June - 2018

Testing Begins on Driverless High-Speed Rail in Advance of 2022 Beijing Olympics

Although we're still years away from the 2022 Winter Games, China has already begun testing a driverless high-speed rail system that will be put in place around the Beijing region in time for the Olympics. China Railroad corporation conducted the automated test using a high-speed train leaving Shenyang, Liaoning bound for Heishan, Hebei on the Beijing-Shenyang railway line last Thursday. Similar to trials currently being conducted on self-driving cars, a human driver is requi

San Antonio and Austin Are Converging Along I-35. Time to Pay Attention.

San Antonio picked up a little more than 24,000 new residents in the 12-month period ending July 1, 2017, making ours the fastest-growing city in the country, according to a new U.S. Census report. That’s a lot of people who’ve been turning the wrong way on one-way streets downtown, and who are still shocked that a major American city shuts down to drink for 10 days every April. That’s 465 new arrivals every week who initially failed to understand that the dominance of a

Automobiles, planes, and—oh yes—trains

Passenger trains don’t operate in a vacuum. They compete for business against air and motor vehicles. The results of the competition are reflected in, and measured by, their respective market share. Automobiles win the competition for the great majority of intercity travel, even in the highest-density corridors. Amtrak’s strongest single train, in market share, output and average trip length, is the one that serves the least populated, second-longest and most remote market in

Global Smart Railway Systems Market 2018-2022

Growing Adoption of High-Speed Rail by Emerging Economies to Boost Growth LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Technavio analysts forecast the global smart railway systems market to grow at a CAGR of more than 13% during the period 2018-2022, according to their latest market research report. The increasing number of smart city projects in emerging countries is one of the major trends being witnessed in the global smart railway systems market. Railways play a major role in the infrastruct

California high-speed rail project creates 2,000 construction jobs

More than 2,000 construction jobs have been created since California began its high-speed rail project in January 2015, the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHRSA) announced yesterday. The authority is building a high-speed rail line to connect San Francisco and Los Angeles. Currently, more than 119 miles are under construction as part of three separate construction packages. CHSRA yesterday held an event to mark the 2,000-worker milestone. Attendees included CHSRA C

High-Speed Rail: Now It's America's Turn

Andy Kunz, President and CEO of the US High Speed Rail Association (USHSR), shares the top 10 reasons for bringing high-speed rail to America. AMERICA stands at one of the most important crossroads in history. Climate change and peak oil are both coming into focus with the uncomfortable awareness that America is the world’s largest contributor to both problems (mainly from our very inefficient transportation system), while doing the least of any nation to address either probl

FTA finalizes rule for private investment in transit projects

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) yesterday issued a final rule that describes new procedures aimed at spurring private participation and investment in transit projects. The Private Investment Project Procedures (PIPP) will help grantees identify FTA regulations, practices, procedures or guidance that may impede the use of a public-private partnership or private investment in a project, according to an FTA press release. Under the rule, the FTA administrator would

AAR: U.S. carloads, intermodal traffic up in Week 21

U.S. railroads moved 565,502 carloads and intermodal units during the week ending May 26, marking a 4.4 percent increase over the same week last year. Total carloads ticked up 3 percent to 273,226 units during Week 21, while intermodal traffic grew 5.8 percent to 292,276 containers and trailers, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data. Eight of the 10 carload commodity groups that AAR tracks on a weekly basis posted increases compared with the same week

APTA: Commuter railroads making progress on PTC

Positive train control (PTC) technology is in the testing phase, in revenue service demonstration or fully operational on 30 percent of the 3,339 miles of commuter rail in the United States, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) announced yesterday. In addition, U.S. commuter railroads have installed 81 percent of the 15,192 pieces of onboard equipment needed for PTC. They've also installed 79 percent of PTC-related track equipment, APTA officials said in a

Mexico train robberies rise as thieves block tracks

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Freight train robbers in Mexico are increasingly blocking tracks or loosening rails to stop trains and steal the contents, causing increasing danger The federal rail agency said Monday the number of cargo thefts increased from 532 in the last quarter of 2017 to 561 in the first quarter of 2018. Express Newsletters Print subscribers get a password for your existing account here While that's only a 5 percent increase, thieves are using more dangerous ways to