Is 30/10 going to happen soon? (Source: http://thesource.metro.net)

Link: http://thesource.metro.net/2010/06/07/is-3010-going-to-happen-soon/#more-8171

Is 30/10 going to happen soon?

I was (predictably) hiking in Yosemite on Friday when the news broke in L.A. that U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood had expressed his strongest support to date of the 30/10 Initiative AND that the federal government was also supportive of doing the engineering work for the Westside Subway Extension all at once instead of in bits and pieces.

Here’s a brief Q&A that I hope explains what all this means.

Will the subway get federal funds that will allow it to reach Westwood in the next decade?

The short answer: that remains to be determined.

Metro is in the process of applying for billions of dollars in New Starts funding for both the Westside Subway Extension and the Downtown Regional Connector projects. No money has been awarded yet, nor is yet certain how much the projects may get.

That money would be combined with funds from the Measure R sales tax increase approved by voters in 2008 in addition to any funds that Metro may secure through the30/10 Initiative, which in essence proposes to borrow money from the feds to build a dozen Measure R transit projects in the next 10 years instead of the next 30.

To sum it up: Measure R + New Starts + 30/10 Initiative = subway to Westwood by 2017.

So what’s the big hoopla about the FTA allowing the project to be engineered all the way to Westwood?

The news suggests that the FTA is leaning toward providing New Starts funding for the subway and connector projects — otherwise the agency wouldn’t care about dictating what does and does not get engineered.

It also means that Metro can do the preliminary engineering for the subway all at once so that if the above funding scenario happens, the agency has the blueprints to get the subway to Westwood.

And what happens if the above funding scenario doesn’t happen?

The long-range plan adopted by the Board of Directors of Metro calls for the subway to reach Fairfax by 2019, Century City in 2026 and Westwood in 2036. Gulp.

The 30/10 Initiative is the ingredient the agency needs to accelerate that schedule to get the subway to Westwood in 2017.

Have the feds approved of the 30/10 Initiative?

No. That will almost certainly take approval by Congress and 30/10 doesn’t appear in any federal legistation. At least not yet.

However, Secretary LaHood’s support for 30/10 is nothing to sneeze at. LaHood is an appointee of President Barack Obama and ultimately it will be Obama whose signature will be required on legislation containing 30/10.

And what will that legislation be?

Every few years Congress must approve a massive transportation spending bill. The last one was signed by President Bush in 2005 and expired in 2009 — but has been extended by Congress until a new bill is hammered out.

It hasn’t exactly been a priority for Obama and many others in Congress, given some of the other key legislation before Congress in the past couple of years — such as the federal stimulus bill and health care, to name two.

But 30/10 has the promise of garnering support from around the country as it amounts to a way for local areas to use their own funds to secure loans to build more transit. It appears to be a win-win for everyone involved.

Under the plan, the feds would be loaning money not giving it away — thus not digging a bigger deficit hole — and local areas would be able to borrow money at rates lower than they would on the open markets. The plan would seemingly enable a lot of transit to get built, thereby enabling more commuters in urban areas to get around without driving.

That could save gas and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, helping Obama achieve one of his stated goals.

-- Steve Hymon

Report from ULI Conference: The Future of Los Angeles Is Transit and TOD (Source: la.streetsblog.com)

Link: http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/06/07/report-from-uli-conference-the-future-of-los-angeles-is-transit-and-tod/

Report from ULI Conference: The Future of Los Angeles Is Transit and TOD

by Gloria Ohland on June 7, 2010

A view from the W Hotel. Photo: Gloria Ohland

Robust Attendance at ULI Event Indicates Developers, Investors and Feds On Board 

The Urban Land Institute held a well-attended TOD Summit (as in transit-oriented development, or TOD) in Hollywood on Friday that signifies the quiet revolution going on in the world of transportation and development in Los Angeles. First, US Senator Barbara Boxer keynoted the lunch, announcing that the US DOT would admit both Phase 1 and 2 of the "subway to the sea" into the preliminary engineering process and conduct environmental review of both phases simultaneously - jumpstarting the subway project and greatly improving chances it will win federal New Starts funding. 

Second, ULI released a positive analysis of the economic impacts of SB 375, the legislation requiring Californians to cutback greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 through transportation and land use strategies, and to reduce emissions another 80 percent by 2050. This has become a politically volatile issue, and the oil companies are funding a campaign to get a measure to repeal AB 32, the landmark companion legislation that established the GHG reduction targets, on the ballot this fall. 

Boxer also announced Congress would be including a strategy to fund LA's "30-10" plan to build all 12 rail and bus rapid transit projects funded by Measure R in 10 years in the upcoming reauthorization of the federal transportation bill. While there are a number of loan and bond programs that allow the federal government to provide funding for single transportation projects, there is no mechanism for funding an entire program of projects such as Mayor Villaraigosa has proposed with 30-10.

Both the 30-10 plan and SB 375 push the city and LA County toward a more compact and sustainable urban form focused around a rail system and non-motorized transportation. And the robust attendance at the conference indicated the degree to which developers and investors as well as the Obama Administration are interested in promoting transit, infill, mixed-use, TOD, and complete streets programs. 

HUD's Shelley Poticha, senior advisor for HUD's new $500 million Sustainable Communities program and the morning keynote speaker, spoke about how HUD, the US DOT and the US EPA are all integrating their funding programs to promote sustainability and livability. Among the initiatives that HUD is considering, she said, is a new definition of housing affordability that will consider not just the cost of housing but also the cost of transportation, and that will reward those housing projects that reduce a household's transportation costs by providing good transit access and the option of walking and biking. 

Throughout the day speakers talked about TOD projects in Los Angeles, about how to work with neighborhoods to build support for these projects, and how to find more funding for transit operations. There were afternoon tours of several projects, including the new Hollywood and Vine apartment, condo and W Hotel project, which features business conference rooms for residents as well as a hundred balconies and rooftop terraces with firepits, swimming pools and bars providing dramatic views of the Hollywood Hills, city and ocean. And there's a new Trader Joe's. 

The panel of developers, mayors and others who spoke about the SB 375 analysis said that the Sustainable Community Strategy, or SCS, that is required under SB 375 will provide the certainty that both developers and investors need in order to build more mixed-use loft, live-work, and TOD projects near transit. The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) has begun working with its 189 member cities to develop an SCS by 2012. 

Many of SCAG's member cities, including Fullerton and Ontario, have already begun dramatic upzoning around transit stations, and SCAG is tripling the funding in its Compass Blueprint Demonstration Program to provide for initiatives supporting mixed use, infill, TOD, walking and biking. Recent SCAG analyses for SB 375 show that cities across the region have been updating their general plans to reflect the planning priorities of SB 375. 

For example, SCAG models show that more than half of all new development by 2020 will be built near transit stations across the region, and that the only new road capacity that is planned - with the exception of the 710 tunnel through South Pasadena and the proposed High Desert Corridor from SR 14 to the 1-15 - will be either HOV or HOT (high occupancy toll) lanes. 

"SB 375 tells developers where they should be building - near transit stations, not in the greenfields," said Renata Simril, senior vice president of infill and mixed-use development for the national builder Forest City. "Time is money for developers and investors, and if we have the certainty that we are supposed to build near transit stations, then that is where we'll build."

High-speed rail firm sees 2011 start

Two companies planning lines to Vegas need funds

Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer

Posted: 06/06/2010 07:03:39 AM PDT

VICTORVILLE - Proponents of a high-speed train that would link this High Desert city to Las Vegas say they are confident that the impending completion of environmental and financial plans will allow construction of a new rail line to begin in 2011.

"There will probably be at least some type of ground breaking, but the heavy construction will begin in 2011," Desert Xpress president Tom Stone said by teleconference on Thursday.

The Desert Xpress proposal would allow Southern California passengers to park their cars in Victorville and ride the rails through the Mojave Desert on their way to Sin City. The idea is not the only proposal for a new route to Las Vegas - others have backed an even more high-tech concept that would employ hovering Maglev trains.

Both proposals would let Southern California travelers bypass desert traffic jams and seemingly interminable waits at the 15 Freeway's agricultural inspection station on the return trip. Potential sacrifices include skipping well-known eating spots like the Mad Greek in Baker or In N Out Burger in Barstow.

The Desert Xpress and Maglev options could respectively reach costs in the neighborhoods of $5 billion or $12 billion to $15 billion. Neither side has announced a completed financing arrangement, and the Federal Railroad Administration has not yet approved environmental statements for either plan.

Those on the Desert Xpress side assert that they can accomplish their project with private funding - although they may seek a federal loan - and can begin construction well before a Maglev line could happen.

Desert Xpress executives expect to make an announcement in about one month regarding a major investor for their project, Stone said. He said those talks are confidential.

Construction of Desert Xpress is projected to require three years. Future travelers could pay an average one-way fare of $55.

Victorville councilmen Mike Rothschild and Terry Caldwell participated in the same conference while at the Grumpy Golfer near Victorville's Green Tree Golf Course.

The councilmen were confident the Desert XPress will become a reality. They said the vision includes a sophisticated train station that will let Las Vegas-bound riders to check in their luggage and find their bags waiting for them at their hotel of choice.

"It really enhances the reputation of not just Victorville, but the entire Victor Valley as a place to do business, where government is receptive to what it needs to do to create jobs," Caldwell said.

Rothschild and Caldwell also said the high-speed rail option would make it possible for Desert Xpress to one day be connected with the planned California High Speed Rail network.

The High Speed Rail Authority's maps show proposed routes that would link cities including Ontario, Riverside, Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Francisco.

High-speed rail involves steel wheels on a steel track. Desert Xpress' draft environmental report shows that the trains may be powered by diesel-electric engines or electric propulsion systems that the company maintains could reach speeds of 150 mph and travel from Victorville to Las Vegas in about 84 minutes.

Maglev, or magnetic levitation, trains would never even touch their tracks. Magnetic force is employed to zip carriages along a track, and proponents say this option would let trains to reach 300 mph.

The Maglev proposal, also known as the California- Nevada Super Speed Train Project, would require a substantial investment of taxpayer money and take more time to be built. The completion of environmental documentation could take 18 to 24 months, with construction requiring four to five years, said M. Neil Cummings, president of American Magline Group.

But Cummings also said the Maglev option has advantages over the Desert Xpress proposal. Besides the capability to reach higher speeds, the current Maglev plan would not require travelers from the Inland Empire and greater Los Angeles to drive to Victorville.

Planners instead want to build track that would allow trains to climb the Cajon Pass and reach stations in Ontario and Anaheim.

"The Inland Empire really has to look at the future," Cummings said. "If you build a high-speed train, you want to do one that connects the entire corridor."

The Maglev group's website shows lists potential sources as federal appropriations or federal, state or local bonds. Maglev backers are also counting on $7 billion from the Export-Import Bank of China, Cummings said.

Read more:http://www.sbsun.com/ci_15239527?source=most_viewed#ixzz0qBSYigdv

LA's transit push gets a boost from feds (Source: http://www.mercurynews.com/)

LA's transit push gets a boost from feds

The Associated Press

Posted: 06/04/2010 10:16:22 PM PDT

Updated: 06/04/2010 10:16:22 PM PDT

_{LOS ANGELES—An effort to speed up construction of the subway to the sea in Los Angeles has received a boost from the Obama administration.}

_{Senator Barbara Boxer said Friday that the Federal Transit Administration has agreed to accelerate review of the 9-mile segment. That will help get the project shovel-ready for when officials secure funding for it.}

_{Boxer said she also received a letter from Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood supporting a local plan to accelerate construction of a dozen transit projects by borrowing from the federal government.}

_{In 2008, Los Angeles County voters agreed to increase the sales tax to raise about $40 billion for transportation improvements over a 30-year period. Under the "30/10" plan, local officials propose completing those projects in 10 years by borrowing from Washington.}

Another train enters fray for L.A. to LV route (Source:http://www.lasvegassun.com )

Link: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/jun/06/another-train-enters-fray-l-lv-route/

Another train enters fray for L.A. to LV route

Developer wants federal money to conduct study

By Richard N. Velotta (contact)

Sunday, June 6, 2010 | 2 a.m.

There’s a new player in the Great Race to provide rail service between Las Vegas and Southern California. It has an interesting route proposal going for it, but it’s late to the party for money.

Genesis High Speed Rail America LLC wants to build the Desert Lightning, a high-speed train that would use steel-wheel-on-rails technology with 200 mph electric locomotion.

That technology puts it in the same category with what is widely considered the front-runner in the race, DesertXpress, which was reported ready to break ground on its Las Vegas-to-Victorville, Calif., track this year.

Like DesertXpress, Desert Lightning would use a dedicated line. But Desert Lightning veers in a different direction with a route proposal that makes sense for the long haul.

Duane Wilder, chairman of Genesis, proposes a T-shaped route going south from Las Vegas, parallel to the Colorado River and U.S. 95, just east of Mojave National Preserve. Near Interstate 10, the line would intersect with an east-west line running parallel to the freeway between Los Angeles and Phoenix.

In theory, then, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Las Vegas would be connected by high-speed rail, putting the three cities within an hour and a half of one another — a great benefit to Las Vegans and tourists. The route could capture the Palm Springs, Calif., market, which includes wealthy retirees who fit nicely in the gaming industry’s demographic sweet spot.

Where the plan falls flat is that Wilder and his impressive list of consultants and partners want federal money to study the proposal. He said about $35 million would cover the study’s cost.

Wilder said he expects the train would be built as a public-private partnership. He said the study would determine whether it would be best to use proven European technology or proven Japanese technology.

“I’ve ridden on both of the trains,” Wilder said. “I can’t say which one is better than the other and part of it could depend on the terrain, so the exact route also would be studied.”

He wants to focus on connecting airports as well as cities.

Wilder thinks the United States isn’t ready for maglev, and he doesn’t think it’s a proven technology, even though it has been successfully running in China for years.

Wilder said once a study is completed, investors would get onboard with what could be a $35 billion to $40 billion project.

Although Wilder says it’s never too late to look at a good project, Genesis and Desert Lightning may be left at the station.

Representatives haven’t spelled out details of their construction financing. And DesertXpress — which some wags are calling “the train to nowhere” — says it has investors ready to build the line and buy the train sets. Although skeptics won’t be convinced it’s going to happen until they see the golden spike driven into the ground and trains coming from both directions, it looks like the project is real.

If Desert Lightning succeeds in getting the study money — and it should ask the folks at the American Magline Group, backers of a Las Vegas-Los Angeles maglev proposal, about how easy it is to get a check from the government — it would still take years to get the environmental permits and engineering completed.

The maglev group is still awaiting funding that was promised years ago. Even prodding from Gov. Jim Gibbons and Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto last month produced no results.

The U.S. Transportation Department recently outlined where its first round of $80 million in high-speed rail grants would go, and there’s nothing earmarked for Nevada or Southern California.

The biggest chunk of the money is going to benefit one of Las Vegas’ biggest tourism rivals, Orlando, Fla. The department is giving $66.6 million for preliminary engineering for a high-speed rail line between Tampa and Orlando.

Another $6.2 million is going to California’s Capitol Corridor, the link between San Francisco and Sacramento. And $5.7 million has been allocated for environmental assessments for new stations for a route between Milwaukee and Madison, Wis. New York and New Mexico also got grants.

Further down the scorecard are the competing low-speed train proposals: cruise ships on rails making 5 1/2-hour trips between L.A. and Las Vegas on Union Pacific Railroad tracks.

Moving passenger trains on that line has been problematic because Union Pacific gives priority to moving freight. Amtrak was often delayed when it ran the Desert Wind from L.A. to Salt Lake City via Las Vegas in the 1980s and 1990s. Amtrak abandoned the route in 1998.

The two new players planning low-speed train excursions are Las Vegas Railway Express’ X Train, which plans to shuttle passengers to Las Vegas in a party atmosphere aboard double-deck passenger cars expected to be pulled at a maximum speed of about 80 mph, and D2 Holdings’ Z-Train, a nearly identical proposal to the X Train that company leaders say was hijacked by their rivals.

Lawsuits between X Train and Z-Train have been resolved and both companies have agreed to quit making defamatory comments against each other, said Bruce Richardson, Z-Train spokesman.

“Everybody is going to move forward and right now, it looks like it’s going to be up to the Union Pacific as to what happens next,” Richardson said. “Now that all the litigation is aside, we have recontacted Union Pacific and said, ‘Let’s sit down and talk.’ We’re waiting for a response from them.”

Union Pacific hasn’t commented on the status of its negotiations with X Train or Z-Train, so it’s unclear where using those tracks stands.

So the scorecard shows two low-speed excursion trains in a holding pattern and three high-speed proposals in various stages of development, one of them with a superior route structure (Desert Lightning), one with superior technology (maglev) and one with superior financing at the ready (DesertXpress).

And for the time being, potential customers are still waiting for any train to come in.

A version of this story appears in this week’s In Business Las Vegas, a sister publication of the Sun.

Transit money for Beverly Hills and Los Angeles advanced from Washington (Source:http://www.bhcourier.com )

Link: http://www.bhcourier.com/article/Local_News/Local_News/Transit_money_for_Beverly_Hills_and_Los_Angeles_advanced_from_Washington/68274

Transit money for Beverly Hills and Los Angeles advanced from Washington

Posted Saturday June 5, 2010 - 10.50am

The federal government has agreed in principal to advance money to Los Angeles-area transportation agencies to speed up construction of major projects like a Wilshire Boulevard subway connection from Koreatown to Westwood, a Gold Line extension, and connect light rail service to Los Angeles International Airport.

   Sen. Barbara Boxer announced that the White House has agreed to loan Los Angeles 30 years' worth of transportation sales tax revenue over the next 10 years, which will significantly advance timetables to build major transit projects.

  U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood announced approval of the so-called 30/10 plan in Washington Friday.

   The decision is a major victory for Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who proposed the 30/10 funding scheme in order to get major projects like the Wilshire Boulevard subway built on a compressed schedule.

   Although 40 percent of the money will go to rail and subway construction, street repaving and bus operations will get the remainder of the money.

   The mayor's proposal will use half-penny-per-dollar sales tax revenue generated by the voter-approved Measure R as collateral for federal loans.

   Thirty years' worth of Measure R receipts will be lent by Washington to Los Angeles.

   Los Angeles has proposed a comprehensive, long-range transportation plan and the sustainable funding stream to accomplish it,' Transportation Secretary Roy Lahood told Boxer in a letter delivered late Friday.

   Among major projects that will be built sooner as a result of the federal loans are:

-- Extending the Wilshire Boulevard subway from Western Avenue through the Miracle Mile, Beverly Hills, and Century City to Westwood. The subway might also be extended west to Santa Monica, and a leg may be built from Beverly Hills to downtown Hollywood.

-- Building the "Downtown Connector' light rail tunnels under Figueroa
Street and the City Hall area to tiethe Blue and Expo lines into the Gold
Line near Union Station.

-- Extend the Green Line south towards Torrance, and north into Los Angeles International Airport.

-- Extend the southern branch of the Gold Line from East Los Angeles to either Whittier or along the Pomona (60) Freeway.

-- Build a new light rail line from the LAX area to Mid City, via Crenshaw Boulevard.

-- Build railroad track overpasses along the "Alameda East' corridor east of Los Angeles.

-- Widen sections of Interstate 5 in the Newhall Pass and between Orange County and Norwalk.

-- Build truck lanes along sections of the Golden State (5) Freeway over the Grapevine.

-- Expand capacity of the connected interchanges along the Harbor (110) Freeway at the Gardena (91) and San Diego (405) freeways near Carson. - CNS

David Lazarus: Blue ribbon transit committee mails it in (Source: http://www.lasvegassun.com)

Link: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/jun/06/another-train-enters-fray-l-lv-route/

David Lazarus: Blue ribbon transit committee mails it in

Riders wait for a bus in downtown Los Angeles. Only two or three of the 17 members of the MTA Blue Ribbon Committee actually ride buses and subways with any frequency. (Katie Falkenberg, For The Times / April 19, 2010)

The MTA panel charged with creating a new vision for public transportation in the region delivers a busload of status quo.

By David Lazarus

June 4, 2010

  

A gaggle of transportation officials and community leaders gathered this week to help shape the future of public transit in Los Angeles County — to decide, in effect, whether it's time for revolutionary change, or whether the status quo should prevail.

Status quo won by a knockout.

» Don't miss a thing. Get breaking news alerts delivered to your inbox.

The so-called Metro Blue Ribbon Committee was established by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority late last year to come up with "a new regional transit vision" for bus and rail systems. It met Tuesday to finalize recommendations it will make to the MTA's board of directors next month.

I attended the session with high hopes. My recent series of columns on public transit resulted in the MTA board last week approving motions from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Supervisor Mike Antonovich to create daily and weekly passes good on most regional transit systems, as well as to look into basing fares on the distance and time of day that people travel.

To my mind, the real question now was whether the Blue Ribbon Committee would embrace the idea that cash-strapped transit operators need to expand ridership by attracting people who don't need to travel by bus or rail but are willing to do so as circumstances allow — say, one or two weeks a month.

While this might seem like a no-brainer, such a commitment would require transit systems to improve efficiency, reliability, safety and comfort so that these "discretionary riders" (or "choice riders" in MTA parlance) would view traveling by bus as a viable alternative to commuting by car.

It was heartening to see that one of the draft recommendations that the panel had cooked up was that "Metro should attract choice riders through high service quality."

But after a lively debate among committee members, it was decided that "choice" or "discretionary" should be omitted from the final recommendation. Instead, the MTA should seek to attract all riders.

"The key is to make the product the highest quality possible to attract and keep riders," said Jerard Wright, a committee member representing the MTA's Westside governing body.

The problem, of course, is that the MTA and other transit systems have been using this approach for decades, and it's done pretty much nothing to woo fickle choice riders.

Meanwhile, the Blue Ribbon Committee will recommend that the MTA make it a priority that "service should be provided when and where sufficient demand exists."

With focusing on new riders off the table, this is the heart of the panel's "new regional transit vision." What they're basically saying is that the transit network should concentrate primarily on its existing customer base — people who either already choose to travel by bus or rail, or who have no choice.

If the rest of us decide to come along for the ride, great. If not, oh well.

I understand why transit systems would do this. Funding is scarce and resources are spread thin. It's easier and cheaper to deliver barely adequate service for those who already use public transit on a regular basis.

Attracting new customers would require transit systems to be more comprehensive in their routes and schedules, and to step up their game in offering a wider variety of options — for example, a greater number of rapid and commuter express lines.

It would require out-of-the-box thinking such as creation of bus-only streets serving as "virtual subways," as well as development of elevated rail lines to get people off the roads, which has to be the ultimate goal of any serious transit plan for the car-choked region.

This would be pricey. But as I've written, such costs could be offset in part by higher ridership volume, as well as by gas taxes, parking fees and congestion pricing intended to both raise revenue for transit systems and to deter people from traveling by car.

The Blue Ribbon Committee didn't go anywhere near such possibilities. It focused instead on recommending that the transit network "be designed to be simple, coordinated and intuitive."

Conan Cheung, the MTA's deputy executive officer for operations planning, disagreed with my assessment that the committee had cast a vote for the status quo.

"Status quo is having duplication of service among transit operators," he said after the meeting. "Status quo is not having the level of reliability that we want. Status quo is not providing riders with the level of information that we want to provide. These are things we want to change."

He said the MTA board will seek greater cooperation among regional transit systems, and will work harder to let people know when a bus is running late. One possibility: wireless apps that would allow commuters to track the whereabouts of buses on their smart phones.

Or electronic signs at bus stops throughout the region with up-to-the-minute info on arrivals. Or even just placards at bus stops that clearly list all available lines (incredibly, different cities employ different sign specs, adding an extra layer of confusion for some riders).

These would all be improvements. But why convene a special committee for that? Aren't these things that the MTA board can do on its own?

Yes, Cheung acknowledged. But a panel of regional transit experts helps shield the board from the perception that it's forcing changes on smaller systems.

"This is a way to get some buy-in from other cities and jurisdictions," he said.

It's also why our public-transit network is such a pitiful mess: We're still at the buy-in phase for something as small potatoes as signage. The hard decisions remain unaddressed.

At the meeting, an MTA staffer asked during a break if any members of the Metro Blue Ribbon Committee needed their parking tickets validated. Only two or three of the 17 members, I learned, actually ride buses and subways with any frequency.

That's all you need to know about the current state of public transit in the Southland.

David Lazarus' column runs Tuesdays and Fridays. He also can be seen daily on KTLA-TV Channel 5. Send your tips or feedback to david.lazarus@latimes.com.

China's future on fast track

• From:The Australian 
• June 04, 2010 9:52am

• Increase Text Size
• Decrease Text Size
• Print
• Email
• Share

This bullet train is claimed to be the fastest in the world, travelling at 350km/h between Guangzhou and Wuhan.

THEY'RE calling it The New Silk Road: an ambitious plan by the Chinese to build two direct rail links to Europe, one from Beijing to London, the other from Beijing to Berlin, via a super high-speed train service travelling at almost half the cruising speed of a 747.

The Chinese Government, already in serious negotiations with 17 countries, also wants to build a third link through Burma, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. It claims the Herculean task could be completed in as little as a decade and has offered to cough up the money for the infrastructure – in return for cut-price raw materials, which it can transport cheaply back to its manufacturing centres.

In January, China opened what it billed as the fastest rail service in the world – a bullet train travelling at a top speed of 350km/h between the cities of Guangzhou and Wuhan, slicing the previous journey time from 10 hours to just three. Within three years China will have 800 bullet trains criss-crossing its territory, and it is already in the throes of building high-speed rail lines in Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.

Related Coverage

• Train driver caught asleep at controlsAdelaide Now, 12 May 2010
• $1bn kick to keep boom on trackHerald Sun, 11 May 2010
• Fast-train driver sacked for falling asleepAdelaide Now, 10 May 2010
• New 'rainbow' airport terminal opensNEWS.com.au, 16 Mar 2010
• Engineer wins big HK rail worksPerth Now, 11 Mar 2010

In a somewhat uncertain time for air travel, China appears to have decided high-speed rail offers a good back-up strategy for moving people and resources. Already its international building spree is outstripping that of colonial Britain, which cemented its economic power in India in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Like the lucrative silk and spice trade that opened up a link between Asia and Europe more than 2000 years ago, optimists argue that the giant railways will herald a new era of inter-connectedness between Europe and China.

The less dewy-eyed, however, worry about China’s greater ability to exploit resources in developing countries (a pipeline between Turkmenistan and China’s Xinjiang province will remove more than half of that country’s natural gas deposits, for example) and its growing influence in the Middle East (especially in troublesome Iran).

In short, a new silk road paving the way for 21st-century Chinese dominance.