

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Posted by blue streak 1 on Tuesday, October 15, 2019 1:32 PM

Damage to number of train sets now listed as 21.  As well lines are blocked and substituting with bus not available due to roads being seriosly damaged.

https://www.railwaygazette.com/high-speed/typhoon-breaches-hokuriku-shinkansen-and-chuo-main-line/54837.article 

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Posted by blue streak 1 on Monday, October 14, 2019 9:09 PM

Japan typhoon flood damage on 10  = 12 car HSR trains.  Water up to the roofs. Shades on NJT as Japan east stored trains in a low lying yard that flooded when river bank broke.  May take a year + to rehab train sets but will have to wait.

https://www.railjournal.com/regions/asia/typhoon-hagibis-causes-major-rail-disruption-in-japan/  

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Posted by blue streak 1 on Monday, October 14, 2019 8:58 PM

European rail travel up especially over night trains.  When the downturn of over night trains that ppreviously occurred was the specific equipment retired and scrapped ?

https://www.railwaygazette.com/passenger/travel-industry-confirms-rail-renaissance-in-europe/54828.article 

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Posted by MidlandMike on Friday, October 11, 2019 10:16 PM

Washington Post article says waves to 40 feet (13 Meters), but storm surge only to 8 feet.

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Posted by blue streak 1 on Friday, October 11, 2019 8:44 PM

Typhoon hagibis is taking a bead on Tokyo with a storm surge of up to 13 meters in tokyo bay which is a circular bay.  CAT 4  with 130 MPH winds not close to CAT 5.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/10/world/asia/typhoon-japan.html 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/10/11/super-typhoon-hagibis-moves-ominously-towards-tokyo/ 

ost rransportation shut down including bullet trains.

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20191012_16/ 

Biggest in several decades !

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/backstories/710/ 
  

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Posted by blue streak 1 on Friday, October 11, 2019 8:09 PM
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Posted by blue streak 1 on Friday, October 4, 2019 2:22 AM

Saudi 15 hr station fire shuts down HSR line thru Jeddah.  This statement may be subject to change as artilcle states trains not stopping at station ?

https://www.railjournal.com/regions/middle-east/haramain-hs-services-suspended-for-one-month-following-jeddah-fire/

 

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Posted by 54light15 on Tuesday, September 17, 2019 5:34 PM

 Germany and France are both raising the taxes on short-haul flights to encourage an increase in rail travel. If only aviation fuel in Europe (which is untaxed from what I've heard) is taxed the way diesel fuel is. Maybe Greta Thunberg is having an impact. 

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Posted by blue streak 1 on Tuesday, September 17, 2019 1:32 AM

KLM airlines is replacing on flight with reserved seating on a Thalys effective March 2020

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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Friday, September 13, 2019 6:48 AM

blue streak 1

China has approved another HSR line.681 Km ( Approx 425 miles ) .  Price $19.8B US .  When will we ever learn here in the US ?

 

https://www.railjournal.com/regions/asia/china-approves-chongqing-kunming-high-speed-line/ 

 
Probably sometime after the collapse of democracy and the establishment of an authoritarian state.
The daily commute is part of everyday life but I get two rides a day out of it. Paul
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Posted by blue streak 1 on Thursday, September 12, 2019 7:37 PM

China has approved another HSR line.681 Km ( Approx 425 miles ) .  Price $19.8B US .  When will we ever learn here in the US ?

 

https://www.railjournal.com/regions/asia/china-approves-chongqing-kunming-high-speed-line/ 

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Posted by JPS1 on Friday, August 9, 2019 9:57 AM

daveklepper

Russia and South Africa have long-distance trains comparible to those in the USA.  Some are faster and some are slower. 

Where do Russia and South Africa stand in the comparisons? 

Meaningful country to country comparisons are difficult at best.  

What is the cost/benefit ratio for the U.S. to increase its standing in the speed contest? 

Who will pay for the upgrades necessary to move the country up the comparative speed ladder? 

What will be the return on the investment? 

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Posted by daveklepper on Friday, August 9, 2019 9:47 AM

Russia and South Africa have long-distance trains comparible to those in the USA.  Some are faster and some are slower.

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Posted by JPS1 on Friday, August 9, 2019 8:59 AM

JOHN PRIVARA
 blue streak 1 China is now #1 in high speed trains. 

Based on the fastest regular services, the top countries in the 2019 survey are China, Italy, France, Japan, Spain and Taiwan, all of which operate at least one train timetabled at an average of more than 250 km/h. Germany is ranked seventh, the UK 13th and the USA 19th.

We may be 19th, but we're better than, uh....   Oh yeah,  we've got the best slow-motion eagles in the world.  

With the possible exception of China, the other countries don't have long-distance trains comparable to those in the U.S.  Amtrak's long-distance trains account for 70 to 75 percent of the company's mileage.  They are relatively slow.

What would be the position of the U.S. if the long-distance trains were removed from the comparison?

Amtrak is the predominate commercial carrier between New York and Washington.  It also has a significant portion of the New York to Boston commercial market.  

What would be the cost/benefit ratio for increasing the speeds between New York and Washington so that Amtrak's NEC would place in the top five of the countries for speed comparisons?  

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Posted by BaltACD on Thursday, August 8, 2019 10:50 PM

blue streak 1
Want to run a coast to coast excursion train across Africa?  It only takes better than 2 years to get permits and 2 weeks to run the train.  It is a first !

https://www.railwaygazette.com/news/news/africa/single-view/view/coast-to-coast-cruise-train-crosses-africa.html  

And at only $12.8K US - only a little over $900 a day

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by blue streak 1 on Thursday, August 8, 2019 9:26 PM

Want to run a coast to coast excursion train across Africa?  It only takes better than 2 years to get permits and 2 weeks to run the train.  It is a first !

https://www.railwaygazette.com/news/news/africa/single-view/view/coast-to-coast-cruise-train-crosses-africa.html  

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Posted by JOHN PRIVARA on Friday, August 2, 2019 7:59 PM

blue streak 1

China is now #1 in high speed trains.

 

 

Based on the fastest regular services, the top countries in the 2019 survey are China, Italy, France, Japan, Spain and Taiwan, all of which operate at least one train timetabled at an average of more than 250 km/h. Germany is ranked seventh, the UK 13th and the USA 19th.

We may be 19th, but we're better than, uh....   Oh yeah,  we've got the best slow-motion eagles in the world.  

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Posted by blue streak 1 on Friday, August 2, 2019 5:02 AM

The French SNCF is having to order more TGVs due to surging ridership.  This means older equippment set for retirement will have to be maintained for an indefinite extension

https://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view/ridership-surge-prompts-sncf-to-order-more-tgvs.html

 

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Posted by blue streak 1 on Saturday, July 27, 2019 10:54 AM

700 passengers rescued from IR railways train near Mumbia. India.  Train got flooded frrom moonsoon initiated flood.

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Posted by ORNHOO on Wednesday, July 3, 2019 1:46 AM

For something completely different, how about a full size DMU converted to run entirely on solar energy:

https://jalopnik.com/this-delightful-solar-powered-train-is-the-pinnacle-of-1834284676 (in OZ, of course).

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Posted by BaltACD on Monday, July 1, 2019 10:00 PM

Overmod
Jones1945
World's fastest bullet train with a 72ft nose is unveiled in Japan  

It's as if, in a Chuck Jones cartoon parody of Star Wars, Wile E. Coyote's bumbling Sith apprentice was an opossum.

With Augie Doggie's Doggie Daddy's nose.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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