A Track Record of Success High-Speed Rail Around the World and Its Promise for America A Track Record of Success High-Speed Rail Around the World and Its Promise for America U.S. PIRG Education Fund Tony Dutzik and Jordan Schneider, Frontier Group Phineas Baxandall, Ph. D., U.S. PIRG Education Fund Erin Steva, CALPIRG Education Fund Fall 2010 Acknowledgments This report is an update and expansion of a previous report, Next Stop: California, published by CALPIRG Education Fund in June 2010. The authors thank Adie Tomer, senior analyst with the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program for his thoughtful review of this report. The authors also thank those who reviewed the previously published version of this report, including Robert Cruickshank, chair of Californians for High-Speed Rail; Gloria Ohland, vice president of communications for Reconnecting America; and Petra Todorovich, director of America 2050. Thanks also to Em- ily Rusch of CALPIRG Education Fund for her work in conceptualizing this project and for her editorial review. Finally, the authors than Ben Davis of Frontier Group for his extensive research assistance, Carolyn Kramer for her editorial assistance, and all the photographers who graciously agreed to allow their work to be reproduced in this report. U.S. PIRG Education Fund thanks the Rockefeller Foundation and the Surdna Foundation for making this report possible. The authors bear responsibility for any factual errors. The recommendations are those of U.S. PIRG Education Fund. The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of our funders or those who provided review. Copyright 2010 U.S. PIRG Education Fund With public debate around important issues often dominated by special interests pursuing their own narrow agendas, U.S. PIRG Education Fund offers an independent voice that works on behalf of the public interest. U.S. PIRG Education Fund, a 501(c)(3) organization, works to protect consumers and promote good government. We investigate problems, craft solutions, educate the public, and offer Americans meaningful opportunities for civic participation. For more information about U.S. PIRG Education Fund or for additional copies of this report, please visit www.uspirg.org/edfund. Frontier Group conducts independent research and policy analysis to support a cleaner, healthier and more democratic society. Our mission is to inject accurate information and compelling ideas into public policy debates at the local, state and federal levels. For more information about Frontier Group, please visit www.frontiergroup.org. Cover photo: German high-speed train, photo by G. Peters Layout: Harriet Eckstein Graphic Design Table of Contents Executive Summary 1 Introduction 6 High-Speed Rail: Experiences from Around the World 8 High-Speed Rail Replaces Short-Haul Air Travel 8 High-Speed Rail Replaces Car Travel 17 High-Speed Rail Saves Energy and Protects the Environment 19 High-Speed Rail Is Safe and Reliable 23 High-Speed Rail Boosts the Economy 26 High-Speed Rail Is Often Economically Self Sufficient 33 High-Speed Rail, Transit and Land Use 34 Conclusion and Recommendations 39 Notes 43 Executive Summary s America moves toward construc- highways and airports. Short-haul plane tion of new high-speed rail networks trips are the least efficient in terms of time Ain regions throughout the country, and fuel, and replacing those trips allows we have much to learn from experiences air travel to be more efficient and focused abroad. High-speed rail lines have oper- on long-haul trips. High-speed rail service ated for more than 45 years in Japan and has almost completely replaced short-haul for three decades in Europe, providing air service on several corridors in Europe, a wealth of information about what the such as between Paris and Lyon, France, United States can expect from high-speed and between Cologne and Frankfurt, rail and how we can receive the greatest Germany. possible benefits from our investment. Indeed, the experience of high-speed • The number of air passengers between rail lines abroad, as well as America’s lim- London and Paris has been cut in half ited experience with high-speed rail on the since high-speed rail service was initi- East Coast, suggests that the United States ated between the two cities through can expect great benefits from investing the Channel Tunnel. in a high-speed passenger rail system, particularly if it makes steady commit- • In Spain, high-speed rail service be- ments to rail improvements and designs tween Madrid and Seville reduced the the system wisely. share of travel by car between the two High-speed rail systems in other cities from 60 percent to 34 percent. nations have been able to dramatically The recent launch of high-speed rail reduce the volume of short-haul flights service between Madrid and Barcelona between nearby cities and significantly has cut air travel on what was once reduce inter-city car travel. In the one of the world’s busiest passenger air United States, similar shifts would ease routes by one-third. congestion in the skies and offer alterna- tives to congested highways, reducing the • Even in the northeastern United need for expensive new investments in States, where Amtrak Acela Express Executive Summary service is slow by international standards, speed rail could be an attractive alternative rail service accounts for 65 percent of to oft-delayed intercity flights and travel on the air/rail market on trips between congested freeways. New York and Washington, D.C., and 52 percent of the air/rail market on • High-speed rail is safe – There has trips between Boston and New York. never been a fatal accident on Japan’s Shinkansen high-speed rail system or High-speed rail saves energy and during high-speed operation of TGV protects the environment. In the United trains in France, despite carrying bil- States, high-speed rail could cut our de- lions of passengers over the course of pendence on oil while helping to reduce air several decades. pollution and curb global warming. • High-speed rail is reliable – High-speed • Continual improvement – Japan’s Shink- rail is generally more reliable than air ansen system is estimated to use one or car travel. The average delay on quarter the energy of air travel or one- Japan’s Shinkansen system is 36 sec- sixth the energy of automobile travel onds. Spain’s railway operator offers a per passenger. The energy efficiency money-back guarantee if train-related of Shinkansen trains has continually delays exceed five minutes. improved over time, such that today’s trains use nearly a third less energy, High-speed rail can create jobs and while traveling significantly faster, boost local economies. A U.S. high-speed than the trains introduced in the rail system could help position the nation mid-sixties. for economic success in the 21st century while creating short-term jobs in con- • More efficient – On Europe’s high- struction and long-term jobs in ongoing speed lines, a typical Monday morn- maintenance and operation. ing business trip from London to Paris via high-speed rail uses approxi- • Construction of high-speed rail lines mately a third as much energy as a car creates thousands of temporary jobs. or plane trip. Similar energy savings For example, about 8,000 people were are achieved on other European high- involved in construction of the high- speed rail lines. speed rail link between London and the Channel Tunnel. • Replacing oil with electricity makes zero emissions possible – Energy savings • Well-designed high-speed rail stations translate into reduced emissions of located in city centers spark economic pollutants that cause global warming development and encourage revitaliza- or respiratory problems – particularly tion of urban areas: when railroads power their trains with renewable energy. In Sweden, the o A study of the Frankfurt-Cologne country’s high-speed trains are pow- high-speed rail line in Germany ered entirely with renewable energy, estimated that areas surrounding cutting emissions of global warming two towns with new high-speed rail pollutants by 99 percent. stations experienced a 2.7 percent increase in overall economic activ- High-speed rail is safe and reliable. In ity compared with the rest of the the United States, reliable service via high- region. 2 A Track Record of Success o Office space in the vicinity of high- first high-speed rail line will lead to speed rail stations in France and more than $26 billion in net economic northern Europe generally fetches benefits over the next 60 years. higher rents than in other parts of the same cities. High-speed rail lines generally cover their operating costs with fare revenues. o The city of Lyon experienced a 43 In the United States, a financially sustain- percent increase in the amount of able high-speed rail system will likely not office space near its high-speed rail require operating subsidies from taxpayers station following the completion of (although public funding is essential to get- a high-speed rail link to Paris. ting the system up and running). o Property values near stations on Ja- • High-speed rail service generates pan’s Shinkansen network have been enough operating profit that it can estimated to be 67 percent higher subsidize other, less-profitable in- than property values further away. tercity rail lines in countries such as France and Spain, as well as in the o Several cities have used high-speed U.S. Northeast. rail as the catalyst for ambitious urban redevelopment efforts. The • Two high-speed rail lines – the French city of Lille, France, used its rail TGV line between Paris and Lyon station as the core of a multi-use and the original Japanese Shinkansen development that now accommo- line from Tokyo to Osaka—have cov- dates 6,000 jobs.