IEEE Spectrum March, 2011 - 72

the data

BEIJING-SHANGHAI
US $12 billion (est.)

YICHANG-WANZHOU
$3.41 billion (actual)

CHINA

Speeding Ahead
The Yichang-Wanzhou line opened on 22 December 2010.
The 377-kilometer line took seven years and 50 000 workers
to build. It spans 159 tunnels and 253 bridges. And a nearly
complete $12 billion project will soon cut the 1318-km trip
between China's two biggest cities from 14 to 5 hours.
Source: The Times of India

Getting
Into Gear
US $8 billion in
stimulus money
will kick-start
a nationwide
program of highspeed rail service.

SEATTLE-
PORTLAND
$590 million

RALEIGH-
CHARLOTTE
$520 million

Sources: Whitehouse.
gov; National Conference
of State Legislatures;
SilverRail Technologies;
Office of the White
House; ABC News

I

N 2009, high-speed rail
garnered more than twice
as much investment as air
travel, a total of US $200 billion, $88 billion of which was
in China, according to Aaron
Gowell, CEO of SilverRail

72

Europe's
HighSpeed
Leader

CHICAGO-ST. LOUIS
$1.1 billion

CALIFORNIA
$2.3 billion

High-Speed
Rail Is in
High Gear

SPAIN

MADISON-
MILWAUKEE
$810 million

TAMPA-ORLANDO
$1.3 billion

Technologies, a system integrator in Wakefield, Mass., that
specializes in high-speed rail.
Around the world, some 40 000
kilometers of high-speed rail
track are under construction.
In Europe, where the
length of high-speed rail is
expected to quadruple in the
next decade, Spain is the
leader. A newly completed link
between Madrid and Valencia
gives the country 2056 km
of high-speed rail. Another

NA * IEEE SPECTRUM * MARCH 2011

The Madrid-
Valencia line
opened on
19 December
2010. The
438-km
journey takes
90 minutes.

MADRID-VALENCIA
¤6.6 billion (actual)

Source: AFP

3469 km are in the works.
The industry's taking off even
in the United States, where
a half century of highway
subsidies has long sidelined rail
development. Last year, as part
of the so-called economic stimulus, the Obama administration
awarded an initial $8 billion
for high-speed passenger rail
projects. Major links include
Tampa-Orlando, Chicago-
St. Louis, and Sacramento-
San Francisco-Stockton.

Still, such development is
dwarfed by growth in China,
which is in the midst of a
$500 billion, 20-year program
to connect the entire country,
from Harbin in the northeast
to Hong Kong to Urumqi in
the remote northwest. One
seven-year project, which
crossed the Yunnan-Guizhou
Plateau, required 159 tunnels,
253 bridges, and $3.4 billion.
High-speed rail is not for the
faint of heart. -Steven Cherry
SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG

EMILY COOPER

UNITED STATES



http://SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum March, 2011

IEEE Spectrum March, 2011 - Cover1
IEEE Spectrum March, 2011 - Cover2
IEEE Spectrum March, 2011 - 1
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IEEE Spectrum March, 2011 - Cover3
IEEE Spectrum March, 2011 - Cover4
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