Replies to post #104658 on Biotech Values

[iOwnSomeBio]

OT:Not sure if you know this but the rail yard in Boston off exit 18 on the mass pike will be made into Dorms and Lab space.
They say there will be a renaissance of the railroads in the future and there is a lot of invested interest. What's going to happen when the economy goes full swing when there is no freight service in Boston?
You think the big dig and surrounding highways are clogged, wait till people start buying and building. I don't think anyone in the Boston area knows about this. Its all going to be trucked in.

[iwfal]

OT - Freight and Passenger Trains sharing tracks:

Norfolk Southern Corp., Union Pacific Corp. and other railroad companies are balking at sharing their tracks or rights-of-way with trains that would run between 90 and 200-plus miles an hour. They argue that mixing high-speed passenger trains with slower freight trains would create safety risks, prevent future expansion and cause congestion. [The safety issue is obvious, but I’m not sure the other objections stand up to scrutiny.]

FWIW part of their (unstated) objection may be related to the story I heard last summer when taking Amtrak from LA to Seattle. The train (a 36 hour trip) was actually routinely ahead of schedule. Very different from my experiences growing up and reputation. When I asked why of an Amtrak service manager who happened to be riding the train his answer is that there has always been a law that freight trains had to give way (wait on a side track) in the event of a conflict. And there has always been a fine for freight trains that don't obey this. However the freight trains would always stretch the rules by keeping the Amtrak train sidelined once it was sidelined - letting 4 or 5 freight trains past. But a few years ago the fines started to be enforced and immediately Amtrak began running on time.

Bottom line - when they have to share the track with Amtrak they spend more time waiting.

[turtlepower]

OT Amtrak reveals vision for East high-speed rail

By PATRICK WALTERS (AP) – 1 day ago

PHILADELPHIA — Amtrak on Tuesday unveiled a $117 billion, 30-year vision for a high-speed rail line on the East Coast that would drastically reduce travel times along the congested corridor using trains traveling up to 220 miles per hour.

The proposal, which would require building a new set of tracks from Boston to Washington, D.C., is at the concept stage and there's no funding plan in place, Amtrak President Joseph Boardman said at a news conference at Philadelphia's 30th Street Station.

The project would likely use some combination of public and private investment and hopefully be phased in starting in 2015, he said.

The Next-Gen High Speed Rail line would have hubs in Baltimore, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington and would cut travel times in half or better. It would reduce the travel time between Washington and New York from 162 minutes to 96 minutes, according to Amtrak. The travel time between New York and Boston would go from 215 minutes to 84 minutes.

About 12 million riders a year use Amtrak along the northeast corridor.

Under the high-speed system envisioned, the trains would be able to accommodate about 33.7 million passengers by 2040. Amtrak officials estimated the high-speed system would generate an $900 million more a year with the added ridership.

High-speed rail would not only help reduce congestion on the rails, but also in the skies, since it would be more enticing to passengers making shorter trips, according to Amtrak officials and others.

"No one should take a plane for a trip shorter than 500 miles," said Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, noting that the system would be comparable to service now linking European countries.

The new system would support about 44,000 construction jobs annually over the anticipated 25-year process, as well as about 120,000 permanent jobs, Amtrak said.

But it would be expensive — averaging about $4 billion a year over three decades.

In 2009, Amtrak had a total budget of about $3.5 billion, with about $1.49 billion coming from the federal government. It spent $655 million of that federal funding on capital projects.

Nevertheless, Rendell said, political leaders must generate the will to get the project done before current system is overwhelmed.

"It isn't a dream, it isn't a fantasy, it isn't an illusion," the Democratic governor said. "Can we afford it? ... We can't afford not to do it."

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hPNMdb_aPrZj_5OwRG-EUJZUwj3AD9IH5G7O3?docId=D9IH5G7O3

http://www.businessinsider.com/amazing-photos-of-the-chinese-trains-making-america-look-foolish-right-now-2010-9#china-has-4300-miles-of-high-speed-rail-with-another-6700-under-construction-1