The mayor's innovative plan to complete regional transit projects in just 10 years is a win-win.

30/10 does the job - latimes.com

latimes.com
Editorial
30/10 does the job
The mayor's innovative plan to complete
regional transit projects in just 10 years is a win-win.


March 19, 2010

When Los Angeles County voters agreed in 2008 to raise their sales taxes to improve local public transit, they may not have considered that some of the new trains wouldn't start running during their lifetimes. Measure R promised a slate of vital projects, including an extension of the Wilshire Boulevard subway, light-rail lines to Los Angeles International Airport and the Eastside, and busways in the San Fernando Valley -- but some won't be built until the end of the initiative's 30-year time span.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa thinks that's too long to wait. He's absolutely right.

The mayor has been spending a lot of time in Washington lately talking up his "30/10" proposal, one of the more innovative ideas to come from City Hall. The gist: Villaraigosa wants to shorten the completion of a dozen Measure R projects to a decade. It's not clear how this would be done, but the simplest and most direct way would be for the federal government to serve as L.A.'s banker, supplying the money up front to build the new transit lines. The county would pay the Feds back over the course of 30 years with the $40 billion that the tax hike is expected to raise.

Villaraigosa says his plan would create 166,000 construction jobs at a time of soaring unemployment. Such figures should be viewed with skepticism, but there is no question that the infusion of federal cash would have a big stimulative effect in Southern California, where the construction sector is particularly in need of a boost. Over the longer term, it also would reduce gridlock, create alternatives to driving amid rising gasoline prices and clean our notoriously foul air. And best of all, as Villaraigosa has been repeatedly stressing in Washington, it wouldn't add to the federal deficit because the money would come as a loan, not a handout.

One California senator, Democrat Barbara Boxer, is very much on board with the 30/10 plan. But new ideas can be tough to sell in the Capitolsays his plan. We'd urge the rest of the California delegation to learn more about it. We can't think of a reason why lawmakers in either party would object.

Well, OK, we can think of one. Led by county Supervisor Mike Antonovich, some north county and San Gabriel Valley politicians fret that the cash infusion would discourage federal investment in projects that aren't included in Measure R, such as a future light-rail line to Ontario International Airport.

Backers of this speculative venture have been a deeply divisive force, threatening to derail the far worthier Wilshire subway and campaigning against Measure R even though it will benefit their region. Voters didn't listen to these voices when they approved the sales tax hike, and neither should members of Congress.

Copyright © 2010, The Los Angeles Times

30/10 Transportation Initiative Gaining Steam (Source: /www.sgvtribune.com)

Link: Antonio Villaraigosa: 30/10 Transportation Initiative Gaining Steam

30/10 Transportation Initiative Gaining Steam

I'm headed back from Washington DC today, where I continued our efforts to persuade the federal government to get on board with our 30/10 transportation plan, which would accelerate the construction of 12 big-ticket transit projects to 10 years from 30.

Also here this week is the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, with more than 200 business leaders here to advocate for jobs for our region. The Chamber is strongly behind our 30/10 plan.

At a press conference with Senator Barbara Boxer yesterday, LA Chamber President Gary Toebben said:

"The 30/10 plan is one of the main focuses of this year's trip to Washington, D.C. Not only will it help clean up our air and reduce traffic, but will be an economic stimulus for the recovery of our region by creating tens of thousands of jobs."

That's exactly right. 30/10 will be a game-changer, completely transforming our transportation network, and stimulating our local economy by creating 166,000 jobs.

The 30/10 initiative is a bipartisan effort bringing together business and labor leaders, Democrats and Republicans. Maria Elena Durazo, Executive Secretary/Treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor was also at the press conference. She had this to say:

"We are here asking the president and members of the house and senate to look to Los Angeles where the labor movement, the business community, and a broad coalition of stakeholders have all come together around this common issue and to say with one voice: 'Put us back to work! Help us get out of traffic! And help us improve our air quality!'"

As usual, Maria Elena makes a very persuasive case.

One of the most encouraging signs for our plan is Senator Barbara Boxer becoming a real champion for us. She is working hard to make 30/10-and the jobs and environmental benefits a reality for Los Angeles.

A lot of legislators are responding to the fact that we're not just asking for a hand out from DC. Because of Measure R, the voter-passed ½ cent sales tax dedicated to transportation funding -- we will have the money for all the 30/10 projects. But LA needs these projects -- and the jobs they'll create-now, so we want to use the Measure R funds as a guarantee that the federal government will get their investment returned.

Senator George Voinovich from Ohio -- a former mayor himself -- said that regions like Los Angeles should be rewarded for raising our own transportation funding.

The 30/10 initiative could be a new model for federal-local partnership, that could help cities across the country rebuild their infrastructure and kick-start their economy.

I will keep you posted as we continue making progress, and we get more supporters on board with the 30/10 plan.

US lawmakers wowed by Japan bullet train (Source: AFP)

AFP: US lawmakers wowed by Japan bullet train

US lawmakers wowed by Japan bullet train

(AFP) – 18 hours ago

WASHINGTON — US lawmakers voiced awe Wednesday at taking a ride on Japan's sleek bullet trains, with one congressman saying he felt like he was in a videogame.

At a congressional hearing, Representative Don Manzullo said he took the ultra-fast train from the central city of Nagoya, where he visited Toyota Motor Corp. and other companies, to Tokyo.

"I got to sit right up in front," the Illinois Republican said of his trip two years ago.

"It was almost like a videogame," he added. "You have to try that sometime."

Eni Faleomavaega, who heads the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Asia, contrasted Japan's trains with the United States' own troubled network.

"The fact of the matter is Japan is about 100 years in advance as far as mass transit system compared with ours," said Faleomavaega, a Democrat who represents American Samoa.

"They were able to have trains that can go up to speeds of 125 miles (200 kilometers) an hour some 50 years ago. And what are we doing?"

But Representative Ed Royce, a Republican from car-loving southern California, sounded a cautious note, saying that public transport was "very rational" for Japan but not necessarily for the United States.

"Japan's population, its density, its geography, make it entirely different when discussing public transportation than with respect to the United States," Royce said.

"We look at economic merit when addressing infrastructure."

President Barack Obama in January unveiled eight billion dollars in economic stimulus money aimed at building high-speed rail networks in the United States.

Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved

Train to (Near) LAX Begins Exploratory Drilling on Monday (Source: LAist)

Link: Train to (Near) LAX Begins Exploratory Drilling on Monday - LAist

Train to (Near) LAX Begins Exploratory Drilling on Monday



Efforts to build the $1.7 billion Crenshaw Line will take another step Monday when exploratory drilling begins. The process to test below-ground surface conditions will be hailed by Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at a press conference to mark the important project.

Expected to be completed in 2018, the 8.5-mile light rail line will move passengers between the current Green Line Aviation station (meaning getting to the actual airport is still a shuttle bus away, but Villaraigosa has other plans) and Crenshaw and Exposition, home to a future Expo Line station currently under construction. 7,800 jobs construction jobs are expected to be created from the project.

By Zach Behrens 

High-Speed Rail Gains Traction in Spain (Source: NYtimes.com)

Link: High-Speed Rail Gains Traction in Spain - NYTimes.com

High-Speed Rail Gains Traction in Spain
Lourdes Segade for The New York Times

Most of the high-speed Alta Velocidad Española trains originate or end at Madrid-Puerta de Atocha station.
By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
Published: March 15, 2010


ABOARD THE AVE, Spain — Carlos Martínez and his colleagues were enjoying soda and sandwiches in the bar, having chosen not to watch a film — “Appaloosa,” with Ed Harris — that was playing on overhead screens. They barely seemed to notice the arid landscape whizzing by or the digital display reflecting their speed, which hovered around 300 kilometers an hour.
Lourdes Segade for The New York Times

Passengers in business class took breakfast on the high speed train between Madrid and Barcelona.

Since a high-speed rail connection — called AVE for Alta Velocidad Española — opened in 2008, the 520-kilometer journey, or 325 miles, between Barcelona and Madrid that takes six hours by car can now be completed in just 2 hours and 38 minutes.

Two years ago, nearly 90 percent of the six million people traveling between Madrid and Barcelona went by air. But early this year the number of train travelers on the route surpassed fliers. The trajectory is ever upward.

The shift has political and economic benefits for Spain, which like other European Union countries has set out to lower its carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent over 10 years. Analysts say that such emissions per passenger on a high-speed train are about one-fourth of those generated by flying or driving.

But AVE’s passengers are not necessarily thinking green. Like high-speed railroads in France and China, Renfe — Spain’s national train operator — also has performed the ultimate green sleight of hand simply by making the low-emissions option more comfortable and convenient.

“Since the day this train opened, I have never, never set foot on the plane again,” said Mr. Martínez, 31, a lawyer who travels between Madrid and Barcelona twice a week. “Why would anyone fly?”

The creators of high-speed train service here, as they had in France and Germany, set out to turn traditional stereotypes about train travel and plane travel on their head.

But unlike the French, who sought to maintain a low-cost image as their trains gained speed, Renfe decided to go upscale, said Josep Valls, a professor of marketing at the Esade Business School in Barcelona.

AVE tickets cost as much as plane tickets — from about €120 to €200 one way, or $160 to $300, though cheaper advance fares can be found. The train offers assigned reclining seats, computer outlets, movies, headsets, good food, even gloved attendants.

“It is not about the environment, it’s that people are very satisfied by these trains,” Mr. Valls said. “This is really changing the paradigm of travel for Europe.” Other AVE lines connect Madrid with Seville and with Málaga.

Mr. Valls predicted that, eventually, all European routes less than 1,200 kilometers will be dominated by train travel, with a high-speed train traveling, say, from Barcelona to Paris — 830 kilometers as the crow or plane flies — in a little over four hours. (The trip now involves a connecting train and takes at least nine hours.)

Mr. Valls said that Spaniards had so decisively opted for the comfort and convenience of trains that traditional airlines might not be able to compete. The number of flights between Madrid and Málaga has dropped by half in the two years since the AVE route between those cities opened in 2007.

The main factor allowing planes to keep flying between Barcelona and Madrid was the arrival of low-cost, no-frills flights on the route this year, Mr. Valls said. Passengers who book now on Ryanair can fly for about €8 in April, though the price rises steeply for last-minute purchases.

The United Nations has said repeatedly that transportation emissions must be reined in if the world is to successfully combat climate change. Transportation emissions in European Union countries grew 26 percent from 1990 to 2007, according to the European Environment Agency. Aviation emissions have grown particularly rapidly, and nowhere faster than in Spain — a premier destination for low-cost airlines — where they more than doubled in that period.

In the United States, President Barack Obama has set aside $8 billion in federal stimulus money for investments in high-speed rail, but the money will go to a limited number of states, including Florida, California and Illinois. By 2020 half of Spain’s $160 billion transportation budget will go to rail travel.

Spain’s high-speed train sector seems well positioned to expand. All AVE lines turn a profit and will easily survive price wars waged by airlines, Mr. Valls said. What is more, trains require fewer employees and far less costly infrastructure than do planes.

Adding to rail’s competitive advantage, European environmental policies will probably force an increase in airline ticket prices over the next few years. Beginning in 2012, the biggest polluters among the airlines will be required to buy extra credits to “pay” for their carbon dioxide emissions, and the cost will have to be passed on to travelers.

For many fans of AVE, there is simply no going back to flying. They particularly do not miss the delays and the long lines at airport security checkpoints. The rail tickets remind passengers to be onboard a mere two minutes before departure, and the only security procedure involves passing large suitcases though a scanner.

“I can get to the station 10 minutes before it leaves,” Rafael Fernández, a logistics manager for Fujitsu, said on the AVE train to Madrid. “This has changed the way I travel.”

Feinstein Says She's Out of the Loop for L.A. Transit Plan (Source: LAist)

Link: Feinstein Says She's Out of the Loop for L.A. Transit Plan - LAist

Feinstein Says She's Out of the Loop for L.A. Transit Plan

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is back in Washington D.C. today, rallying for billions of dollars to fulfill the 30/10 plan, which is 30 years of transit projects--12 in all--built in 10 years. Unlike business as usual, the money would be paid back in full, thanks to the voter approved Measure R, which increased L.A. County's sales tax to raise $30 to $40 billion for transportation projects. California Sen. Barbara Boxer is in full support, but the LA Times finds that the state's other Senator, Dianne Feinsteinn, is not familiar with the plan (ouch!) "The line is long for money from the federal government," she told a reporter. "And no one looks at the debt, and no one looks at the deficit."

By Zach Behrens in News on March 16, 2010 4:29 PM

On board with the mayor (Source: LAtimes.com)

Link: On board with the mayor - latimes.com

Opinion
On board with the mayor
Villaraigosa's 30/10 plan to fund L.A. transit projects is winning supporters in high places, and deservedly so.
By Tim Rutten

It sometimes seems as ifMayor Antonio Villaraigosa sheds ideas the way a Roman candle does sparks, but none has ignited quite the fire he's started with his 30/10 proposal. It's a blaze whose flames now deserve to be fanned by the rest of the local and state political establishment -- in both parties.

Essentially, the mayor is proposing what federal officials are calling a "big bang" transit construction program that would simultaneously address both Los Angeles County's grinding congestion problems and its desperate unemployment crisis.

Villaraigosa starts with last year's passage of Measure R, which added half a cent to the sales tax for the next 30 years. The $40 billion raised by　that increase will go to fund 12 high-impact mass-transit projects -- including the so-called Subway to the Sea under Wilshire Boulevard -- and a variety of congestion relief efforts. Rather than stretching the construction program out over three decades, the mayor wants Washington to advance the Metropolitan Transportation Authority the money now as a kind of bridge loan, accepting the future Measure R tax revenues as a guarantee of repayment.

Not only would Los Angeles County get a dramatically expanded public transit system in just 10 years, but the projects would create 165,000 construction jobs -- unemployment in that sector currently approaches 40% -- and another 2,500 permanent transportation-related positions.

When the Department of Transportation made one of its "outreach" visits to Los Angeles a couple of weeks ago, the mayor's proposal won powerful allies in Sen. Barbara Boxer

(D-Calif.), Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, Rep. Peter A. DeFazio (D-Ore.), chairman of the House Highways and Transit subcommittee, and Rep. James L. Oberstar (D-Minn.), chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. All came away from their talks with the mayor endorsing 30/10.

This week, Boxer, who calls support for the proposal a no-brainer, invited Villaraigosa back to testify before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, which she chairs. She came away impressed.

"First, we all want to reward local governments that have taken the kind of steps toward self-help Los Angeles has," Boxer said. "Second, coming out of this recession, this proposal will create jobs in one of our heaviest-hit sectors, heavy construction. Third, by funding these projects now, when the recession has pushed down construction costs, we can save as much as 20% on their total cost."

Boxer asked Villaraigosa to identify which of the projects were "shovel ready," and he pointed to the extensions of the light-rail Gold Line in the San Gabriel Valley and the Orange Line busway in the San Fernando Valley. The senator said she and LaHood would be working together to obtain immediate funding for both. She also said she and other congressional supporters would work to provide the rest of the funding in this year's transportation bill.

Aside from the obvious benefits -- a dramatically stepped-up attack on congestion and the creation of desperately needed construction jobs in a period of intense economic distress -- adoption of Villaraigosa's 30/10 plan would be a giant step toward depoliticizing Los Angeles County's transit debates. Transit decisions inevitably have a political dimension, but ever since the hysterical overreaction to the 1985 methane explosion at Third and Fairfax derailed plans for the Wilshire subway line, our decisions on transit routes have been essentially political.

Pushing forward with 30/10 would relegate the political component of our transit debates to a normal level because, over the next decade, MTA would be able to simultaneously proceed with a Wilshire subway to the sea, with eastward extensions of the Gold Line across both the northern and southern sections of the San Gabriel Valley, a pair of Green Line branches, light rail to the Westside and along Crenshaw Boulevard, as well as vital downtown and other connecting lines within the existing system, critically needed busways across the San Fernando Valley and a multiple-occupancy vehicle lane along the 405 Freeway.

Another way to consider it is this: As important as it is, over the next decade Measure R will produce only about $3 billion for mass-transit construction, or roughly enough to fund the first leg of the subway extension westward under Wilshire. That project would benefit a fraction of the city's 4 million residents. If the mayor's 30/10 proposal is adopted, the entire county's 10 million people will enjoy the benefits of all the projects listed above by 2010. That alone would go a great distance toward eliminating the beggar-your-neighbor impulse that has dominated our transit discussions over these past years.

timothy.rutten@latimes.com

Angels Flight Railway to resume service Monday (Source: abc7.com)

Link: Angels Flight Railway to resume service Monday - 3/14/10 - Los Angeles-Southern California-LA Breaking News, Weather, Traffic, Sports - abc7.com

Angels Flight Railway to resume service Monday
Sunday, March 14, 2010

By Subha Ravindhran and Amy Powell

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A lot of Los Angeles residents grew up taking rides on Angel Flights. So when the rail service resumes on Monday it is sure to bring back some old memories.

The trip up and down the steep Bunker Hill in Downtown Los Angeles takes about a minute, giving Angel Flight the distinction of being called the world's shortest railway.

Patrons got a chance to go for test runs over the weekend, and many say they can't get enough.

Long Beach resident Laura Gonzalez said she will probably use the rail every weekend.

"It's great. It's a pretty nice ride with a great view, and it's a great bargain with 25 cents one way," said L.A. resident Annie Avery.

Monday's reopening will be the first official rides in about nine years when a tragic accident led to the shutdown of Angels Flight in 2001. An equipment malfunction caused one of the rail cars to slide downhill into a vehicle. An 83-year-old man was killed in the accident and seven other people were injured.

The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that faulty mechanical and brake systems were the cause.

The rail system first opened in 1901 to shuttle people up and down Bunker Hill and ran for nearly 70 years. Angel Flights was rebuilt and reopened in 1996 until the accident in 2001.

"So we went to the best engineers around the world and said, 'How do we rebuild it property?'" said John Welborne, the Angels Flight operator. "What we did was throw out everything that was there from the 1994 and 1995 rebuilding."

Since the accident the rail system has undergone a major restoration. The ride boasts an improved drive and control system as well as new safety features that were approved by the California Public Utilities Commission.

"It's a little scary and rickety, but we made it up and made it down," said Echo Park resident Kyle Barber.

"As long as it's not going downhill, I'm fine. Uphill is fine. Downhill is not fine," said Sherman Oaks resident Karen Klingborg.

Officials said the price for the ride will still be 25 cents as it was years ago. The cars on the ride will be the original rail cars from 1991.

It may not be the most efficient way to travel these days, but to most people, it's all about being part of history once again.

"It's fun to have. We came just for this," said L.A. resident Jocelyn Whitfield, holding up the rustic Angels Flight ticket stub. "It's going up on my bulletin board at work."

A grand reopening will be held Monday at 6:45 a.m.
(Copyright ©2010 KABC-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

India plans bullet train project (Source: steelguru.com)

Link: Steel Guru : India plans bullet train project

India plans bullet train project
Monday, 15 Mar 2010

With the final feasibility report of the proposed Pune to Mumbai to Ahmedabad rail corridor expected to be submitted by the month end, the Railways is gearing up for setting up an independent authority to plan and execute the bullet train project.

National High Speed Rail Authority, a first of its kind in the country is being planned to execute the high-speed rail corridor plan. It would be a focused independent body comprising experts.

A senior Railway Ministry official said that "The exercise is on to constitute the authority at the earliest.”

While the basic functioning of the body will be for planning, standard setting, implementation and monitoring the ambitious project, the details are being worked out. About the pattern being adopted for the authority. He added that "We are examining various provisions of different agencies like California High Speed Rail Authority to decide on it."

Railways have identified six routes as possible high speed corridors for running bullet trains at the speed of 250 to 350 km per hour. The official said that "While we have undertaken the feasibility study of Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad route, the next route to be taken up for similar study is Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar sector.”

Termed as 'Golden Corridor', the Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar route will have a one km long passenger corridor, the construction of which is estimated to cost about INR 50 crore to INR 70 crore.

The official said that "Draft report of the Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad route has been submitted by the consultant and the final report is expected to be submitted by the month end.”

(Sourced from deccanherald.com)

Westside residents sue over Expo line (Source: www.smdp.com)

Link: Westside residents sue over Expo line

Westside residents sue over Expo line
By Nick Taborek

March 15, 2010
COLORADO AVE — As many observers expected, a coalition of Westside homeowner groups has filed a lawsuit challenging the thoroughness of the environmental study recently approved for the Expo Light Rail line that transportation officials hope will connect Santa Monica to Downtown Los Angeles by 2015.

In a suit filed March 5 against the Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority, the group Neighbors for Smart Rail argues the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for phase two of the project, which covers the link from Culver City to Downtown Santa Monica, is inadequate because it failed to analyze the traffic impacts of several at-grade crossings in West L.A.

The planned rail line would cross Westwood Boulevard and Overland Avenue at-grade before crossing the I-405 freeway near Pico Boulevard. In Santa Monica the rail line would travel down Colorado Avenue to reach its final stop at Fourth Street.

Mike Eveloff, the president of Tract 7260 Association, one of the homeowners' groups that signed on to the suit as a plaintiff, said the challenge isn't an attempt to stop the rail line.

"We're not an anti-rail group," he said. "Our lawsuit exclusively has to do with the fact that the environmental impact report was fatally flawed," he said.

Among its deficiencies, he said, was a failure to analyze the proposed rail line's traffic effects on major thoroughfares like Overland Avenue, Westwood Boulevard, Pico Boulevard and Olympic Boulevard in the neighborhoods east of the I-405 freeway where the line crosses several busy streets. The law suit alleges the EIR is inadequate under California's Environmental Quality Act.

In a response to the lawsuit on Friday, the Expo Authority said it conducted "extensive environmental studies" and "intends to defend the project vigorously."

"Given the long and careful planning history, and the urgent need for traffic relief, we are extremely disappointed that a small faction of the community seeks to delay the extension of a project that has the overwhelming support of the communities on the Westside," the statement read.

Mayor Pro Tem Pam O'Connor, who also sits on Metro's board, said the lawsuit was "not unexpected."

"When you do a schedule you realize that there are complications that may arise," she said.

Darrell Clarke, president of the group Friends 4 Expo Transit, said overturning an EIR in court is always difficult, and in this case will be even more challenging because Expo planners have long assumed they would be sued and accordingly took special precautions.

"It's a big hill to climb for a plaintiff, particularly under these circumstances," he said.

Eveloff, though, said he expects a judge to overturn the EIR at a trial that he said should take place within six months.

"I expect that the judge will look at it and say the EIR did not adequately disclose the impacts," he said. "At that point we expect that the decision makers will see what their true alternatives are."

In addition to Tract 7260, the other groups involved in the litigation are: the West of Westwood Homeowners' Association, the Westwood Gardens Civic Association and the Cheviot Hills Homeowners' Association.

Press Release: Maglev extension given green light (Source: http://magnetbahnforum.de/index.php?en_what-is-maglev)

[Maglev] News No. 20 - Green Light for Maglev Extension in Shanghai -

Maglev extension given green light

Transrapid Shanghai to Hangzhou: 200 km at 450 km/h (124 miles at 280 mph)



The Ministry of Railways' chief planner, Mr. Zheng Jian, said yesterday that China has decided to build a Maglev line between Shanghai and Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang Province.

Construction will start this year [= 2010], Xinhua news agency reported. The new maglev link will be 200 kilometers, about 24 kilometers longer than that included in the 2006 plan. The top speed of the Maglev High Speed Ground Transportation System will be 450 km/h (~280 mph). It will take about half an hour to travel from Shanghai to Hangzhou, a trip which today still takes one and an half hours.

The new Maglev line will be of the ''Transrapid'' maglev system type. The Maglev line will contain a downtown section of about 34 kilometers which will connect the city's two international airports, Pudong and Hongqiao. According to Xinhua, the total cost will be 22 billion yuan (US$3.22 billion).

Construction: year 2010 - 2014
Invest: CN Yuan 22 billion
Length: 199.484 km
- Shanghai-Hangzhou Intercity: 164.577 km
- Airport Branch: 34.857 km
- Length in Zhejiang Province: 103.553 km (Stations: Jiaxing, Hangzhou East)

Best Regards

The International Maglevboard

International Society for Maglev Transportation

------------------

The International Maglev Board, or "The international Society for Maglev Transportation", is an international non-profit organization. It is made up of internationally known transport scientists, engineers, experts as well as members of citizens' movements.
The Maglevboard is oriented to the public interest, works independently and, as a basic tenet, does not represent any commercial interests. It is oriented toward interdisciplinary and scientifically based support of long-term social well-being, especially in relation to sustainable mobility. One focus of our attention concerns the prospects and limitations of magnetic levitation transport technologies.
The International Maglev Board does not in any way, shape or form endorse any particular manufacturer or industry group.
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