Sunday, January 01, 2006

Supertrains in Europe, but Not In the U.S.

I didn't know how ridiculously dependent we are on the 'Net. Just can't do anything I normally do all the time, such as blog (until now!), use Quickbooks, read GoNOMAD email and put up new stories on the website.

We read the NY Times today as well as the Republican. I read a story about the new designs being used to build super fast trains by Seimens in Germany. The Chinese are investing tens of billions into the 210-miles per hour trains, and many engineers are working out ways to propel the trains by each wheel instead of just by one central locomotive.

But in the U.S., there is only the lousy Acela as a model of how these fast trains can benefit. One European train builder explained that you'd need political will, large densely populated metro areas, and budgets that can cover big capital expenses to build a train system like this. The U.S., he said, has the last two, but the first one will be tough.

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