October - 2018

Virgin Hyperloop tickets will cost 'no more than a high-speed trainline,' Richard Branson sa

Billionaire Virgin founder Richard Branson said Tuesday that tickets for his hyperloop transport system will cost no more than that of a high-speed rail fare. Virgin Hyperloop One, which Branson has been chairman of since December last year, is "very close" to deploying the technology in India and is in talks with Dubai and Saudi Arabia about rolling out the technology in the Middle East as well, Branson told CNBC at the annual Barclays Asia Forum in Singapore. Hyperloops are

Virtual reality takes training into a new dimension

With the technology used to operate high-speed trains constantly changing, the methods to train those tasked with operating and maintaining this equipment is also shifting. David Burroughs reports from Spain on how technologies such as virtual reality is changing the way Adif trains its employees. SINCE the first 417km high-speed line opened between Madrid and Seville in 1992, Spain has built a high-speed network that now spans more than 3240km from Figueres in the north to S

Rail advocate: High speed train needed for Texas

KILGORE — In six years, a new mode of travel between the state’s two largest metro areas could be a 90-minute train ride over 240 miles of Texas. That’s the earliest that elevated rail lines and a bullet train connecting Dallas and Houston could be built pending federal permit approvals, a spokeswoman for the investor group building the service told Kilgore Rotarians at Meadowbrook Golf & Event Center on Wednesday. Passenger rail service with speeds up to 210 mph might be loc

Here’s when DFW's bullet train, hyperloop, driverless cars and flying taxis are set to take off

If you don’t think of North Texas as being on the cutting edge of transportation, consider this: HIGH-SPEED RAIL The 200 mph Texas Bullet Train between Dallas and Houston is set to be the first project of its type in the nation. The project inched closer to the goal of becoming a reality in September by securing of a loan of up to $300 million. Texas Central, the company implementing the high-speed train between Houston and North Texas, announced last month that it has secure

Texas Central adds Salini Impregilo to bullet-train project

A computer rendering of the Texas Central bullet train, which will operate on dedicated, elevated track. Photo – Texas Central Texas Central has selected global construction and engineering firm Salini Impregilo— operating in the U.S. market with The Lane Construction Corp. — to lead the civil construction consortium that will build the company's proposed bullet train service between Houston and North Texas. Yesterday's announcement is the latest milestone for Texas Central

AAR: U.S. intermodal traffic set record in September

U.S. rail traffic grew 4.4 percent to 2,194,211 carloads and intermodal units in September compared with the same month a year ago, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data. Railroads reported 1,066,826 carloads last month, up 2.6 percent, and 1,127,385 containers and trailers, up 6.2 percent, compared with traffic logged in September 2017, according to an AAR press release. Fourteen of the 20 carload commodity categories tracked by the AAR on a monthly b

First full-scale Hyperloop capsule unveiled in Spain

The first full size Hyperloop capsule has been unveiled in Spain by Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HyperloopTT) and Spanish artificial intelligence firm Airtificial. The capsule, called “Quintero One”, will be tested at HyperloopTT’s research and development centre and at the test track under construction in Toulouse. Built almost completely from “Vibranium”, a dual-layer composite material, Quintero One is 32m long, 15m wide and weighs 5 tonnes. The capsule was

FRA to relaunch Railroad Safety Advisory Committee

FRA Administrator Ron Batory Photo – Progressive Railroading file photo The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is relaunching the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC) after a more than year-long hiatus. The committee will be re-established with a new charter, which will go into effect two years from the date it's filed with Congress, according to a notice published in the Federal Register. The RSAC, which provides rail safety recommendations to the FRA administrator,