April - 2018

Senior Senate Appropriator Collins Sounds Alarm on Highway Trust Fund

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who chairs the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees transportation programs, warned that the Trump administration's approach to project investment "fails to address the greatest threat to our nation's infrastructure, which is the ever-growing insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund." The senior appropriator continued with several criticisms of the administration's approach on various programs in her opening statement at an April 11 hearing on th

House rail subcommittee hears from industry stakeholders

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials yesterday held a hearing to gather stakeholders' perspectives on what's needed to improve the nation's rail infrastructure. Several representatives of railroad and transportation labor organizations testified before the subcommittee members. The hearing was held as the subcommittee and committee prepare for the Trump administration's infrastructure package prop

Elon Musk said he'll try to break the Hyperloop speed record 'soon'

The current Hyperloop speed record is 240 mph On Sunday, Elon Musk said on Twitter that he plans to test a Tesla and SpaceX-branded Hyperloop pod at half the speed of sound "soon." The test's objective is to accelerate the pod to around 383 mph and bring it to a stop within around 3/4 of a mile. If the test succeeds, Musk would break the record set by Virgin Hyperloop One in December. Between building electric cars and sending rockets into space, Elon Musk has plenty to keep

High speed rail vote: Don’t let the train leave without Fort Worth

The region’s transportation planning group is on the verge of taking a vote which will determine whether Fort Worth becomes a central player in the development of high speed rail. Our message to Regional Transportation Council members voting Thursday: jump aboard. This train shouldn’t leave the station without Fort Worth as a primary stop. The vote by the RTC — which approves much of the transportation spending for this 16-county North Texas region — is to spend a half millio

Shanghai Keolis Runs First Fully Automated Metro Line in Shanghai

On 31 March 2018, a new fully automated metro line was added to the Shanghai metro network. Shanghai Keolis, a joint venture between the Shanghai Shentong Metro Group Co. Ltd. (51 percent) and Keolis Group (49 percent), started operating the Pujiang metro line, the first fully automated metro line in Shanghai. The line comprises 6.7 kilometers of double track and six elevated stations. The seven-year operations and maintenance contract was awarded to Shanghai Keolis two years

Letter to the editor: Using farm land for high-speed rail

April 3,2018- A special thank you to the Telegram for printing the March 6 comprehensive article regarding the proposed high speed train for the Interstate 45 corridor. A few years ago Gov. Perry was promoting the Trans Texas Corridor for Interstate 35. Remember what affects one part of Texas affects all of Texas. There were several items not addressed in the article. It is common knowledge that Amtrak has been subsidized by public funds for a number of years, so how can the

Dallas-to-Houston high-speed rail plan will make Texas' I-35 corridor a loser, competitor says

One of the world's largest train operators says that its proposal of a passenger rail network that includes the Interstate 35 corridor would be a better fit for Texas than the $15 billion Dallas-to-Houston bullet train that's on the table. "Look at the state as a whole. Instead of creating a link, create a network," said SNCF America president Alain Leray, who is visiting Dallas, Austin and Waco this week on the heels of filing his company's eight-pages of commentary on the F

Op-Ed: Texans should be wary of bullet train proposal

This opinion piece was written by Alain Leray, president and CEO of SNCF America Inc., which is France's national state-owned railway company. Read HBJ's latest coverage of the bullet train here. Mar 22, 2018 By Alain Leray – Guest Contributor As the proposal to build a high-speed rail line between Dallas and Houston makes its way through a federal regulatory approval process, Texans are asking important questions about its viability and impacts. Although intriguing, Texas

Lawmakers Skeptical About $77 Billion High-Speed Rail Completion

APRIL 2, 2018- SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – High-speed rail executives asked skeptical lawmakers Monday to provide more stable, long-term funding for the bullet train in the face of ballooning costs. Brian Kelly, the project’s chief executive, said he has only about a third of the money needed to complete the project, now pegged at costing $77 billion. It’s supposed to be up and running between San Francisco and Los Angeles by 2033. Lawmakers and analysts questioned whether the

$127 Million Savannah Port Rail Hub Expected to Take 200,000 Trucks Off State’s Freeways

Across a highway from the gates to the Port of Savannah, crews have cleared trees and driven pilings into the sandy soil to support bridges and a lattice of future rail lines. Though the construction site is only a few hundred feet from where cranes load and offload freight from giant cargo ships, Georgia Ports Authority officials said the project’s reach will stretch for thousands of miles and could mean billions of dollars in new trade for the state. On March 27, the ports