SPEEDLINES, High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Committee, June
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SECTION NAME 1 Celebrate the past, Design the future. HIGSPEEDLINESH-SPEED INTERCITY PASSENGER RAIL JUNE 2015 ISSUE #15 2 Celebrate the past, Design the future. CONTENTS SPEEDLINES MAGAZINE 3 CHAIRMAN’S LETTER 5 STATION REDEVELOPMENT 8 IN THE SPOTLIGHT 9 PRIVATE SECTOR INNOVATION 10 ACE MOVES FORWARD 13 NEW POLICY APPROACHES 15 PASSENGER RAIL SUMMIT » p. 24 17 PRIIA 212 On the front cover: 19 LEGISLATIVE NEWS UIC along with East Japan Railway Company is co-organising 9th World Congress on High-Speed 21 SHINKHANSEN Rail “UIC HIGHSPEED 2015”. It is the largest international congress and exhibition devoted to High-Speed Rail in the world, which has 23 NEC FUTURE been initiated by UIC and gathered up to 2,000 professionals once every few years since 1992, will finally come back to the birth place of High- 25 TRAIN FUN FACTS Speed Rail, Japan. 27 COMPETITIVE TRIP TIMES CHAIR: PETER GERTLER VICE CHAIR: AL ENGEL SECRETARY: ANNA BARRY OFFICER AT LARGE: DAVID CAMERON IMMEDIATE PAST-CHAIR: DAVID KUTROSKY EDITOR: WENDY WENNER PUBLISHER: AL ENGEL ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER: KENNETH SISLAK LAYOUT DESIGNER: WENDY WENNER © 2011-2015 APTA - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED SPEEDLINES is published in cooperation with: American Public Transportation Association 1666 K Street NW Washington, DC 20006 CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE 3 Dear HS&IPR Committee and Friends: It’s been a year since my appointment to Chair of APTA’s High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail APTA Rail Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. At our Committee meeting we will review progress madeCommittee this year (HS&IPR). on several We haveareas had including a challenging, developing busy a but,new fulfilling Vision and year Mission culminating for the in Committee; the Annual Legislative and Advocacy activities and the Committee led and sponsored Return on Investment Study. At this year’s Rail Conference, the HS&IPR Committee will be sponsoring two exciting sessions that I hope you will be able to attend. At the session on International Success Stories you will hear about the exciting projects underway in California, the Northeast Corridor and from around the world. At the session on High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail Corridors, you will hear about progress being made along other intercity corridors in Michigan, Texas, and the North East Maglev. As will be dis- cussed at these sessions, we have made great progress and we have a lot to be proud of and much to look forward in the advancement of high-speed and intercity passenger rail in North America. Many challenges lie ahead; however, including long-term and sustainable funding for passenger rail. While APTA and our committee have been active in working with Congress and the Administration to demonstrate the value of passenger rail and to work toward a bi-partisan effort to secure funding for future programs and projects, there is much to be done. I am also excited about our current edition of “Speedlines” which contains several informative arti- cles covering international and national current topics such as, a review of Japan’s highly successful Shinkansen Business Model; prospects for a national intercity passenger rail policy; legislative report on the state of high-speed and intercity rail; and reports from California and other statewide programs. We also carry the views of various professionals active in the legislative policy arena. Take note that at times these views do not coincide with the position or opinion of this publication or APTA’s posi- tion on an issue. We think it is important at times for you to know what others are thinking. I am looking forward to another fantastic Rail Conference this year and hope to see you all in Salt Lake City. Sincerely, CHAIRMANPeter Gertler APTA High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Committee The 2015 Rail Conference is scheduled for June 21-24, 2015, at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City, UT. SPEEDLINES | March 2015 » p. 22 3 Natum vere numenis simus, od qui beribus siti con plautem 5 STATION REDEVELOPMENT CONTRIBUTING TO RAIL PASSENGER GROWTH Contributed by Eric Peterson As intercity and commuter rail ridership continue to Washington, DC’s Union Station, Denver’s Union Station, grow across the United States, much credit can be given and the proposed Moynihan Station in New York City are to rail station rehabilitation and redevelopment initia- among the more widely known examples of passenger tives for making passenger rail a more attractive trans- rail station redevelopment, but there are dozens of other portation alternative. cities, small and large, where the rehabilitation and/or rede- velopment of rail station property has boosted the eco- Whether it’s a project completed a few years ago, or a nomic vitality of the neighborhood around the station and project just in the planning stage, the excitement and helped attract new ridership for intercity and commuter foresight reflected in station preservation and redevel- rail providers. opment is providing a broad array of benefits for local economies and for the bottom lines of passenger rail Included in this mix of towns and cities are places like service providers. Lynchburg and Richmond, Virginia; communities along and adjacent to the Northeast Corridor; communities through- Encouraged by local leaders and supported with federal, out the spokes that reach to the Chicago hub; and, destina- state, and local grants and guidance, many communities tions all along the West Coast from San Diego all the way across the nation have launched or are in the process of north to Seattle. launching initiatives that create new value and distinc- tion to rail station properties that once were the cor- In each of these areas there are examples of recently nerstones of a robust transportation system, but over redeveloped and rehabilitated stations that have expe- time either lost their luster, or were forgotten altogether. rienced strong ridership improvements and significant Built in the Central Platte Valley at a cost of $525,000, A lower downtown Denver landmark, Union Station was Union Depot, as it was first known, opened June 1, 1881, recently renovated to serve as a regional transit hub and during the era when Colorado and the rest of the West the center of a new mixed-use neighborhood. was undergoing rapid industrialization through coal pro- duction and transcontinental railroad expansion. SPEEDLINES | June 2015 STATION REDEVELOPMENT 6 Richmond, Virginia, circa 1905. "Main Street Station." The clock tower will be familiar to trav- elers on I-95 where it pokes up over the ele- vated portion of expressway downtown. Richmond, Virginia’s Main Street Station is located in the Shockhoe Bottom district. It is a National Historic Landmark, and is a vital connection between this southern capital and the greater Northeast Corridor. Originally opened to serve as a union station for two major railroads, the Seaboard Air Line (SAL) Railroad, running north and south, and the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Railroad, running east and west, the headhouse building and train shed were originally designed by Wilson, Harris, & Richards, three famous railroad terminal specialists from Philadelphia, prior to the Spanish-American War, in 1898. improvements in economic activity surrounding the Located at greatamericanstations.com, this on-line stations. toolbox provides community leaders a complete guide to launching, maintaining and succeeding in their efforts On the East Coast, Richmond, Virginia’s Main Street Station to restore their passenger rail depots. and Lynchburg, Virginia’s Kemper Street Station are stand- outs that show great passenger train ridership growth and Noting that, “approximately one-third of the more than tremendous contributions to the economic vitality of the 500 stations served by Amtrak are listed on the National areas around the two stations. Register of Historic Places, either individually or as con- tributing structures to historic districts,” and that, “many of Recognizing the relationship between local economic these same stations are also listed on state and local his- impact and the potential for growing passenger rail rid- toric registers” the Great American Stations website sug- ership, Amtrak has launched the Great American Stations gests that, “historic designation can be a powerful tool for program, a resource center that supports local initiatives a community contemplating the renovation or adaptive that seek to retain, repurpose, and rehabilitate their train reuse of a station.” stations. Amtrak, LIRR, and NJ TRANSIT are considering architectural improve- Amtrak ‘s expansion of New York Penn Station’s track and platform facili- ments to the existing New York Penn Station. The three agencies are ties will increase capacity in New York with the proposed Gateway Program. currently completing a Penn Station master plan that could guide aes- Plans under consideration include the construction of four new platforms thetic and layout improvements aimed at upgrading and expanding and seven new tracks to accommodate the additional intercity and com- the passenger waiting areas, creating new retail options, and making muter services that would be made possible with new Hudson River it easier to board trains and move through the station. tunneling. SPEEDLINES | June 2015 STATION REDEVELOPMENT 7 The Great American Stations website observes that, “while a train station’s primary purpose is to provide a point from which to depart or arrive, communities that fail to see their station’s full potential are missing a tremendous opportunity.” “Transforming a station into a place worth visiting, with shops, restaurants, museums and the like, enables towns to take advantage of the variety of people passing through every day by giving them something more – a reason to return. Additionally, if a station is more than a travel hub, locals will see the station as a place to relax and be enter- tained as well.” In 1903, Daniel H. Burnham, Principal Architect of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, was chosen to design Union Station.