Image Of Mock-Up HS2
HS2 Project Given The Green Light But Will It Happen?
Among much controversy the British Government last week gave the green light for the £32.7 billion High Speed 2 (HS2) rail scheme. A high-speed railway between London and the Midlands, the North of England, and potentially at a later stage to the centre of Scotland.
Very aware of the anti-lobby strength of feeling, the Conservative party Transport Secretary Justine Greening declared that more of the £16.4 billion London-Birmingham first phase of the project - which passes through scenic conservative heartlands - would be in tunnels.
Ms. Greening also announced extra steps to help those affected by the scheme that it is hoped will, by 2026, see 400 metre-long trains capable of holding 1,100 passengers running on the 140-mile route from London to Birmingham in only 45 minutes. Read More
Bank Bailouts?
Banks or Infrastructure Projects in America – Who Wins?
Two significant events occurred in the United States in November last year that showed how the banks and financial markets have come to dominate US politics to the detriment of main street America and the infrastructure projects that the country so badly needs.
On 3rd November, Republicans in the Senate blocked a $60 billion measure for building and repairing infrastructure, dealing President Obama the third in a series of defeats on his stimulus-style jobs agenda,
The legislation would have provided an immediate $50 billion investment in roads, bridges, airports and transit systems. It also called for a $10 billion bank to leverage private and public capital for longer-term infrastructure projects. Read More
Light Rail And Metro In Vietnam
In Vietnam as its economy surges forward, motorcycles have become the symbol of economic freedom. But they are also the main source, together with the growing number of cars, of worrying levels of air pollution.
Trying to avoid the develop first and clean up later model that most Asian countries have followed, Vietnam decided several years ago that increasing road use in general and the accident and casualty rate that followed could not continue and there was a strong case for urban rail in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh Cities.
The projects in Vietnam’s two major cities Ho Chi Min and Hanoi are being coordinated and financed by several major organisations including the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the European Investment Bank and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. Read More
TTC Subway Car
Lagos Presses Forward With Ambitious Light Rail Program
The Lagos state government is proceeding with plans for a multi-billion dollar investment in the construction of an integrated light rail system designed to link various locations in the greater Lagos area.
Lagos is the largest city in Nigeria and is the country's most important commercial centre with an estimated population of over 17 million people that is expected to grow to about 25 million in the next decade. Read More
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