High-speed rail turns 60 this month
Japan’s Shinkansen “bullet train.”
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Happy 60th birthday to high-speed rail. It was on October 1st in 1964 that the Shinkansen, Japan’s revolutionary super-fast train, made its debut.
Known as the “bullet train” because of its aerodynamic shape, the Shinkansen (which translates as “new trunk line”) made the run from Tokyo to Osaka in 4 hours and 40 minutes compared to the conventional trains, which took two hours longer.
Today, with the evolution of Japanese rail technology, the run now takes just 2 ½ hours, averaging about 200 mph. In peak hours the trains leave every three to five minutes, each carrying up to 1300 passengers.
In contrast, Amtrak’s fastest train, Acela, runs once an hour carrying a maximum of 304 passengers at an average speed (including station stops) of about 80 mph. By the way, Acela may be the fastest train in the U.S. but it’s not true high-speed rail (defined as 155 mph or faster and running on dedicated tracks).
How did Japan beat the world to this concept? Out of necessity.
Amtrak’s fastest train, Acela, carries a maximum of 304 passengers at an average speed of about 80 mph.
After World War II, Japan experienced rapid economic recovery and growth. Urbanization increased dramatically, and major cities like Tokyo and Osaka became densely populated. There was an obvious need for faster and more efficient transportation to connect these urban hubs, especially along the Tōkaidō corridor, which was Japan’s busiest route.
Before the Shinkansen, conventional rail lines in Japan were heavily congested, especially between Tokyo and Osaka. The existing trains were slow, operated on narrow gauge tracks and couldn’t meet the growing demand for travel, both for business and leisure. Building a high-speed rail system would relieve this congestion and shorten travel times.
Japan also wanted to demonstrate its technological innovation and engineering prowess to the world, especially in the lead-up to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. The Shinkansen became a symbol of Japan’s post-war recovery, showcasing cutting-edge technology in transportation and helping to raise its profile on the global stage.
Today there are over 1800 miles of high speed rail in Japan annually carrying 353 million riders, and they are already building a $64 billion maglev version that can go 314 mph. It should be ready by 2034.\
Japan Rail (JR) had hoped to export its expertise to other countries but only Taiwan adopted the technology and only in a limited fashion.
France quickly followed with its TGV, la Train a Grande Vitesse (high-speed train) introducing its first service in 1981 running between Paris and Lyon. Today there are over 1700 miles of TGV service in France.
Italy, Germany, Spain, Russia and even Morocco operate high-speed rail. But it is China that has the most extensive network covering 28,000 miles of tracks. The line from Beijing to Hong Kong alone runs 1,400 miles and, despite its speeds averaging 217 mph, takes 8.5 hours to complete its journey. There’s even an overnight high-speed train with sleeping cars.
In the U.S. there’s a high-speed rail project being built in California between LA and San Francisco and another line from LA to Las Vegas (Brightline West)… so we’re still playing catch-up.
Jim Cameron is founder of the Commuter Action Group and advocates for Connecticut rail riders. He writes this weekly column called “Talking Transportation” for CT Mirror and other publications.
The views expressed here are not necessarily those of The Lakeville Journal and The Journal does not support or oppose candidates for public office.
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Telecom Reg’s Best Kept On the Books
When Connecticut land-use commissions update their regulations, it seems like a no-brainer to jettison old telecommunications regulations adopted decades ago during a short-lived period when municipalities had authority to regulate second generation (2G) transmissions prior to the Connecticut Siting Council (CSC) being ordered by a state court in 2000 to regulate all cell tower infrastructure as “functionally equivalent” services.
It is far better to update those regs instead, especially for macro-towers given new technologies like small cells. Even though only ‘advisory’ to the CSC, the preferences of towns by law must be taken into consideration in CSC decision making. Detailed telecom regs – not just a general wish list -- are evidence that a town has put considerable thought into where they prefer such infrastructure be sited without prohibiting service that many – though not all – citizens want and that first responders rely on for public safety.
Such regs come in handy when egregious tower sites are proposed in sensitive areas, typically on private land. The regs are a town’s first line of defense, especially when cross referenced to plans of conservation and development, P&Z regulations, and wetlands setbacks. They identify how/where the town plans to intersect with the CSC process. They are also a roadmap for service providers regarding preferred sites and sometimes less neighborhood contention. In fact, to have no telecom regs can weaken a town’s rights to protect environmental, scenic, and historic assets, and serve up whole neighborhoods to unnecessary overlapping coverage and corporate overreach. Such regs are unique to every town and should not follow anyone else’s boiler plate, especially industry’s.
Connecticut is the only state that has a centralized siting entity for cell towers. The good news is that applicants must prove need for new tower sites in an evidentiary proceeding and any decisions have the weight of the state behind them. The bad news is that the CSC used to be far less industry-friendly and rote in their reviews, which now resemble a check list. There is an operative assumption at CSC that if an applicant wants a tower, they must need it, otherwise why spend significant money to run the approval gauntlet? This reflects a subtle shift over the years at CSC from sincere willingness to protect the environment toward minimal tweaking of bad applications with minor changes. The bottom line is that towns really cannot rely on the CSC to do all the work for them.
What CSC issues telecom providers is a “certificate of environmental compatibility” after an evidentiary proceeding (not unlike a court case) with intervenors, parties, expert witnesses, and the service provider’s technical pro’s sworn in and subject to cross examination. Service providers get to do the same with any opposition from intervenor/party participants – like towns and citizens -- and their experts. It’s an impressive process whose ultimate goal is the fine balancing between allowing adequate/reliable public services and protecting state ecology with minimal damage to scenic, historic, and recreational values. They unfortunately often fall short of their mandate – like approving cell towers with diesel generators over town aquifers -- evidenced by CSC only rejecting about five cell towers in the past 15-20 years.
The CSC was founded in 1972 and clarified its mission in the 1980’s to prevent the state from being carved up willy-nilly by gas pipelines, high tension corridors, and broadcast towers. With the sudden proliferation of cell towers beginning in late 1990’s, it became the most sued agency in Connecticut by both an arrogant upstart industry if applications were denied and by towns/citizens when bad sites were forced on them. CSC gradually formed a defensive posture that drives their decisions toward industry with deeper pockets and attorneys on retainer.
For citizens, nothing can wreck one’s day like the CSC. It behooves towns to protect what little toolkit they have, and understand the legal parameters of the CSC’s playing field. The CSC is not a “normal” government agency where municipal/citizen redress is based on logic and local support. Their process is largely immune to everything but specific kinds of evidence – like town regs with setbacks/fall zones, radio frequency transmission signal strengths, sensitive areas identified, and detailed wildlife inventory, among others.
There is a current cell tower fight involving two intervening towns -- Washington and Warren; both with good cell tower regs – over a tower site within 1200’ of a Montessori School, near Steep Rock’s nature preserves with comprehensive geology/wildlife databases that include endangered, threatened and special concern flora and fauna, on established federal/state migratory bird flyways, within throwing distance to a historic site capable of being listed on the Underground Railroad, and with an access road on a blind curve entering a state highway that will permanently damage wetlands, vernal pools, and core forests. There are well credentialed environmental experts, including Dr. Michael Klemens, former chair of Salisbury’s P&Z, as well as the former director of migratory bird management at the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and an RF engineer testifying to alternative approaches, plus three attorneys representing intervenors. It is the most professional challenge I have seen at CSC since Falls Village successfully mounted one that protected Robbins Swamps several years ago.
The hearing is ongoing, with uncertain results. To see what it takes today to stop an inappropriate tower siting, see Docket #543 under “Pending Matters” at https://portal.ct.gov/csc before removing local cell tower regs – the lowest hanging fruit that any town can possess in case it’s needed.
B, Blake Levitt is the Communications Director at The Berkshire-Litchfield Environmental Council. She writes about how technology affects biology.