High-speed rail has been in the news a lot recently, in the US, in Europe, and in China. Some great news, and some not-so-great news. Here are 8 big stories from the past couple months.
1. The U.S. government awarded $2.4 billion to 54 rail projects in 23 states a couple weeks ago. This is in addition to the $8 billion awarded by the Obama
Electric cars, hybrid automobiles, hydrogen fuel cells: this is the kind of technology that seems to be most commonly associated with the overall change towards green transportation in popular media. However, where personal green vehicles are indeed an important part of the green transportation evolution, the benefits of green mass transit cannot be discounted.
In a recent survey published by Eurostar (a rail line), travelers in the United Kingdom (UK) were asked to select factors that were important in choosing their holiday or short break destination. “Cost of getting there” was selected seven times more often than “Carbon footprint,” which ranked well below other factors as well, like “Going somewhere new.” This is not an uncommon experience. How we get to where we want to go is overwhelmed by other factors. Even this in mind the greening of travel continues.
Faced with global climate change, many around the globe, from governments to companies to individuals, have warmed to train travel.
Traveling by rail is on average three to 10 times less CO2-intensive compared to road or air transport, according to the UIC, a Paris-based international organization of the railway sector.