Don’t assume, based on headlines, an obituary for high speed rail just yet. A more accurate analogy is an induced coma brought on by poor planning and implementation amidst an increased necessity to pare federal deficits.
The Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS) on Monday, Jan. 13, 2014, announced “support for the California High-Speed Rail Authority [CHSRA] and California Governor Jerry Brown’s budget proposal that would authorize funding for the state’s high-speed rail program, utilizing $300 million of cap and trade revenue.”
The Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC) voted unanimously on implementing new crashworthiness performance standards for next-generation passenger high speed rail (HSR) equipment that will operate in the U.S.
Two U.S. high speed rail players, Amtrak and the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA), will combine efforts to advance a joint order of up to 62 high speed rail trainsets, with a Request for Information (RFI) possibly issued as early as this Thursday.
In what is almost assuredly just one of a continuing wave of legal moves to terminate, block or otherwise alter California’s plan to implement high speed rail, a judge has denied a request to block work filed by farming interests in the Central Valley.