An optimization model of energy and transportation systems: Assessing the high-speed rail impacts in the United States

2015 ◽  
Vol 54 ◽  
pp. 131-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Venkat Krishnan ◽  
Eirini Kastrouni ◽  
V. Dimitra Pyrialakou ◽  
Konstantina Gkritza ◽  
James D. McCalley
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6456
Author(s):  
Ziqi Liu ◽  
Ming Zhang ◽  
Liwen Liu

There have been growing concerns around the world over the rising spatial inequality (SI) amid fast and vast globalization. This paper presents an effort to benchmark the conditions and trends of spatial inequality in 37 megaregions in the United States, Europe, and China. Furthermore, the study selected three megaregion examples and analyzed the effect of developing high-speed rail (HSR) as an infrastructure investment strategy on reshaping the spatial pattern of job accessibility. The study measures spatial inequality with the Theil index of gross regional product and with the rank-size coefficient of polycentricity. Results show that spatial inequality exists and varies in magnitude within and between megaregions. On average, Chinese megaregions exhibited the level of spatial inequality about two times or more of those in the U.S. and European megaregions. The decade between 2006 and 2016 saw a decrease in the Theil index measure of megaregional inequality in China, but a slight increase in the United States and Europe. Fast growing megaregions exhibit high levels and rising trends of spatial inequality regardless of the country or continent setting. HSR helps improve mobility and accessibility; yet the extent to which HSR reduces spatial inequality is context dependent. This study presents a first attempt to assess and compare the spatial inequality conditions and trajectories in world megaregions aiming at promoting international learning.


Author(s):  
Inna N. Rykova ◽  
Andrey A. Alaev

The article is devoted to the experience of the implementation of high-speed railways in foreign countries and the possibility of its use in Russia. Particular attention is paid to the issues of financial and economic justification of such projects, using the criteria of commercial and budgetary efficiency. Particular attention is paid to China in the article, since this country today has the greatest experience in the implementation of projects in the field of high-speed rail communication. The emergence of high-speed rail in China not only became a technological breakthrough, but also played an important role in stimulating the country’s economy and enhancing domestic demand. At the moment, 57% of all high-speed railways in the world are in China alone. The experience of the United States is also of scientific interest, in particular, in the consideration and evaluation of high-speed rail projects. Despite the high level of economic development in the United States, high-speed rail transport is practically undeveloped, which is largely due to historical reasons. Cheap oil, along with improvements to cars and airplanes, and government subsidies for highway and airport construction, have made these vehicles more accessible to most of the population and highlighted them. Despite these circumstances, the authorities of many states are interested in the implementation of high-speed rail projects. At the same time, the question of the possibility and expediency of switching passenger flows from existing modes of transport remains relevant in the United States. In the final part of the article, using the example of specific projects, the prospects for the development of high-speed railway communication in Russia are assessed and proposals for the development of the transport complex as a whole are given.


Author(s):  
Adrian Hellman ◽  
Tashi Ngamdung

The United States Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Research and Innovative Technology Administration’s John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center), under the direction of the USDOT Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Office of Research and Development (ORD), conducted a reliability analysis of the four-quadrant gate/vehicle detection equipment installed on the potential high-speed rail (HSR) corridor between Chicago and St Louis. A total of 69 highway-rail grade crossings on a 121-mile (195 km) segment of the 280-mile corridor were equipped with four-quadrant gates and inductive loop vehicle detection technology. This segment, between Mazonia and Springfield Illinois, may eventually carry passenger trains at speeds up to 110 mph (177 km/h), including at many of the highway-rail grade crossings. The analysis was based on maintenance records obtained from the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR), the owner and operator of the rail line. The results were used to assess the impact of the equipment reliability on the proposed HSR timetable. The Volpe Center study showed that the total average delay to the five scheduled daily high-speed passenger roundtrips was an estimated 10.5 minutes, or approximately one minute per train. Overall, extensive analysis of the trouble ticket data showed that the four-quadrant gate and vehicle detection equipment had a minimal direct impact on the frequency and duration of grade crossing malfunctions.


Author(s):  
Richard Harnish ◽  
F.K. Plous

High Speed Rail development is an increasingly significant, interesting topic in the present and expected to continue to grow even more in the future. Implementation of high-speed rail would require the right type of track network system that would need to be maintained and/or built, as necessary. In this chapter, the author recommends that the United States will need to use the Blended or Building Block Approach to develop high-speed rail. He presents several examples of blended infrastructure worldwide for high-speed rail, which would offer a range of tools here in the United States for high-speed rail development.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document