Northeast Regional Conservation Committee Rail Task Force High Speed Rail

Reasons to support | High Speed Corridors | High Speed Trains | Organizations & Reports | Magnetic Levitation | Other Sierra Club Statements

Reasons to support High Speed Rail (HSR) projects:

• HSR can be successfully marketed to many business and professional travelers that would otherwise fly or drive
  • HSR terminates at convenient downtown stations and also serves carefully selected suburban train stations
  • HSR is often time-competitive with short-hop airline flights when travel to-from airports and security checks are considered.
  • HSR travel features an unbroken block of time that can easily be used for a variety of useful work-related tasks.
  • HSR schedule performance is far less weather-dependent than comparable airline and automotive travel.
• HSR requires one-sixth of the energy per seat-mile of equivalent airline travel and one-third of the energy of automobile travel.
• HSR 'recycles' railroad beds that can easily be 100-150 years old and thus feature energy-conserving grades
• HSR stations strongly encourage the redevelopment of pedestrian & transit-friendly office districts
• HSR stations are often shared with earth-friendly commuter rail trains that serve numerous far-flung suburban points
• HSR stations often feature direct connections with equally earth-friendly urban transit systems
• Electric HSR draws energy from the national power grid that utilizes otherwise impractical sources of 'renewable' or domestic energy.
• Electric HSR transfers most pollution problems to large stationary power plants that offer the best chance for pollution control 
• Electric HSR can regenerate significant amounts of useful electric power as trains decelerates for curves and stations
• Electric HSR locomotives and power distribution systems have remarkably long lives and low maintenance costs.

        These reasons have not been reviewed by the Task Force membership! 

High Speed Corridors

Mileage charts, stations served, and other information about the currently operating and Federally Designated High Speed Rail Corridors.

High Speed Trains

Information about past, present, and proposed high speed trains in the 9 state Northeast Region and elsewhere in the world. 

Organizations & Reports

A list of organizational resources and reports that provide information about High Speed Rail on a region-wide or national basis. Note that organizations and reports specific to a particular Corridor are listed under the respective High Speed Corridors. 

Magnetic Levitation

Magnetic levitation (Maglev) is an advanced technology in which magnetic forces lift, propel, and guide a vehicle over a guideway. Utilizing state-of-the-art electric power and control systems, this configuration eliminates contact between vehicle and guideway and permits cruising speeds of up to 300 mph, or almost two times the speed of conventional high-speed rail service. Because of its high speed, Maglev offers competitive trip-time savings to auto and aviation modes in the 40- to 600-mile travel markets–an ideal travel option for the 21st century.

This section lists organizational resources and reports that provide information about Magnetic Levitation projects and proposals on a world-wide basis, to provide a starting point for Task Force consideration of what is obviously a futuristic technology.

Other Sierra Club Statements

• Support investment in High-Speed Rail - Part of the Stop Sprawl section of the Sierra Club Web Site  
• HIGH SPEED RAIL as a Solution to Airport Congestion - Sierra Club - Loma Prieta Transportation Committee
• FLORIDA SIERRA SUPPORTS ORLANDO-TAMPA HIGH-SPEED RAIL - September/October 2001 Central Florida Sierran
• Midwest High Speed Rail - Sierra Club North Star Chapter
• The High Speed Rail Reinvestment Act - Sierra Club of Illinois - Piasa Palisades Group

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