I’m just back from China where I took the high-speed train from Shanghai to Beijing, and am writing to ask for you to help raise the profile of the Housatonic passenger rail line with the US Secretary of Transportation and our state legislators. Federal funding could play a huge role in moving the project forward, [...]
Here is Chapter 4 Berkshire Line: New Haven's Route to the Hills, pages 45-53, from the book New Haven Passenger Trains by Peter E. Lynch, published by Quarto Publishing Group USA, 2005. Here's a bit from the introduction: The Berkshire Line originated as the combination of the Housatonic Railroad, which opened between Bridgeport and Canaan, Connecticut, [...]
California's plans for high-speed rail is one important aspect of passenger rail revitalization in the United States. Here's architect and planner Peter Calthorpe on why "High-Speed Rail Is a Catalyst for Better Development." "Just as the ’56 highway bill helped spawn the modern suburb, high-speed rail would energize a new generation of community building — one [...]
Here's another of the passenger rail projects being considered, and campaigned for, in the United States. Interest in small-scale passenger rail projects is evolving in Europe, too, where small rail lines closed in the 1960s are being revived. A vision for global rail systems has to include smaller projects as well as major city connectors, [...]
Clean and convenient restrooms are important features of modern train service and are top on the list for the new Berkshire Line. While we may complain about the condition of restrooms on Metro-North trains, here's an article from India about a situation we don't face here in the United States. NEW DELHI: Rail tracks in [...]
