"No way to run a railroad" is the theme of an open letter from the current and eleven former US Transportation Secretaries to Congress urging long term planning needs for the nation's infrastructure, not relying on short term measures..
UK HS2 moves onward...2 Snowhill Birmingham will be the address of the HS2 HQ..and bring with it a few jobs for the area...
And take a look at Alstom's Axonis light metro system.....
Click on the links...
Headlines
UK
Birmingham named as new HS2 headquarters.(BBC News).
Two Snowhill will house new HS2 team in Birmingham - Birmingham Post..
1,500 jobs bonanza as HS2 HQ comes to Birmingham.(Birmingham Mail)
GOV.UK
HS2 jobs and growth boost for Birmingham
HS2 Ltd engineering headquarters to be located in Birmingham, creating 1,500 jobs in the area.
Transport Secretary was in Birmingham today (21 July 2014) to welcome news about HS2 developments that will bring jobs and growth to the city.
The Transport Secretary and HS2 Ltd Chairman David Higgins met with Birmingham Council Leader Sir Albert Bore for the launch of the city’s Urban Regeneration Company tasked with helping maximise the benefits of HS2 for the area.
They also announced Birmingham as the location of the HS2 construction headquarters (HQ), creating 1,500 jobs.
The combined effect will be significant regeneration and a massive economic boost to the city.
Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said:
HS2 is a vital part of our long-term economic plan. By locating the new HS2 engineering HQ in Birmingham we are bringing skilled job opportunities into the area, spreading HS2’s benefits beyond those using the new rail line.HS2 Chairman, David Higgins said:
It is great news that Birmingham City Council has created a company specifically to focus on the regeneration opportunities created by HS2. It will bring new investment and work into the city, helping secure the future prosperity of the region and the country.
The new Birmingham-based construction HQ will house up to 1,500 HS2 Ltd employees with the first part expected to open from 2015. Some employees will move their base from London to the new HQ but the majority will be brand new highly skilled jobs for the city. These will include the engineers and designers responsible for detailed construction plans for the track, stations and signalling as well as the staff needed to support their work.The lasting impact of HS2 will, in the end, be determined by how successfully local authorities and regions use it as a catalyst to transform and develop not just their economies, but also the look and feel of the areas it touches. The Birmingham Curzon Urban Regeneration Company will, therefore, be hugely important both for Birmingham and the rest of the West Midlands, and also as an example to the rest of the cities along the route. I acknowledge and applaud the work that has gone on to get this far and wish it every success in the future.
The Birmingham Curzon Urban Regeneration Company will lead redevelopment in the heart of the city centre, which will:
- redevelop over 140 hectares of land
- create 14,000 jobs
- provide 600,000 square metres of new employment floorspace
- provide space for 2,000 homes
- contribute up to £1.3 billion a year to the local economy.
To accelerate the regeneration of the Curzon Street site, the area’s Growth Deal, the agreement which sees central government funds allocated to local projects, provides a further £130 million and help to bring forward work to extend the Midland Metro. The planned extension will bring tram services into the heart of the Birmingham Curzon area and link the HS2 terminus directly into the local transport system.
Sir Albert Bore, Leader of Birmingham Council said:
Since the industrial revolution, Birmingham has been a national capital for engineering, so it is only natural that the HS2 construction HQ be based in Birmingham.
HS2 is an important step in rebalancing the country’s economy, supporting growth in the regions and encouraging more inward investment into the city.
It is essential that we have the power to make local decisions, and the Regeneration Company will allow us to realise the full potential and benefit of HS2 for this area.
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West Midlands appoints new transport authority(Birmingham Post)
Chorley flying arches: Historic railway feature to be rebuilt .(BBC News).
Union boss warns rail staff could strike in 32-hour week bid.(heraldscotland).
Rail fares ‘may double in North’.(The Star).
London Midland bans alcohol on Liverpool train departures at weekends.(BBC News).
UK Heritage
Great Railway Treasure Hunt | North Yorkshire Moors Railway :: A steam train adventure through the stunning Yorkshire Moors
International
Australia
Moving Victoria - Melbourne Rail Link . DTPLI on YouTube
The new Melbourne Rail Link will deliver two new rail tunnels from South Yarra to Southern Cross station with new underground stations at Domain and Fishermans Bend (Montague). The project will separate Melbourne's busiest lines, allowing an extra 35,000 people per hour and create an international style metro system.
India
FDI in Railways: Cabinet decision likely this week (Moneycontrol.com)
India, China likely to sign MoU for cooperation in Railways (Zee News)
USA
www.progressiverailroading.com.
Rail car and locomotive statistics: Fleet Stats 2014
Open Letter from Secretary Foxx and 11 Former DOT Secretaries Urging Congress to Address Long-Term Transportation Needs.
This week, it appears that Congress will act to stave off the looming insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund. The bill, if passed, should extend surface transportation funding until next May.
We are hopeful that Congress appears willing to avert the immediate crisis. But we want to be clear: This bill will not “fix” America’s transportation system. For that, we need a much larger and longer-term investment. On this, all twelve of us agree.
Taken together, we have led the U.S. Department of Transportation for over 35 years.
One of us was there on day one, at its founding. We’ve served seven presidents, both Republicans and Democrats, including Lyndon Johnson, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.
Suffice it to say, we’ve been around the block. We probably helped pave it.
So it is with some knowledge and experience that we can write: Never in our nation’s history has America’s transportation system been on a more unsustainable course.
In recent years, Congress has largely funded transportation in fits and starts. Federal funding bills once sustained our transportation system for up to six years, but over the past five years, Congress has passed 27 short-term measures. Today, we are more than a decade past the last six-year funding measure.
This is no way to run a railroad, fill a pothole, or repair a bridge. In fact, the unpredictability about when, or if, funding will come has caused states to delay or cancel projects altogether.
The result has been an enormous infrastructure deficit – a nationwide backlog of repairing and rebuilding. Right now, there are so many structurally deficient bridges in America that, if you lined them up end-to-end, they’d stretch from Boston to Miami. What’s worse, the American people are paying for this inaction in a number of ways.
Bad roads, for example, are costing individual drivers hundreds of dollars a year due to side effects like extra wear-and-tear on their vehicles and time spent in traffic.
Simply put, the United States of America is in a united state of disrepair, a crisis made worse by the fact that, over the next generation, more will be demanded of our transportation system than ever before. By 2050, this country will be home to up to 100 million new people. And we’ll have to move 14 billion additional tons of freight, almost twice what we move now.
Without increasing investment in transportation, we won’t be able to meet these challenges. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, we need to invest $1.8 trillion by 2020 just to bring our surface transportation infrastructure to an adequate level.
So, what America needs is to break this cycle of governing crisis-to-crisis, only to enact a stopgap measure at the last moment. We need to make a commitment to the American people and the American economy.
There is hope on this front. Some leaders in Washington, including those at the U.S. Department of Transportation, are stepping forward with ideas for paying for our roads, rails, and transit systems for the long-term.
While we – the twelve transportation secretaries – may differ on the details of these proposals, there is one essential goal with which all twelve of us agree: We cannot continue funding our transportation with measures that are short-term and short of the funding we need.
On this, we are of one mind. And Congress should be, too.
Adequately funding our transportation system won’t be an easy task for our nation’s lawmakers. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Consensus has been brokered before.
Until recently, Congress understood that, as America grows, so must our investments in transportation. And for more than half a century, they voted for that principle – and increased funding – with broad, bipartisan majorities in both houses.
We believe they can, and should, do so again.
Alstom on YouTube
The Axonis is a light metro system Which AIMS to meet the specific needs of transport of fast-growing cities and densely populated who seek quick construction , easy insertion and urban improvement of the cost benefit .
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