IBEW Makes the Case for HSR
The California Labor Federation, one of the state’s most important backers of high speed rail, drew our attention to this video from the head of the Rail Department of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Bill Bohné, talking about why California high speed rail matters to our future:
High-speed rail will change transportation in this country in the 21st century the way the interstate highway system changed it in the 20th century. This couldn’t have come at a better time, especially with this economic downturn.
Rebecca Greenberg at the California Labor Federation also added in this quote from Executive Secretary-Treasurer Art Pulaski:
While the federal funding is a major boost to California’s high-speed rail project, it’s important to identify ongoing funding sources to support construction, operation and maintenance. The California Labor Federation, in conjunction with a number of California unions and allies, fought hard to help secure these federal funds for the state. Together, we stand ready to work with state and federal officials to ensure that high-speed rail’s promise becomes a reality.
This is important as HSR advocates across the country, including Californians For High Speed Rail, prepare to launch a major campaign for federal funding later this month. As the crisis facing Caltrain reminds us, passenger rail is essential to economic growth and prosperity in California.
Beautiful….Blue and Gold trains and they are Cali..
Do you suppose that will be the final color scheme when its all done? I like it.
Robert Cruickshank Reply:
April 3rd, 2010 at 11:30 am
Not if Stanford or USC alums have anything to say about it. As a UC Berkeley grad, I am all in favor of that color scheme.
Personally I like the blue and gold trains, though white trainsets with red and green accents, evoking the state flag, would work. And I’ll overlook the fact that those are pretty much Stanford’s colors.
Peter Reply:
April 3rd, 2010 at 11:31 am
SJSU grads would approve of blue and gold, too…
jimsf Reply:
April 3rd, 2010 at 11:40 am
Hmm, I’d definitely like to see the state flag Bear with the red strip on there. I don’t like white trains thought. Hmm how bout a sporty gloss cherry/camero red with the grizzly on the front.
Jim in scruz. Reply:
April 3rd, 2010 at 2:30 pm
I’d favor something along the lines of the old SP Daylights. The red, orange and black looks good no matter what the background scenery is.
Maxi Reply:
April 3rd, 2010 at 7:15 pm
Those are some really beautiful Shinkansen @ 1:00. That makes me think of why companies don’t like coloring trains beside the basic coat and accents. The urban landscape will all the gray/black/white is as dull as it gets, the train should make people smile.
jimsf Reply:
April 3rd, 2010 at 8:09 pm
true but I think the trains with gold/yellow/blue/ go with most of the rural california scenery. The hills, valley, sky,
jimsf Reply:
April 3rd, 2010 at 8:10 pm
There was an airline back in the late 70s .. oh yeah I remember.. it was called Braniff, and they colored their planes purple and other crazy schemes.
ah this!
tomh Reply:
April 5th, 2010 at 9:42 am
Jim, So that color, but with this paint scheme?: http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/art/train460.jpg
That would look pretty cool.
Peter Reply:
April 5th, 2010 at 9:46 am
I don’t think we should copy Deutsche Bahn schemes…
off topic but are they seriously trying to call this high speed rail?
Peter Reply:
April 3rd, 2010 at 12:13 pm
It’s definitely better than what they have right now. Which, btw, is nothing.
I’ll admit that it is not high speed, though.
Walter Reply:
April 3rd, 2010 at 12:48 pm
Interesting that they want to build west from Denver. Definitely good for CAHSR’s expansion into a national system, but it might be hard to keep building in that direction. Reno and Denver are 1000 miles apart and SLC is the only big city along the way.
oh this.. totally this…..
Jathnael Taylor Reply:
April 3rd, 2010 at 12:40 pm
Or just go for the Itasha style for our trains…. it would be an otaku paradise!
Siemens is also entering the fray, with some pro-HSR radio ads being heard in the LA region.
jimsf Reply:
April 3rd, 2010 at 3:07 pm
Those siemens hsr ads have been running up here on kgo, I’ve been hearing them like 10 times a night every night for a month. I really don’t want those trains. ugh. they just look kinda cheap and flimsy, or something. The tgvs seem much more substantial.
Joey Reply:
April 3rd, 2010 at 5:47 pm
That’s a matter of opinion. Personally I kinda like the way the Velaros look (though it is by no means perfect). Ultimately, rolling stock should be chosen based on performance though, and not what some blog commenters think looks better.
Alon Levy Reply:
April 3rd, 2010 at 6:54 pm
Actually, the Velaro is several tons heavier than the AGV. Alstom uses this as a marketing point, saying that the AGV is lighter and more energy-efficient than its competitors (which is true as long as one ignores the Shinkansen).
Peter Reply:
April 3rd, 2010 at 6:56 pm
And, AGV is also as loud at 360 km/h as comparable HSR trains (assumably Velaro included) are at 320 km/h. At least per the German language wikipedia article.
Alon Levy Reply:
April 3rd, 2010 at 7:40 pm
I’m pretty sure that the only comparable HSR trains they checked were the Velaro/ICE-3 and the TGV. The Zefiro didn’t exist at the time, and the weight argument completely fails in comparison with Japanese rolling stock.
Peter Reply:
April 3rd, 2010 at 8:23 pm
Yeah, that was by thought as well. Although they probably also included the Talgo 350.
jimsf Reply:
April 3rd, 2010 at 8:56 pm
(regardless of the train weight, american passengers are heavy :-P ) and whats with those tiny airline windows in the japanese trains. forget that no thanks. No tiny windows. We will hate that. We want picture windows please. and double decked with nice windows like tgvduplex more bang for your train buck.
Peter Reply:
April 3rd, 2010 at 9:03 pm
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/29/35354956_5c951d734a.jpg
Those windows don’t look very small to me…
Alon Levy Reply:
April 3rd, 2010 at 11:15 pm
Passengers are not that heavy… put 60 70-kg passengers on a car, and it adds a little more than 1 ton to the axle load. It’s significant, but it’s still small compared to typical axle loads of 11-17 tons.
Jathnael Taylor Reply:
April 3rd, 2010 at 8:41 pm
I have ridden on both, and prefer the interior styling of the Velaros, compared to the TGV, and even the Japanese offerings.
And honestly that is where you spend your time on the train trip.
Peter Reply:
April 3rd, 2010 at 8:44 pm
Yeah, although the interior styling would also differ between different operators of the same equipment.
caltrans likes bi level is what ive always heard.
check out the tgv floor!
and nice 3/2
and quel d’intimité!
Joey Reply:
April 3rd, 2010 at 9:28 pm
Not that any of that stuff is necessarily specific to the TGV, nor would it come on every TGV. Anyway, as I said, specs are probably a lot more important that “looks cool.” How does the AGV compare to other high speed trains in terms of acceleration, energy efficiency, etc?
Joey Reply:
April 3rd, 2010 at 9:31 pm
By the way the seats are ugly ;)
Peter Reply:
April 3rd, 2010 at 9:32 pm
Your last two pictures are identical, btw.
wrong pic I meant quelle intimité