1. Mad Men selling high speed rail.

  2. Infrastructurist takes a look at why cutting rail funding will hurt our transportation future. It’s a sad time, with Republicans in control of the purse strings.

    Edit: Maybe Republicans are more interested in rail than previously thought. They seem supportive of the president’s plan to give 80% of Americans access to high-speed rail by 2035.

    Infrastructurist takes a look at why cutting rail funding will hurt our transportation future. It’s a sad time, with Republicans in control of the purse strings. Edit: Maybe Republicans are more interested in rail than previously thought. They seem supportive of the president’s plan to give 80% of Americans access to high-speed rail by 2035.

  3. Slate is doing a delightfully nerdy series of articles on signage and wayfinding. Their most recent article is on the labyrinth that is Penn Station in NYC. The article goes beyond simple sign design and probes into the relationship between Penn Station’s tenants: Amtrak, LIRR, and NJ Transit.

    Slate is doing a delightfully nerdy series of articles on signage and wayfinding. Their most recent article is on the labyrinth that is Penn Station in NYC. The article goes beyond simple sign design and probes into the relationship between Penn Station’s tenants: Amtrak, LIRR, and NJ Transit.

  4. 88% of Americans Are Open to High Speed Rail

    Rail is good politics. And there’s this bit, too:

    More than four in five (83 percent) Americans agree public transit and high-speed rail infrastructure should receive a larger share of federal funding than they do now.

  5. The Transport Politic breaks down the high speed rail grants. The big winners are: California, Florida, Illinois, Wisconsin, NE Corridor, North Carolina, and Oregon/Washington. Texas misses out.

    The Transport Politic breaks down the high speed rail grants. The big winners are: California, Florida, Illinois, Wisconsin, NE Corridor, North Carolina, and Oregon/Washington. Texas misses out.

  6. Wisconsin Is Confident About High Speed Rail


    Maybe too confident? It’s true that Governor Doyle and the state have been downright aggressive in pursuing high-speed rail. But an article in the Milwaukee Business Journal says:

    The state Department of Transportation’s railroad bureau is so confident that its high-speed rail application, submitted to the Federal Railroad Administration last summer, will be approved in the first quarter of 2010 that meetings with engineers, contractors and disadvantaged businesses were held in early January and proposals outlining companies’ interest in the project were due to be sent to DOT by Jan. 13.

    The article mentions that the state expects a letter of intent from the Federal Railroad Administration in March. I’ve been following the high-speed rail money application news fairly closely, and I’ve heard nothing about letters of intent before. It would be great if this was true — a route between the state’s two largest cities, Madison and Milwaukee, would likely be popular.

    We’ll probably find out about all projects receiving funding this spring or summer. As a Wisconsinite living elsewhere, I’m hoping that Wisconsin’s confidence is well-founded.

    Photo of Milwaukee Intermodal Station by johndecember.

  7. A sample of Union Stations across the USA. Wikipedia has a full list of them.

    Photos by: Creativity+ Timothy K Hamilton, ktylerconk, joshunter, kla4067, cliff1066™, wallyg, Seth Gaines, The West End, ravik694

  8. Time-lapse of rail construction in Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Portland, and Seattle. As the title of this video points out, Atlanta has fallen behind.

  9. This map gives me train envy. Yonah Freemark gives an excellent rundown of new high speed rail lines in Europe.

    This map gives me train envy. Yonah Freemark gives an excellent rundown of new high speed rail lines in Europe.

  10. No Inter-City Rail Without Intra-City Rail


    This editorial in the Columbus Government Examiner discusses what I think is one of the biggest predictors of success/failure for high-speed rail in the US. The piece rightly points out that without transit to get people around once they arrive at their destination, people won’t take the train.

    The success of the Acela is due in part to the subway systems of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington. These big, old, dense cities have made transit a priority for a long time, and there is sufficient infrastructure for passengers once they get off the Amtrak. Younger, smaller cities like Portland and Seattle have been investing in light rail and streetcars, and Amtrak ridership has increased over the past few years. It’s not hard to get on a train in Seattle, get off in Portland, and get around most of Portland easily using TriMet. Without these systems, people would just drive down on I-5.

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