The high-speed rail project in California continues to slog ahead and, regardless of the obstacles, I’m convinced it will not only be completed, but it will be an immediate success. That may seem overly optimistic, but it isn’t. The California project will succeed because high-speed rail works. It’s just that simple. Because only a…
The news is coming in bits and pieces, and it’s too early to know for sure how significant it is, but [breaking into song] “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christ-mas … “ That’s from the perspective of a passenger rail advocate, of course. Seriously, there really does appear to be the beginning of…
In the summer of 2011, I spent just over a month on an extended rail journey that included London, Berlin, St. Petersburg, Moscow, several cities in Siberia and Mongolia, Beijing and finally Shanghai. That itinerary included several high-speed trains. The first was the Eurostar between London and Brussels, where I connected with an intercity train…
Back in the late 70s, I worked for the City of Honolulu. I was a member of the mayor’s cabinet and it was a high-profile job. Whenever we talk about those days, my wife invariably begins every anecdote by saying, “Well, when Jim was somebody … ” Anyway, as one of the unofficial fringe benefits…