HSR ( High speed rail) in Europe (France and Germany) and in the world
Definitions and overview
==========
High speed rail (=HSR) is considered to be steel-wheel-on-rail
operation in excess of 125 mph1.
At present, HSR only exists in Europe and Japan....
Very High Speed Rail trainsets, operating in speeds of excess of 200 mph,
are currently being planned for selected routes on France's TGV
system. The current speed record is 320mph.
http://lomaprieta.sierraclub.org/HighSpeedRail.html
Acronyms:
HGTS High Speed Ground Transportation (US term) - mostly studies
http://www.fra.dot.gov/us/content/515
http://www.surveycafe.com/surveycafe/trains.htm
TGV The TGV (Train Grande Vitesse) started in 1981 with the Paris -
Lyon line (french term)
http://www.tgv.com/EN/
http://www.beyond.fr/travel/railtgv.html
http://www.railway-technology.com/projects/frenchtgv/
RFF SNFC
French Rail Network (RFF), the French rail infrastructure authority,
expects to stabilise its debt next year.
http://www.railjournal.com/2000-06/rff.html
http://www.trainweb.org/tgvpages/tgvindex.html
ICE INTERCITY EXPRESS (german term)
http://www.germanfortravellers.com/kultur/icetrain.html
http://www.bahn.de/p/view/international/englisch/trains/trains_ice.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InterCityExpress
Cost - return on investment
=====
High-speed lines are expensive, thus usually state-built, and often
with cost overruns. But unforeseen technical problems rank only as
third among the causes. The first is delays (with organisatoral or
financial causes;
However, high-speed lines are a long-term investment - and on the
longer term usually profitable. For example, the first Spanish line,
opened in 1992 from Madrid to the then World Fair city Sevilla, was at
first deficitary (after substracting interests), and considered a
silly prestige project. But it turned profitable in five years, and
profits made up for initial losses in another five.
http://www.eurotrib.com/?op=displaystory;sid=2005/11/13/131939/75
Estimate of mainteance cost (CA study)
The highway, rail and air cost models are developed
http://www.ce.umn.edu/~levinson/Projects/HSR/HSR.html
Is Investment in High Speed Rail Socially Profitable?
HSR investment is highly dependent on the volume of ...
?Unlike the French case, the AVE cannot provide through service because it ...
www.eco.uc3m.es/temp/gderus.pdf
Environmental impact - use of resources
===================
High Speed Rail's positive impact on the environment is also not to be
minimized. For example, the first two new HSR lines in Germany
required 3.2 hectare/km, compared to 9.3 hectare/km for German
motorways.
Energy consumption per passenger-km is three-and-a-half times less
than for a private car and five times less than for air.16 According
to the Italian High speed lines official web site, "emissions of
carbon dioxide, the main cause of the greenhouse effect, are 7.5 times
lower than those of an aeroplane and 4.5 times lower than those of a
car."17
only 2% from rail.
Air/HSR cost crossover
California has the busiest air traffic corridor in the nation and
perhaps the world19. A high-speed train would be able to journey from
San Francisco to Los Angeles within 2.5 hours, and to San Diego within
3.5 hours. These times are within the travel times that Europeans have
found economic for high-speed rail.
http://lomaprieta.sierraclub.org/HighSpeedRail.html
Trenitalia has launched TrenOK, a low-cost train service, to compete
with low-cost airlines.
http://www.railjournal.com/altfeature1.shtml
TGV france
=============
supply and demand : future traffic estimates based on gravity model)
Development and Economic Evaluation of High Speed in France
(T.Suga). Net contribution of TGV. 38.7%. Operating cost ...
http://www.jrtr.net/jrtr03/pdf/f26_ard.pdf
finnancing: What will be the effect of present or future changes,
A primary factor influencing the next Master Plan lies in European
Directive 91/440/EEC
http://www.jrtr.net/jrtr11/f24_qui.html
The German ICE operated today by Deutsche Bahn AG (DB AG)
=============
.... ICE 3 services have been operating between Frankfurt (Main) and
Cologne every 2 hours since 4 November 2000 with alternate
intermediate stops at Limburg, Montabaur, and Siegburg; every train
stops at Frankfurt Airport and service frequencies were increased to
1-hour intervals on 15 September 2002. Six new ICE lines are now
running on this new infrastructure...
http://www.jrtr.net/jrtr40/f36_kla.html
Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 40 (pp.36?45)
http://www.jrtr.net/jrtr40/f36_kla.html
Comparisons
=============
A decade of change in the European Rail market;
investments in infrastructure and tilting trains
http://transportation.northwestern.edu/
sources/RAIL04_IDEI/detiliere.pdf - Supplemental Result
High-speed rail: international comparisons
http://www.cfit.gov.uk/research/hsr/index.htm
Council Directive 91/440/EEC of 29 July 1991 on the development of the
Community's railways
Official Journal L 237, 24.08.1991, pages 25-28 Only the text
published in the OJ is authenticeferences:
The aim of this Directive is to facilitate the adoption of the
Community railways to the needs of the single market and to increase
their efficiency;
http://europa.eu.int/comm/competition/state_aid/legislation/91l237_en.html
UNECE directives
http://www.unece.org/trans/main/ter/tereu.html
APPRAISAL AND HIGH SPEED RAIL IN THE CASE STUDY COUNTRIES
... Spain, Germany and France. ? Economic cost/benefit
www.cfit.gov.uk/research/hsr/pdf/chapter2.pdf
Vision: Train travel at 950km per hour - Berlin to Budapest (popular article)
http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=56&story_id=586&name=Train+travel+at+950km+per+hour+
Capital spending on transport in US Germany France ..
Train. Plane. High-Speed Rail Receives Above 50% Mode Share ...
http://www.southeastalliance.com/files/businesscase2-28-03.pdf
world - overview - technology
===============
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_speed_rail
http://www.answers.com/topic/high-speed-rail
Commercial feasibility study (CFS) for US
http://www.fra.dot.gov/us/content/515
mThis commercial feasibility study (CFS)aglev
Application of the maglev technology depends on breakthroughs in HTS
(High Temperature Superconductors)
Maglev trains tend be very expensive both to build and operate with
build costs running to triple the levels of normal high-speed trains.
The Shanghai maglev cost US$1.2B to build which means that at 20,000
passengers a day at US$6 per passenger it will take around 30 years to
pay off just the capital costs, not accounting for track maintenance,
salaries and electricity. The proposed Chuo Shinkansen line will cost
up to US$82.5B to build, a staggering figure.
Nevertheless, the cost of building a Transrapid track is claimed to be
comparable to a wheel-on-rail high-speed train, in a flat terrain,
becoming more and more comparatively cheaper as the terrain gets more
complicated.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_levitation_train
maglev in Germany
A special management company for Germany?s last maglev project in
Bavaria has been founded, see www.bmg-bayern.de.
Now Transrapid is to be going to get a symbol of old German virtues:
high performance and precision.
http://www.magnetbahn-bayern.de/ENGLISH/english.html
BIBLIOGRAPHY
============
Traffic and profitability of HSR (western Europe)
Available for 100 Euro from
http://www.uic.asso.fr/etf/publication/publication-recherche.php
Interoperability of the trans-European high-speed rail system -
Directive 96/48/EC - Harmonised standards
An updated consolidated list of harmonised standards in the
framework of the Directive on the interoperability of the
trans-European high-speed rail system was published in the Official
Journal of the European Union on 2005-09-24.
The document can be downloaded from:
http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2005/c_236/c_23620050924en00030006.pdf
book
In his single, well-organized volume, Europe's High Speed Trains: A
study in Geo-Economics,
Mitchell Strohl masterfully presents the stories of today's leaders
in high-speed rail technology
http://www.greenwood.com/catalog/C4252.aspx
PDF reports (France etc)
Economic impacts of high speed trains
http://ideas.repec.org/p/dgr/vuarem/2001-20.html
European Regional Science Association reports
High-speed railway developments
Accessibility is a major factor that determines the effects of
transport infrastructure developments
http://ideas.repec.org/p/wiw/wiwrsa/ersa03p61.html
conference
Workshop One ? Financing Heavy Rail Enhancements hosted by PricewaterhouseCoopers
http://www.rail-world.com/2006/eurorail/
Journal
http://www.railjournal.com/
Opinions and alternative futures (US :-)
==========================================
against public funding of HSR
Amtrak has no friends in the White House. President George W. Bush's
proposed budget for the current fiscal year wanted to eliminate all
subsidies for Amtrak. But U.S. Sens. Frank Lautenberg, DN.J., and
Trent Lott, R-Miss., put forth a bipartisan proposal to include Amtrak
passenger-rail service.
http://www.floridabullettrain.com/
for public funding of HSR
Worst of all is the administration?s severe under-funding of Amtrak.
Passenger train service has been an adornment of our culture for 150
years. Today it is in shambles, neglected by the administration, the
Congress, and the people. The lack of a coordinated strategy has
produced a situation in which the tracks on which the trains run are
privately owned, while the rolling stock, the locomotives and railroad
cars, are publicly owned...
http://www.1stuu.org/Sermons/The%20State%20of%20the%20Nation.htm
lesson of history?
Getting back to economics and transport, if you go back to Adam Smith,
you will find that he accepts that roads (and hence transport
infrastructure) are a legitimate responsibility of government. As for
the issue of susbidy, it has been shown time and time again that
unprofiitable does not mean uneconomic as non users benefit from rail
services. Then of course there;s also the issue of climate change
which even President Bush is finallly waking up to.
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?page=3&TOPIC_ID=49171
It is a big and complex topic. I hope I have provided some basic leads and data.
Hedgie |
