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Articles on High speed rail

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High-speed trains, such as this one on the Hangzhou-Shanghai route, will soon link China’s entire urban spine from Beijing to Hong Kong. Chris Hale

With a bullet: China’s high-speed rail dream begins to take flight

As a young university student, I first visited Guangzhou during the mid-1990s and found it a gloomy and unsettling place. The third world, undoubtedly. When I went back again in 2010, it was transformed…
The proposed railway hasn’t got everyone in Laos excited. LUONG THAI LINH/EPA

High speed rail could bankrupt Laos, but it’ll keep China happy

Despite impressive economic growth rates over the last decade, a third of Laos’s population still lives below the extreme poverty line of US$1.25 per day. Most of the extreme poor Laos are ethnic minorities…
One out, one in: better high speed rail services could dampen flight demand. Gareth Fuller/PA

With planning, high speed rail could reduce flight demand

The expansion of UK airports could mean breaching climate targets, Climate Change Committee head David Kennedy has said. Ahead of a full report next summer that would examine the airport expansion plans…
High speed rail, Taiwan-style. loudtiger

HS2: mixed success for high speed rail worldwide

The last half century has seen the gradual development of high-speed rail (HSR) systems. From the inauguration of the first “bullet train” services in Japan in 1964 to the recent rapid developments in…
Faster, safer, shinier. PA

Explainer: the engineering challenges of HS2

Next year, high-speed rail travel will celebrate its 50th birthday. In 1964, Japan put into service the first Shinkansen line, from Tokyo to Osaka. Its trains initially operated at speeds of up to 210…
It won’t look that sexy, but the concept is worth the attention. SpaceX

Hyperloop and the future of ground transport

Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX and co-founder of PayPal, has announced his vision for a new high-speed ground transportation system called “Hyperloop”. The system would connect Los Angeles to San Francisco…
TGV POS, the world’s fastest train - but high speed rail won’t bring prosperity to the regions as quickly. bigbug21/Wikipedia

HS2 alone won’t address the north-south divide

A commitment to building a new wave of high-speed rail networks has emerged, such as HS2 in Britain. But given how costly they are, their wider impact has been under-investigated. It is little wonder that…
Arriving at a station near you (if you’re in Taiwan). jiadoldol/Flickr

Consider HS2 within wider networks to gauge true value

Transport megaprojects tend to make rather gloomy reading. The prevailing opinion, at least among social scientists, is that all big infrastructure projects share three characteristics: they take longer…

A view on: high-speed rail in Australia

Welcome to the second in our new series of video collaborations with SBS. In this episode, Dr Rico Merkert, Senior Lecturer in Aviation Management at the University of Sydney, gives his view on the Australian…
The European experience with high speed rail suggests there are trade-offs with aviation depending on the routes.

Is high speed rail in Australia value for money?

There is no doubt that the creation of a 1748-kilometre high-speed rail network connecting Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, and Melbourne is an exciting endeavour. But given the large capital costs - $114 billion…
So high speed rail might be a good investment, in future. It just might also be the worst of the possible rail projects to fund at this moment in time. AAP

Boondoggle or best thing we’ll ever do? What to make of high speed rail

Transport Minister Anthony Albanese today released the second phase report for Australia’s High Speed Rail Study. The AECOM report plots out a preferred route from Brisbane to Melbourne, predicts how many…
High speed rail travel could begin by 2035: but the plan comes with a price tag of $114 billion. shutterstock

Slow to arrive, but will high speed rail be worth the wait?

East coast Australian cities could one day be linked by high speed rail, but with a price tag of $114 billion and a 40 year timeframe, according to a study released by the Transport Minister Anthony Albanese…

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