The Regional Transportation District’s E and H line light rail trains will not operate on their regular routes from Tuesday, April 23 to Thursday, April 25 due to maintenance, according to an RTD news release.
E Line service will run as normal between I-25/Broadway and Union Station and at 30-minute intervals between Colorado Station and RidgeGate Parkway Station while RTD replaces overhead wires at the Louisiana/Pearl Station beginning April 23.
The H Line will run at 30-minute intervals between Colorado and Florida stations and will not run north of Colorado Station. Customers can transfer to the D Line to travel to central downtown.
Temporary bus shuttle service will be offered between I-25/Broadway and Colorado stations. Customers can board the buses at Colorado Station, gate C, University of Denver Station, gate B, Louisiana/Pearl Station, gate A2, and I-25/Broadway Station, gate A2.
All northbound and southbound lanes are closed at 1st Avenue and Emery Street at mile point 315.4 in Longmont.
The Burlington Northern Santa Fe train is blocking multiple intersections, including 1st Avenue and Main Street, 1st Avenue and Coffman Street and 1st Avenue and Emery Street.
The derailment, caused by a detached wheel on a train car, is minor, but the train cannot be moved until it is repaired, according to the City of Longmont. The repair will likely occur after 8 a.m. on Friday.
Travelers should expect delays and detours in the area. The City of Longmont recommends finding an alternate route.
Part of the Regional Transportation District’s A Line light rail train will be replaced by shuttle buses on Saturday due to maintenance, according to an RTD news release.
Shuttle buses will run from 2:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. between Central Park and Denver International Airport stations while RTD performs necessary maintenance on the Interstate 70 bridge near Peña Boulevard and installs insulators for overhead lines that power the rail trains.
Travelers can board a shuttle bus at Central Park gate B3, Peoria gate E, 40th Avenue and Airport/Gateway Park gate A, 61st/Peña next to the platform, and Denver Airport station at gate 7 for departures and gate 6 for arrivals.
Direct rail service to the airport will resume Saturday evening after maintenance is complete. The first train with continuous service to Denver Airport station departs Union Station at 6:30 p.m. The first train with continuous service to Union Station departs Denver Airport station at 7:27 p.m., according to RTD.
RTD encourages customers to plan ahead using the Next Ride app and to allow extra time for bus shuttle transfers to and from the airport.
Hamilton, Ipswich, Topsfield and several other North Shore communities have until Dec. 31 to adopt zoning that complies with the MBTA Communities Law requiring multifamily zoning districts of at least 50-acres in size with at least 15 units per acre.
After the law was first passed in 2021, communities have spent the last few years formulating action plans, identifying potential districts for rezoning, collecting and considering public input and hiring consultants. They’ve also been creating MBTA task forces made up of local municipal leaders, resident volunteers, architects, and other stakeholders.
All the communities that submitted an action plan to the state and had it approved — including Topsfield, Wenham, Ipswich and Hamilton — are technically in compliance with the MBTA Communities Law, as they have demonstrated an effort to rezone districts that follow the bylaw. However, they still have to vote to approve the newly zoned districts at Town Meeting this year, the majority of which will take place in the fall.
As such, many North Shore communities have made an effort to involve affected residents in the decision-making process and hold public meetings to explain what the bylaw requires, how the community will handle the effect on services and infrastructure, and listen to and act on residents’ concerns.
“We’re trying to maximize our public outreach on this for the community. The typical reaction to this is hesitancy and some opposition, because it’s not well understood,” Wenham Planning Board Vice Chair Dan Pasquarello said. “What we tried to make clear in our (previous info session) was that this is a zoning exercise, it’s not necessarily a building exercise. and I think that’s really important for people to understand.”
In Danvers, Special Town Meeting in February approved a measure to amend zoning bylaws to come into compliance with the housing law. This didn’t come without opposition.
“I’m aware of emails circulating saying that (this bylaw) should be opposed because it will ruin our town. This article is not going to ruin Danvers Square or result in any taller or bigger buildings than what has been envisioned in existing zoning,” said Danvers Select Board Chair David Mills at the time. “It will simply adjust the minimum density of our downtown to ensure that we are in compliance with a new state law. Non-compliance will cost us money.”
Also that month in Milton, proposed zoning for that town was rejected at Town Meeting, leading to Milton losing out on grant funding, and prompting a lawsuit from Attorney General Andrea Campbell who has stated that compliance is mandatory.
“The housing affordability crisis affects all of us: Families who face impossible choices between food on the table or a roof over their heads, young people who want to live here but are driven away by the cost, and a growing workforce we cannot house,” said Campbell in a press release on the lawsuit. “The MBTA Communities Law was enacted to address our region-wide need for housing, and compliance with it is mandatory.”
To achieve compliance in Wenham, the town needs to adopt zoning to allow 365 units, with 73 of them within a half-mile of the train station. Wenham and Hamilton, which share a train station, are classified as “commuter rail communities” with more strict zoning guidelines, presenting a unique challenge to the towns.
“We have to be within the half-mile radius (of the Hamilton/Wenham Station),” Margaret Hoffman, Wenham’s planning coordinator said. “So one of the unique challenges that Wenham and Hamilton face is that we have to share this station and we essentially only have a small half-circle radius to zone within.”
Hamilton, which has to zone for 731 units, plans to utilize “form based zoning” to ensure that any potential developments follow specific building form and architectural design standards.
“The bigger lift is going to be when developers actually look at the property to see what’s attainable and workable, and how much infrastructure they’re going to have to create to make it viable,” Patrick Reffett, Hamilton’s director of planning & inspectional services, said. “I think there’s a great deal of angst about the notion of this level of growth. and I totally get it — it’s scary if you don’t understand that the onus is really on the developers.”
Cities and towns without a commuter rail station that are classified as “adjacent communities” or “adjacent small towns” have a lesser obligation to zone for multifamily and mixed-used development, but still required to allow developments within this zone “by-right” without the need for a special permit.
In Topsfield, which is an adjacent small town and must zone for 118 multifamily units, Planning Board members have worked with consultant Ezra Glenn to identify areas in town where multifamily zoning would allow the town to comply with the bylaw.
The town also plan to diversify its housing stock and make use of underutilized properties, a goal the town had previously set in its master plan.
One option Topsfield is looking at is the 15.8 acres at the intersection of Central Street and Route 1, an area with easy accessibility to the highway and the rail trail.
“We want to be clear amidst all this talk about how nothing is actually required to be built, that this isn’t to be taken as having no purpose. (The Planning Board) did not design the zone in a way in which nothing would be built,” Topsfield Selectboard Chair Marshall Hook said during a recent public info session.
“I think there are towns that have tried to do that, but that was not the intent here,” he said. “I think we all see this as an opportunity and hope that things actually do get built.”
Ipswich, which has a train station, is required to zone for 971 multifamily units. It has put significant effort into identifying potential districts for rezoning and collecting feedback from residents on their preferred location.
The town is attempting to aggregate the feedback received in task force meetings open to the public, and from surveys about traffic, infrastructure, and design concerns that will lead up to a Special Town Meeting in the fall where a plan will be proposed.
“(In the last survey) there’s 10 or so guiding principles that residents identified,” Director of Planning and Development Brendan Conboy said. “The top ones would be emphasizing green construction, encouraging mixed use downtown, elevating the quality of the design, and directing growth to infrastructure.
“A little further down the line on preferences, but still relevant, was the affordability, consistency with previous plans, and encouraging diversity in town,” he said.
Ipswich is scheduled to hold a task-force meeting on April 3 at 7 p.m. in Town Hall, and another on April 25 at the same place and time, with a broader community meeting in May. In Hamilton, Town Meeting will be asked on April 6 to approve funds to hire a consultant. Wenham plans to hold an info session about the work done thus far in May.
Here’s a look at the March 2004 bombings of commuter trains in Spain, which killed 193 people and injured more than 1,800. The bombings are the deadliest terrorist attack in Spain’s history.
On March 11, 2004, 10 bombs in backpacks and other small bags exploded on four commuter trains. One bomb did not explode and was defused. The police did controlled explosions of three other bombs.
ETA, a Basque group labeled a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, and al Qaeda were the original suspects cited by the Spanish government.
Through anonymous phone calls to Basque media outlets, ETA vehemently denied involvement.
Islamic militants who were based in Spain but inspired by al Qaeda were designated later as the prime suspects.
March 11, 2004 – Coordinated attacks including 10 bombs on four commuter trains at three different stations kill 191 people and wound more than 1,800.
March 13, 2004 – An al Qaeda claim of responsibility is made via video tape by a man speaking in Arabic with a Moroccan accent.
March 13, 2004 – Five people are arrested in connection to the case 60 hours after the bombings. Three of those arrested are Moroccans, and two are Indian. Prepaid phone cards and a cell phone from backpacks found at the bombing site link the five to the investigation.
March 14, 2004 – The Spanish Interior Ministry releases the names of five people detained in connection with the attacks. The men are identified as Jamal Zougam, Mohamed Bekkali, Mohamed Cahoui, Vinay Kohly and Sureh Komar.
March 18, 2004 – Spanish authorities arrest four North Africans in connection with the bombings. The radio report says three were arrested in the Madrid suburb of Alcala de Henares and the other North African was arrested in northern Spain. They are: Abderrahim Zbakh, Farid Oulad Ali and Mohamed El Hadi Chedadi, whose brother, Said Chedadi, was indicted last September by a Spanish judge for links to al Qaeda. – The fourth suspect is not identified but is described as being of Arab descent. – The fifth suspect is a Spanish citizen who goes by the name of Jose Emilio Suarez Trashorras. He is arrested in northern Spain.
March 19, 2004 – Spain’s National Court charges five suspects in connection with the bombings and remands them into custody after an all-night court session. The Court also releases Ali Amrous, an Algerian man held in connection with the Madrid terror attacks and suspected of being an al Qaeda member.
March 22, 2004 – Spanish state radio reports four new arrests in the Madrid bombings.
March 24, 2004 – A Spanish judge charges two more suspects, Naima Oulad and Rafa Zouhier, in the train bombings, bringing the total number of people charged in the attacks to 11.
March 25, 2004 – A Spanish judge charges a Moroccan man, Faisal Alluch, with collaborating with a terrorist group in connection with the train bombings, boosting the number to 12 suspects who have been charged in the case.
March 30, 2004 – Spanish Interior Minister Angel Acebes names a Moroccan terrorist group, Moroccan Islamist Combat Group (GICM), as the principal focus in the investigation.
March 30, 2004 – Moroccan Fouad El Morabit, who had been released without charges, is rearrested. Court sources also confirm the latest arrest in the case, a man identified as Otman el Gnaout.
March 30, 2004 – Basel Ghayoun, a Syrian man, is charged in the bombings. Hamid Ahmidan of Morocco is charged with collaborating with a terrorist group and a count of drug possession. Three other men are released.
March 31, 2004 – A Spanish National Court judge issues international arrest warrants for six more suspects as the investigation focuses on the GICM. The Interior Ministry says five of the men sought are Moroccans. They include two brothers and a man who is related to other Moroccans previously arrested. The sixth man sought is Tunisian.
March 31, 2004 – Arraignments begin for two men, Antonio Toro Castro of Spain and Mustafa Ahmidam from Morocco.
April 2, 2004 – A bomb found under high-speed rail tracks between Madrid and Seville appears to be made of the same explosives used in the March 11 attacks.
April 2, 2004 – A Spanish judge releases without charges two Syrian men who had been detained in connection with the March 11 Madrid train bombings. He also frees a Moroccan man but orders him to report daily to police until further notice.
April 3, 2004 – Seven suspected terrorists kill themselves and a policeman when they set off an explosion in a suburb of Madrid as police attempt to enter a building. The suspects are presumed to be involved in the train bombings. Fingerprints at the scene later result in more arrests, including Saswan Sabagh.
April 3, 2004 – Spanish authorities arrest two more people but the identities of the two are not released.
April 7, 2004 – A National Court judge charges two more Moroccan suspects, Abdelilah El Fuad and Rachid Adli, in the March 11 Madrid train bombings.
April 12, 2004 – Spanish police arrest three more suspects. One of the three was identified as Morabit, who has now been detained three times. The other two are not identified.
May 6, 2004 – Brandon Mayfield, an American attorney, is taken into custody by the FBI in connection with the attacks. His fingerprints were found on a bag containing detonators of the kind used in the attacks, in close proximity to the blast site. The Spanish Interior Ministry spokesman said the plastic bag was found inside a stolen van left near the Alcala train station, from which the three bombed trains departed. US sources are calling him a material witness, not formally charging him with a crime as of yet, and state that he is a follower of Islam.
November 2004 – Spanish lawmakers launch an inquiry into the train bombings.
January 2005 – Spain’s interior minister says Spanish officials have made 66 arrests in the train bombing investigation.
April 11, 2006 – Twenty-nine people are indicted in a Spanish court in connection with the bombings. Five men are charged with planning and carrying out the plot, and a sixth is named as a “necessary collaborator.” The rest are charged with supporting roles.
February 15, 2007 – Start date of trial for 29 defendants. Seven defendants are considered prime suspects, and they each could face sentences of about 38,000 years in prison for mass murder, if convicted.
March 11, 2007 – For the third anniversary of the bombing, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sophia dedicate a memorial for the victims at the Atocha station. It is a glass cylinder which opens into a meditation chamber.
October 31, 2007 – Verdicts are read for the remaining 28 defendants. Three men are found guilty of the most serious charges and sentenced to thousands of years in prison. However, under Spanish law, they will serve only 40 years. Eighteen defendants are found guilty of lesser charges. Seven defendants are acquitted, including alleged mastermind Rabei Osman.
July 17, 2008 – Four defendants, Basel Ghalyoun, Mouhannad Almallah Dabas, Abdelilah el-Fadual al-Akil and Raúl González, have their convictions overturned. The acquittal of Osman is also upheld.
December 18, 2008 – A criminal court in Morocco convicts Abdelilah Ahriz of belonging to a terrorist group involved in the train bombings and sentences him to 20 years in prison. Prosecutors originally requested that Ahriz be given a life sentence, saying DNA sampling proved his involvement in preparing the train bombings.
May 12, 2009 – Ten of the 14 suspected Islamic militants accused of assisting the three suspects are acquitted by Spain’s anti-terrorism court. The ruling gives the remaining four sentences between two and nine years for falsifying documents or being part of a terrorist group.
January 13, 2010 – A Spanish court convicts five men accused of Islamic terrorist activities, including aiding fugitives from the Madrid train bombings of 2004 and planning other attacks. Their sentences, on charges of collaborating or belonging to an Islamic terrorist group, range from five to nine years in prison.
February 2011 – Spain’s Supreme Court overturns the lower court’s conviction of the five men convicted in January 2010 for Islamic terrorist activities that included aiding fugitives from the Madrid train bombings and planning other attacks.
Editor’s Note: Sign up to CNN Travel’s Unlocking Italy newsletter for insider intel on Italy’s best loved destinations and lesser-known regions to plan your ultimate trip. Plus, we’ll get you in the mood before you go with movie suggestions, reading lists and recipes from Stanley Tucci.
CNN
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Taking a long-distance train journey often feels like going back in time. Now, a new route opening up fast, direct access between two European countries will spin passengers back more than a century to the times of the Habsburg empire.
A new high-speed route between Italy and Slovenia is now on the cards, thanks to a newly signed agreement between state operators Trenitalia and SŽ Passenger Transport, or Slovenian Railways.
A Frecciarossa train will run eastwards from Milan to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, in seven hours. It’ll pass through storied Italian cities Venice and Trieste, as well as making stops for some of Slovenia’s noted nature attractions, including Postojna Caves and Skocjan Caves, as well as Lipica, where the famous Lipizzaner horses have been bred since 1580.
Today, the horses with their “dancing” feet are best known for the displays at Vienna’s Spanish Riding School – which makes sense, since this part of the world, on the modern Slovenia-Italy border, used to be part of the Austro-Hungarian empire (or the Habsburg empire, before 1867).
In fact the train itself should have a feeling of winding back the centuries to that earlier period. It is thought that this is the first train from Milan to Ljubljana since the empire was dissolved in 1918.
It’s also picking up the route of a night train from Budapest to Venice, which passed through Ljubljana, but finished in 2011.
Since 2018, there has been a regional train from Trieste to Ljubljana, but train staff of the two operators switch at the border at Villa Opicina station.
Although a Trenitalia representative told CNN that there is no set date for the launch, Slovenian Railways have told media that they want to start “as soon as possible” – which could mean from April. It’s expected that there will be one service per day initially, eventually expanding to two.
April will also see the launch of a Rijeka-Trieste (Villa Opicina) route from Croatian Railways.
Frecciarossa (Red Arrow) trains are capable of reaching speeds of 300 kph (284 mph) on the Italian network, although it’s unlikely they’ll go that fast on this route, at least at first, since east of Venice speeds tend to slow down.
In March 2023, the Italian government pledged 1.8 billion euros (nearly $2 billion) to upgrade the Venice-Trieste line to fully high-speed. The Slovenian lines will now be tested to see if they can also be upgraded.
“It was about time that a serious rail connection was restored between Trieste and Ljubljana – It sounds like a joke, but it is often the case in the region that the railway connections were better a century ago than they are today,” says journalist Giovanni Vale, founder of the Extinguished Countries project, which publishes guidebooks to countries that no longer exist, and is currently working on one to the Habsburg Empire.
“Trieste and Ljubljana were first connected by train in 1857, when both cities were part of the Habsburg Empire. The South Railway Company (Südbahn-Gesellschaft), which ran from Vienna to Trieste via Ljubljana, was one of the flagships of the Empire’s infrastructure. Trieste was at that time one of the most important ports in the world and its connection to Vienna was very important for the Empire.
“With the end of the First World War, Trieste became a city in the far northeast of Italy, in an almost peripheral position and rail connections to the east with Ljubljana, Zagreb, Belgrade or Budapest were often lacking.
“Let’s hope that this is the beginning of a new season for rail connections between Trieste and the Balkans.”
The agreement follows Trenitalia’s similar initiatives with its Eurocity and Euronight trains, which connect Italy with Switzerland, Germany and Austria with direct trains. It’ll be a Eurocity route, operated by a Frecciarossa.
Trenitalia has also signed a preliminary agreement with Deutsche Bahn to bring the Frecciarossa into service on Italy-Germany routes before the end of 2026. A Milan-Munich route is on the cards, with extensions from there to other German destinations.
CD Projekt Red fulfilled a five-year promise last week when it added a fully functional metro system to Cyberpunk 2077. While the feature does wonders to make Night City feel more alive, I was surprised to learn just how little California’s public transportation infrastructure has improved in the game’s alternate-reality future.
Cyberpunk 2077 now includes five Night City Area Rapid Transit (NCART) rail lines servicing 19 stations. Every stop still functions as a fast travel point, but players can also use them to hop onto the subway and relocate, in real time, to other parts of the city. As movement is restricted while on the train, this is a mostly visual experience, providing folks with a new perspective on the sprawling mega-city as well as limited opportunities to chat with their fellow riders.
During one trip, I noticed a screen indicating the train’s speed was consistently hovering around 43 mph, which felt awfully slow for futuristic transportation. The average speeds of modern-day heavy-rail systems in the United States range from the high teens to the mid-30s, but they’re capable of reaching much higher maximums. And that’s not even accounting for more developed public transportation in Japan and China, whose magnetic levitation (maglev) bullet trains zoom through major cities at hundreds of miles per hour.
What the heck.Image: CD Projekt Red
This fits with what the first Cyberpunk rulebook had to say about then-future transportation in 1988:
Surprise, surprise. Contrary to expectations, the year 2000 has not yielded any staggering new developments in transportation. Years of economic strife and civil unrest have discouraged research into new ways to travel—in fact, the very act of travel has become very restricted. Expect the world of 2013 to be much like the 20th century—a network of crowded freeways, packed trains, and swarming airports.
A subsequent expansion, Welcome to Night City, indicates light-rail maglev trains with ground speeds of 200 mph existed in the eponymous metropolis as far back as 2013, the year the first Cyberpunk adventures were set. Every book since makes some mention maglev trains as a staple of Night City travel, and 2005’s Cyberpunk V3.0 even noted an improvement in their top speed to 300 mph despite the apparent destruction of the intercontinental maglev line during the Fourth Corporate War (which took place from 2021 to 2025 in-universe) between the world’s ruling megacorps.
(And just to cover my ass, 1990’s updated Cyberpunk 2020 rulebook makes it clear that NCART and the light-rail maglev trains are one and the same.)
It’s here that Cyberpunk 2077 does something clever by expanding the consequences of this conflict. Rather than only putting rail travel between continents in flux, the game describes the Fourth Corporate War as debilitating the entire maglev system, as explained by the following database entry:
Maglev trains cruised at high speeds via tunnels and on the surface thanks to the advent of electrodynamic suspension technology, allowing fast and comfortable travel from Night City to other cities, including Kansas City, St. Louis, Atlanta and Washington D.C. Unfortunately, this new era of transportation didn’t last long. The social unrest and armed conflict of the 4th Corporate War brought with it an economic crisis that soon crippled the entire system. Currently inoperational, the abandoned Maglev tunnels are used by the homeless and various gangs.
The destruction of the maglev system and the slow NCART speeds exhibited in-game lead me to assume the local government was forced to revert to pre-2013 tech to ensure NCART remained operational, a massive downgrade from the bullet trains that once transported residents through Night City and beyond.
Hurry up and wait.Image: CD Projekt Red
While researching this situation, I couldn’t help but see darkly hilarious parallels between the difficulties facing the fictional California depicted in Cyberpunk 2077 and the actual state in which I live.
Despite being one of the largest (both in terms of land and population) and richest states in the union, California has long struggled with plans to build public transportation on par with the bullet trains of eastern Asia. A lot of that is due to politics, as even ostensibly supportive legislators are wary of spending the billions of dollars necessary to complete the project. And let’s face it: Americans are just way too devoted to their cars.
All that said, there’s one very simple explanation for Night City metro’s relatively low speed: The developers didn’t want NCART rides to happen in the blink of an eye. What good would the long-awaited subway experience be if players didn’t actually, you know, experience it?
A trip taken at 300 mph wouldn’t provide any time to people watch Night City’s eccentric residents or take in the view of skyscrapers surrounding the bay outside the train’s windows. The entire point of the subway system — and a big part of why folks clamored for its inclusion all these years — is to give players new opportunities to role-play and experience the visual splendor of Cyberpunk 2077’s setting and its over-the-top aesthetics.
I find it hard to fault CD Projekt Red for playing a little loose with established Cyberpunk history if it makes for a better game in the end.
Indonesia is launching Southeast Asia’s first-ever bullet train on Sunday, a high-speed rail service line that will connect two of the country’s largest cities.
Part of China’s Belt and Road infrastructure initiative and largely funded by Chinese state-owned firms, the $7.3 billion project opened to the public on Sunday, following a series of delays and setbacks.
The train will travel between the capital Jakarta and Bandung in West Java, Indonesia’s second-largest city and a major arts and culture hub.
The 86-mile (138-kilometer) high-speed rail line, officially named WHOOSH – which stands for “time saving, optimal operation, reliable system” in Indonesian – runs on electricity with no direct carbon emissions and travels at a speed of roughly 217 miles per hour – cutting travel time between Jakarta and Bandung from three hours to under less than an hour, officials say.
Overseen by the joint state venture PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia China (PT KCIC), the train travels between the Halim railway station in East Jakarta and Padalarang railway station in West Bandung, and is well connected to local public transport systems.
The trains, modified for Indonesia’s tropical climate, are equipped with a safety system that can respond to earthquakes, floods and other emergency conditions, officials added.
There are talks to extend the high-speed line to Surabaya – a major port and capital of East Java Province, PT KCIC director Dwiyana Slamet Riyadi told Chinese state media outlets at a ceremony earlier in September.
Stops at other major cities like Semarang and Yogyakarta, the gateway to Borobudur – the largest Buddhist temple in the world – are also being planned, Dwiyana said.
According to information released by PT KCIC, the railway features eight cars – all equipped with Wi-Fi and USB charging points – and seats 601 passengers.
There will be three classes of seats – first, second and VIP.
Indonesia, the world’s fourth-largest country and Southeast Asia’s largest economy, has been actively and openly courting investment from China, its largest trade and investment partner.
A high-profile meeting in July between Indonesian and Chinese leaders Joko Widodo and Xi Jinping unveiled a series of projects, including plans to build a multi-billion dollar Chinese glass factory on the island of Rempang in Indonesia’s Riau Islands Archipelago as part of a new ‘Eco-City,’ sparking weeks of fierce protests from indigenous islanders opposed to their villages being torn down.
Widodo and Chinese Premier Li Qiang were photographed taking test rides on the new high-speed railway throughout September.
The train deal was first signed in 2015 as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative and construction began later that year.
It was initially expected to be completed in 2019 but has faced multiple operational delays as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic as well as land procurement and ballooning costs.
PT KCIC’s director Dwiyana hailed the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway as an “outstanding example of bilateral cooperation between Indonesia and China.” It will not only improve Indonesian infrastructure but “promote the development of Indonesia’s railroad and manufacturing industries,” he said.
DENVER (AP) — A Colorado police officer who put a handcuffed woman in a parked police vehicle that was hit by a freight train was found guilty of reckless endangerment and assault but was acquitted of a third charge of criminal attempt to commit manslaughter during a trial Friday.
Jordan Steinke was the first of two officers to go to trial over the Sept. 16, 2022, crash that left Yareni Rios-Gonzalez seriously injured.
“There’s no reasonable doubt that placing a handcuffed person in the back of a patrol car, parked on railroad tracks, creates a substantial and unjustifiable risk of harm by the train,” said Judge Timothy Kerns.
But the evidence didn’t convince Kerns that Steinke “knowingly intended to harm Ms. Rios-Gonzalez,” and he added that Stienke had shown “shock and remorse.”
Steinke testified that she did not know that the patrol car of another officer she was helping was parked on the tracks even though they can be seen on her body camera footage along with two railroad crossing signs. Steinke said she was focused on the threat that could come from Rios-Gonzalez and her pickup truck, not the ground.
Steinke said she put Rios-Gonzalez in the other officer’s vehicle because it was the nearest spot to temporarily hold her. She said she didn’t know the train was coming until just before it hit.
The judge found that Steinke observed the tracks, but failed to “appreciate the risk.”
There was no jury in Steinke’s trial, which started Monday. Instead, Kerns listened to the evidence and issued the verdict. Mallory Revel, Steinke’s attorney, didn’t immediately respond to requests by phone and email for comment.
Steinke, who was working for the Fort Lupton Police Department at the time of the crash, was charged with criminal attempt to commit manslaughter, a felony; and reckless endangerment and third-degree assault, both misdemeanors.
The other officer, Pablo Vazquez, who worked for the police department in nearby Platteville, is being prosecuted for misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment and traffic offenses. He hasn’t entered a plea yet. His lawyer, Reid Elkus, didn’t immediately respond to a request by phone for comment.
Vazquez pulled over Rios-Gonzalez on a rural road that intersects U.S. Highway 85 after she was accused of pointing a gun at another driver. Trains pass on tracks that parallel the highway about a dozen times a day, prosecutors said, and the sound of their horns is common in the area north of Denver.
Rios-Gonzalez, who suffered a traumatic brain injury, is suing over her treatment. She later pleaded no contest to misdemeanor menacing, said one of her lawyers, Chris Ponce, who was in court to watch the trial. Rios-Gonzalez did not testify or attend herself.
Steinke said she placed Rios-Gonzalez in the other police car temporarily because it was the nearest place to keep her secure, a move that is standard practice for high-risk traffic stops, said defense expert witness Steve Ijames. He also testified that in dangerous situations officers can become hyperfocused on particular threats and overlook things that turn out to be important in hindsight.
Steinke, who drove at around 100 mph (161 kph) at times on her way to backup Vazquez, testified that she was surprised to see him sitting in his vehicle when she arrived, rather than pointing a gun at Rios-Gonzalez’s truck. She said she quickly parked her patrol vehicle behind his and got out because it was the quickest way “to get a gun in the fight.”
Steinke also said she did not notice the tracks or the ground when she squatted down to arrest a kneeling Rios-Gonzalez along the tracks after the suspect was ordered out of her pickup truck.
When pressed by Deputy District Attorney Christopher Jewkes, Steinke replied, “I am sure I saw the tracks sir, but I did not perceive them.” She said she was focused on the suspect and the potential threat she posed and was “fairly certain” that the traffic stop would end in gunfire.
“I never in a million years thought a train was going to come plowing through my scene,” Steinke said.
The Weld County District Attorney’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request by phone for comment.
This story has been updated to correct that the officer was acquitted of the charge of criminal attempt to commit manslaughter, not manslaughter.
Bedayn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Sometimes, you just wanna get out of dodge! There are loads of awesome destinations that are just a two-hour drive away from Montreal (or less!). They are super accessible with lots to see and do. Here are 4 weekend getaways you can plan last-minute.
Ottawa. There’s no shortage of things to do in the nation’s capital region. Check out the plethora of museums: Science and Technology, Nature, War, Space and Aviation, the Children’s Museum – there’s literally something for everyone. Tour the Parliament Buildings. Have lunch in Byward Market. Let loose at Funhaven.
The Thousand Islands. You can reach beautiful Brockville in two hours and you’ll love the vibrant waterfront as well as the history you’ll discover here. Walk through the oldest railway tunnel in Canada and learn all about our infamous St. Lawrence Seaway at the Aquatarium.
Quebec City. From the Aquarium and Montmorency Falls, to the history of the Citadelle and the Plains of Abraham, there is lots to do in this pretty and historic city. Wander around the Old Town and the Petit Champlain Quarter. And don’t forget a ride on the Funicular.
Montebello. Less than two hours door to door, Montebello is a picturesque area of the province worthy of exploring. A must-do is visiting Omega Park, with its sprawling surroundings and bevy of indigenous animals, plus lots of activities for kids (you can even sleep on-site!). Pick up some cheese at Fromagerie Montebello, or indulge in a sweet treat at ChocoMotive. Nearby is Montagnes Noires Park in Ripon, which has the second highest peak in the region after Mont-Tremblant.
Editor’s Note: This timeline is not all-inclusive. Selected rail incidents with at least 200 fatalities are listed, plus US incidents.
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Here’s some background information about major rail accidents since 1900.
January 1915 – Guadalajara, Mexico: More than 600 people die when a train derails into a ravine during a steep descent.
May 22, 1915 – Gretna, Scotland: The United Kingdom’s worst rail disaster occurs when three trains collide at Quintinshill, resulting in 227 deaths, many of whom were soldiers of the Royal Scots.
June 1915 – Montemorelos, Mexico: A military train derails into a canyon, killing more than 300.
December 12, 1917 – Modane, France: 427 people die when a train carrying more than 1,000 soldiers derails in the French Alps.
January 16, 1944 – León Province, Spain: A train wrecks in the Torro tunnel, killing more than 500 people.
March 2, 1944 – Near Salerno, Italy: At least 521 people die from carbon monoxide fumes when a train stalls in a tunnel.
October 22, 1949 – Poland: More than 200 are killed when the Danzig-Warsaw express derails.
April 3, 1955 – Guadalajara, Mexico: About 300 die when a night express train derails into a canyon.
September 29, 1957 – Montgomery, western Pakistan: 250 die when a passenger train collides with a cargo train.
February 1, 1970 – Buenos Aires, Argentina: The worst train disaster in Argentina’s history occurs when an express train crashes into a standing commuter train, killing 236.
October 6, 1972 – Saltillo, Mexico: 208 people die after a train traveling at excessive speed derails and catches fire.
June 6, 1981 – Bihar, India: India’s worst rail accident to date occurs during inclement weather when a train derails and plunges into a river in the state of Bihar, killing 800 and injuring more than 100.
January 13, 1985 – Near the town of Awash, Ethiopia: The government says that 392 people died when a passenger train derailed while crossing a bridge over a ravine.
June 4, 1989 – Ural Mountains, Soviet Union: 575 people die when a gas pipeline leaks, causing two passenger trains to explode.
January 4, 1990 – Sindh province, Pakistan: More than 210 people are killed after the Zakaria Bahauddin Express passenger train crashes into a stationary freight train.
September 22, 1994 – Tolunda, Angola: 300 die after malfunctioning brakes cause a train to derail and fall into a ravine.
August 2, 1999 – India: Brahmaputra Mail train en route to New Delhi slams into the idle Awadh-Assam Express at Gaisal Station in West Bengal, killing 285 and injuring more than 300.
June 24, 2002 – Tanzania: A runaway passenger train collides with a freight train and then derails, resulting in 281 deaths.
February 18, 2004 – Near the town of Neyshabur, Iran: A runaway 51-car chemical train derails and explodes, causing at least 320 deaths and hundreds of injuries to residents in the area.
December 26, 2004 – Sri Lanka: Between 1,500 to 1,700 passengers aboard the Samudradevi, or Queen of the Sea, train, are believed dead when the tsunami sweeps their train off the tracks.
March 1, 1910 – Wellington, Washington: An avalanche pushes a passenger train and a mail train into a ravine, killing 96 people.
July 9, 1918 – Nashville, Tennessee: Considered the worst rail disaster in US history, two passenger trains collide on Dutchman’s Curve, resulting in 101 deaths.
November 1, 1918 – Brooklyn, New York: At least 90 are killed when a Brighton Beach Train of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company derails inside the Malbone Street tunnel.
US federal officials are putting millions of dollars into fixing dangerous intersections where trains and cars meet.
The $570 million in infrastructure spending to replace, improve or study grade crossings will reduce the approximately 2,000 train-vehicle collisions that happen every year, the Biden administration said. The collisions kill about 200 people annually.
It will also reduce congestion at intersections where trains block traffic, the administration said. Nearly 26,000 blocking incidents have been reported to the federal Transportation Department in the last year, and more than 9,000 of those lasted for longer than one hour.
The Federal Railroad Administration said the funds will go toward 34 projects, including five in Texas, the state with the most grade crossing blockage complaints. A grade crossing refers to the area where a roadway intersects with or crosses a railroad track at the same level.
One of those projects, in Houston, will replace seven points where tracks and roads meet. Instead, the trains will have a protected route, and vehicle traffic will have four underpasses.
More than 850 blockages have been reported this year alone at those seven crossings, according to the Department of Transportation. The department said the project would save drivers fuel and frustration alike, and reduce noise where train operators blow loud horns as a warning to vehicles.
Amit Bose, the administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, said grade crossings and blockages, in particular, present “significant challenges” in many parts of the country, including Houston, where multiple rail lines meet.
“The reality is far too many communities deal with collisions at grade crossings,” Bose said. “They deal with blockages due to stopped or stalled trains and deal with the risk of first responders being delayed by those incidents.”
More than 200 people were killed and hundreds injured when three trains collided in India on Friday in one of the worst train crashes in recent history.
Two passenger trains and a goods train collided in the city of Balasore in easternOdisha state, according to state chief secretary Pradeep Jena.
At least 233 people died and 900 were injured in the impact, Jena said on Twitter.
The death toll is expected to rise as teams carry out a colossal rescue operation, Jena said during a news conference.
Images from the scene showed rescuers attempting to find survivors in a damaged rail carriage. Video footage also showed upturned coaches littered across train tracks, and people climbing a mangled train carriage.
Friday’s rescue effort included more than 115 ambulances and several fire service units, say authorities. About 500 units of blood were collected overnight with 900 units currently in stock, Jena wrote on Twitter.
“This will help in treating the accident victims. I’m personally indebted and grateful to all the volunteers who’ve donated blood for a noble cause,” he wrote.
The cause of the catastrophic crash has yet to be determined, Jena told CNN affiliate News18, emphasizing that the current focus is on ongoing rescue operations.
“We are only working (at) sending additional doctors, ambulances, buses, so all those things we are doing so we have not thought of asking what happened, how it happened,” he said.
The deadly collision occurred after one passenger train collided into coaches of an already derailed passenger train that had tossed into the opposite track, Indian authorities said.
Both trains then derailed.
“An unfortunate accident took place between Coromandel Express, a goods train and another passenger train near Bahanaga railway station in Balasore district,” Jena said.
“Around 7 p.m., 12841 Coromandel Express, which runs between Shalimar and Chennai, around Balasore, 10 to 12 of its coaches derailed and tossed over to the opposite track. After some time, another train, which runs between Yesvantpur and Howrah, dashed into those derailed coaches, which resulted in the derailment of its three to four coaches,” Railway Spokesperson Amitabh Sharma told reporters.
The Coromandel travels through India’s east coast, between West Bengal’s capital Kolkata to the South Indian city of Chennai.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted his condolences on Friday. “Distressed by the train accident in Odisha. In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon. Rescue ops are underway at the site of the mishap and all possible assistance is being given to those affected,” he wrote.
India’s extensive rail network suffers from aging infrastructure and poor maintenance – factors that are often responsible for accidents.
The death toll from Friday’s crash has already surpassed that of an infamous crash in 2016 – one of the deadliest in recent years – when over 140 people were killed in a derailment in northern Uttar Pradesh state.
In 2021, some 16,431 people were killed in nearly 18,000 railway accidents across the country. “Majority (67.7%) of railway accident cases were reported (as) ‘Fall from trains /collision with people on track,” according to a 2021 report by the National Crime Records
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said he will visit the site of the accident on Saturday morning to review the situation, the department said.
The families of those killed on Friday will receive $12,136, India’s Minister for Railways, Communications, Electronics and Information Technology has announced, with lesser amounts available to people who were injured in the crash.
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Ever since the “flight shame” movement began encouraging travelers to seek greener alternatives to jet planes, many in Europe have been looking to the continent’s extensive rail network to replace short-haul air travel.
There’s definitely been progress. Airlines including Dutch carrier KLM are entering into rail partnerships on certain routes, while countries like Austria and France are seeking to restrict internal routes where trains are available – although the French decree, which was made law in May 2023, has been significantly watered down from its original premise.
That’s amid a palpable rail revolution on mainland Europe, with new high-speed routes and operators coming online, a reversal in the decline of overnight sleeper services, new tunnel links cutting travel times and new locomotives improving reliability and efficiency. In Spain, Germany and Austria, cheap ticket deals have also played their part.
With so much railway investment, it seems as if the train-ification of Europe’s air transport network is well underway. Surely, it’s only a matter of time before the continent is relying almost exclusively on its iron roadways for getting around and the skies are clearer and greener .
In reality, that remains a distant dream. But why?
As with many efforts to innovate away from environmentally harmful practices, there’s good news and bad news. Fixes are being made, but none of them are quick. And there’s no sign that Europe’s airports are going to get quieter anytime soon.
This year got off to a strong start with new legislation promised in France that would ban short-haul flight on a number of domestic routes to help the country cut levels of planet-heating pollution, but though approved by EU officials and then signed into French law in May 2023, the measures are limited in impact.
For the ban to apply, the EU insisted the air route in question must have a high speed rail alternative that makes it possible to travel between the two cities in less than two and a half hours. There must also be enough early and late-running trains to enable travelers to spend at least eight hours at the destination.
This means that ultimately only three routes were culled: those linking Paris-Orly airport to the cities of Bordeaux, Nantes and Lyon. In a further blow to those hoping for a rail revolution, it turned out that, as it happened, those routes had already been cut in 2020 – the new law just means that they will not be reinstated in the future.
So what went wrong? The ruling by the EU’s European Commission watered down the original French plans, which would have seen a further five routes ending: From Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport to Bordeaux, Nantes, Lyon and Rennes, as well as a Lyon to Marseilles route.
The result, say critics, is something that pays lip service to climate concerns without really doing anything about them.
“The French flight ban is a symbolic move, but will have very little impact on reducing emissions,” Jo Dardenne, aviation director at cleaner transport campaign group Transport & Environment (T&E), told CNN before the law took effect.
T&E has estimated that the three routes affected by the ban represent only 0.3% of the emissions produced by flights taking off from mainland France, and 3% of the country’s domestic flight emissions (again counting only mainland domestic flights).
If the five additional routes that the French authorities wanted to include were added, those figures would be 0.5% and 5% respectively.
That doesn’t sound like much. But although aviation as a whole currently accounts for around 2.5% of global carbon emissions, its overall contribution to climate change is estimated to be higher, due to the other gases, water vapor and contrails that airplanes emit.
What’s more, it’s a fast-growing industry – despite the pause enforced by Covid – and is on track to be one of the most significant emissions-contributing industries in the future. Aviation emissions in Europe increased an average of 5% year-on-year between 2013 and 2019, according to the EU.
Airlines pay zero tax or duty on their fuel in the EU, unlike other forms of transport. Plane tickets are also exempt from VAT.
On the positive side, despite its limited impact, the French ruling sets a precedent that will be difficult to ignore by the aviation industry at a time when it’s coming under ever increasing scrutiny from the public, as well as politicians.
“The French measure is so marginal in its current scope that it is sustainability theater rather than having any material impact on emissions,” Patrick Edmond, managing director of Altair Advisory, an Ireland-based aviation consultancy told CNN – again before the law took effect.
“However we can look at it a different way – as the harbinger of more restrictions on aviation which are likely if the industry doesn’t get more serious about decarbonizing itself.”
France isn’t the first European country to take a tougher line on super short-haul flights.
In 2020 the Austrian government bailed out the national carrier, Austrian Airlines, on the condition that it axed all flights where a rail journey could take less than three hours.
In reality, only the Vienna-Salzburg flight route was cut, with train services increased on the line in response. A similarly short route, from Vienna to Linz, had been moved to rail in 2017.
That same year, the government also launched a 30 euro ($32) tax on all flights of under 350 kilometers (220 miles) departing from Austrian airports.
Other European countries are said to be considering curbs on short-haul commercial flights as well – a move that could be welcome, since 62% of European citizens would support a ban on short-haul flights, according to a 2020 survey. Spain has outlined plans to cut flights where train journeys take less than 2.5 hours by 2050.
Not surprisingly these moves have set alarm bells ringing in the aviation industry.
According to a 2022 report commissioned by the European Regional Airlines Association (ERA) together with a number of other aerospace industry bodies, if all airline traffic on routes of under 500 kilometers (310 miles) switched to another form of public transport, the potential carbon savings would total up to 5% of intra-EU emissions.
“For many decision-makers, banning short-haul flights and showing support to the rail industry is an easy win to gain favor with the public, especially in Europe,” Montserrat Barriga, the ERA’s director general, told CNN.
But Barriga and others – on both side of the issue – point to the double standard of restricting short-haul flights and phasing out carbon allowances for flights in Europe while taking no major steps to limit connections outside the bloc.
Long-haul flights produce the most emissions globally. A recent academic paper in the Journal of Transport Geography found that while flights of under 500 kilometers (310 miles) account for 27.9% of departures in the EU, they represent only 5.9% of fuel burnt. In contrast, flights longer than 4,000 kilometers make up just 6.2% of departures from the EU, but 47% of fuel burnt.
“Governments continue ignoring the biggest source of aviation emissions – long-haul flights, that remain unpriced and unregulated,” says T&E’s Dardenne. “Flight bans shouldn’t be used by governments as a distraction from the real problem.”
And while railways are currently blazing fresh trails through Europe, playing a part in the recent collapse of Alitalia, Italy’s national airline, rail operators could do more, says Jon Worth, founder of public advocacy group Trains for Europe.
High prices and low frequencies remain an obstacle to getting more people to switch from flying, he says – especially on trunk routes like Paris to Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Barcelona.
“On quite a few corridors, rail could get a share of multimodal transportation way above the current one. Rail operators have focused on maximizing profit rather than market share. The latter can only be achieved either by running railways as a public service or by introducing more competition,” he says.
Better connectivity between intercity rail and airports would also reduce the need for short-haul flights. Worth adds that it’s essential to offer combined tickets, so that, for example, if a train is delayed and the connection is missed, travelers are accommodated on the next one, as happens now with connecting flights.
This works rather well in countries where airlines and operators cooperate, including Germany, Austria, France, Switzerland and Spain. In February 2023, Italian airline ITA Airways – Alitalia’s successor – signed on to work with Italy’s national rail operator to create links, too.
However, this is an area where there is still much to be done – for starters, the schemes above are limited to the national carriers. A proposed piece of legislation called Multimodal Digital Mobility Services is expected to be adopted by the European Commission in 2023 with the aim to facilitate this type of intermodal travel more widely.
Back in France, shorter train travel times and increased frequencies may mean the end of the line for more domestic air routes when the ban comes up for review – the measure is only valid for three years. However, advances in clean flight technology mayeventually change the perspectives for regional aviation as well.
Short-haul flights are likely to be the first segments of the aviation industry to decarbonize since most of the projects under way in the fields of electric, hybrid-electric and hydrogen-powered aviation focus precisely on small airplanes designed to cover very short distances.
The debate looks set to continue playing out over the next few years, as the environmental, social, economic, political and technological parameters that shape this discussion continue to evolve – and as the climate crisis continues.
Whether we call them railways or railroads, we’re all familiar with the concept – big, heavy vehicles that can’t climb steep hills, running on two steel rails. That’s the pattern, right?
Well, railway technology is more versatile than you think. Over the last 200 years it has evolved to conquer cities, mountains, deep mines and some of the world’s most extreme climates. Here’s a selection of unusual railways that break the rules in order to reach the places other trains can’t roll.
If ever a railway was perfectly suited to its environment, it’s the legendary Schwebebahn monorail in Germany’s North Rhine-Westphalia region. Built to link several industrial towns along the narrow, twisting valley of the Wupper river, the suspended monorail was completed in 1901 and was instrumental in the growth of the towns, which eventually merged to become the city of Wuppertal in 1929.
It might look unusual to visitors, but to the people of Wuppertal it’s the backbone of the city’s transit network, gliding up to 40 feet above congested streets to offer fast, direct journeys along an eight-mile route.
The single rails carrying the trains are supported by a series of 486 steel portals weighing almost 20,000 tonnes in total. More than 80,000 people a day are transported by 31 modern articulated cars traveling at up to 37 mph (60 kph). A replica of the vintage Kaiserwagen (Emperor’s Car) used by Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1900 also operates on special occasions but is currently being restored; it’s hoped that it will return to service by spring 2024.
Current holder of the record for the world’s steepest public railway, Switzerland’s Stoosbahn opened in December 2017 and has become a global tourist attraction in its own right.
The unique cars with their rotating “barrels” allow passengers to stay level and travel serenely up the mountain at gradients of up to 110%. On a route of just over one mile (1.74 kilometers), the railway climbs almost 2,450 feet (744 meters) from the valley station in just five minutes.
Stoosbahn is far more than just a joyride though – it’s a vital lifeline for the car-free village of Stoos, which sits high on a mountain near the town of Schwyz, south of Zürich. Each car is fitted with three passenger “barrels” plus a further section for freight. Every year, up to 10,000 tonnes of freight is carried – essential supplies going up the hill to restaurants and hotels, garbage and recycling traveling back down. Up to 1,500 passengers an hour, plus their skis or snowboards, can also be carried – a 50% increase over the previous funicular railway.
Riding the Stoosbahn is a unique experience, even if you’re a connoisseur of mountain railways. The smooth transition from level to almost vertical happens very quickly and the view from the rotating cabins is exceptional. You’d have to be very jaded not to be impressed with such an astonishing piece of railway engineering.
Pier railways were an attraction at several British seaside resorts in the 19th century, the most famous being the mile-long trip to the tip of Southend Pier on the country’s east coast – which you can still experience today. Most were built for pleasure, usually to save visitors a long walk back to shore.
Hythe Pier Railway, on the south coast of England, has always been a little different though; it provides a unique link between dry land and the Hythe Ferry, which has shuttled to and fro across Southampton Water since the Middle Ages.
The current pier opened in 1881 and a quirky 2,100-foot railway was added in 1909. It is the oldest continuously operating pier railway in the world. Wagons were initially propelled by hand but in 1922 a new narrow gauge electric railway replaced the original track. Two Army surplus electric locomotives, originally built to work in a World War I mustard gas factory, have worked the trains ever since.
The bizarre-looking locomotives continue to pull (or push) their weatherbeaten little coaches along the pier to meet every ferry to and from Southampton Town Quay, despite numerous threats of closure. Visit it while you still can.
Monorails have been around for more than a century and examples can be found all over the world, but they’ve never quite fulfilled the futuristic promises of their early promoters. That said, there are a few places where the unique qualities offered by monorails are ideally suited to their environment.
Chongqing in China is home to the world’s longest and one of its busiest monorail system, carrying millions of passengers a year on two high-capacity “straddle beam” lines totaling 61 miles in length. At just over 34 miles, Line 3 is also the world’s longest single monorail line with an annual ridership of around 250 million. Opened between 2005 and 2016, the two lines have 70 stations with a mix of underground and elevated sections. Famously, one section of Line 2 passes through the heart of a high-rise apartment block.
The city’s unique topography, with extreme differences in altitude between its densely populated mountain plateaus and the Yangtze and Jialing river valleys forced Chongqing’s transit authorities to seek an alternative to conventional metro trains. Monorail’s ability to negotiate steep climbs and tight curves made it the ideal solution when this megacity needed to transform its public transit system.
Is it a train? Or is it a bus? Neither, it’s a Ferrobus – a unique form of improvised transport found across mountainous regions of South America.
Combining old road bus bodies with rail wheels, these wobbly-looking contraptions are a lifeline for remote mountain villages lacking official road access. Using otherwise abandoned rail lines – often built in the 19th and early 20th century to exploit mineral deposits – Ferrobus routes can be found in Chile, Bolivia and Colombia, climbing high into the Andes.
Ferrobus trips are increasingly popular with tourists seeking an unforgettable experience, and likely wanting to avoid uncomfortable and often dangerous road journeys. Chile’s Gondola Carril from Los Andes to Rio Blanco, north of Santiago, operates purely for tourists, but others provide regular, if somewhat unpredictable, transport for locals and tourists alike.
Bolivia is arguably the epicenter of the Ferrobus world, with at least three routes, although there’s a constant risk of derailments, not to mention disruption from floods, rockfalls and extreme weather.
Riding a Ferrobus requires patience and stamina, but you’re guaranteed to return with some hair-raising stories to tell your friends.
Gotta catch ‘em all? Here’s one that will appeal to fans of Pokémon and trains. An otherwise ordinary Japanese local train has been dressed up to resemble the all-conquering franchise’s most famous character – Pikachu.
The bright yellow signature color dominates inside and out, with Pikachu motifs covering everything from floor to walls and curtains. One car has seating, while the second car has been fitted out as a fabulous mobile playroom for junior Pokémon trainers. During the two-hour trip from Ichinoseki to Kesennuma in the Tõhoku Region, children can play, nap and socialize with giant plush Pikachus or even pretend to drive the train.
Introduced in 2017 to put a smile on local faces after the devastating earthquake and tsunami of 2011, which also prompted the reactor meltdown in the neighboring Fukushima region, Pokémon with You is one of several “Joyful Trains” operated by railway company JR East. Ranging from traditional steam trains to luxurious, exotically decorated expresses between cities and resorts, they’re part of an incredibly rich and vibrant railway culture that attracts visitors from all over the world to Japan.
Which city is home to mainland Europe’s oldest underground railway? Paris? Berlin? Vienna? In fact, it’s the Hungarian capital Budapest, where line M1 has been operating since May 1896.
In the late-19th and early 20th centuries Hungary – then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire – was a vigorous pioneer of new railway technology. This short (2.3-mile) line under Andrássy Avenue on the Pest side of the Danube river was only the third underground electric railway in the world, opening shortly after similar lines in London and Liverpool, England.
Like London’s tiny “tube trains” of the same era, the first tunnels in Budapest were built to an unusually small profile and the effects of that decision can still be encountered today on what the locals call “a kisföldalatti,” or “the small underground.” The original trains, more akin to freight cars fitted with wooden shelters, were replaced in 1973 when line M1 was rebuilt and extended, but a ride on M1 is still a very different experience from the city’s later metro lines with their wide-bodied trains and airy stations.
Thousand of people a day squeeze into the little yellow trains – a much higher ridership than when it was completed. But with its low platforms and short, angular trains, it’s very different to the usual city metro experience.
Over the last two decades, China’s rail industry has become the largest and most varied in the world, helped by the astonishing expansion of the country’s high-speed network and global exports.
But there’s far more to China than sleek high-speed trains and megacity subways; the size and diversity of this enormous nation demands ingenious solutions to serve areas conventional trains can’t reach.
A unique example is the world’s first hanging monorail with a glass floor, now running in Sichuan Province. The Dayi Air Rail Project connects four stations at busy tourist spots over a seven-mile (11.5 kilometer) route in the city of Chengdu.
Unusually, the lightweight car bodies are constructed from carbon fiber and composite foam material. They are powered by rechargeable batteries with electricity from renewable sources. But the panoramic windows and transparent floor are their most spectacular features, allowing up to 120 passengers per trip a 270-degree view combining clean, efficient and quiet transport with a memorable sightseeing trip.
Imagine a vehicle that can pick you up outside your home, drive to the nearest railway line, convert itself into a train and then switch back to drop you in the center of a nearby town. It may sound like a story from “Thomas the Tank Engine,” but that exactly what Japan’s DMV Road-Rail buses have been doing since they launched on Christmas Day 2021.
The buses, carrying around 20 passengers per trip, run a 30-mile route between the town of Kaiyo in Tokushima and the city of Muroto, Kochi Prefecture. Six miles of the route are along a rural railway line, with the rest in bus mode.
With a capacity of 23, including passengers and crew, the DMV is a diesel-powered bus fitted with a set of retractable rail wheels which can be deployed in about 15 seconds. Lighter than a traditional train, the DMV also consumes less fuel and is cheaper to maintain.
Billed as “the world’s first operational dual-mode vehicle,” it is actually the latest in a long series of similar experiments to improve rural rail services and reduce their costs. As far back as the 1930s, road buses were converted into railcars in Ireland and similar vehicles to the DMV were tested in England in the 1930s and West Germany in the 1950s.
Tokushima prefectural government hopes the DMV buses will become a tourist draw in their own right. It also believes that the vehicles could also be useful for reaching isolated communities in the event of natural disasters such as earthquakes, which can leave sections of roads or railway lines unusable.
Not far from the wonderful city of Sydney is a railway experience unlike anything else in the world. Situated in the heart of the Blue Mountains, the Katoomba Scenic Railway is another contender for the title of the world’s steepest railway. But, unlike Switzerland’s Stoosbahn, this railway delivers a hair-raising descent down sandstone cliffs and through epic rock formations and tunnels perched over a stunning rainforest landscape.
Glass-roofed cars take up to 84 visitors per trip down the 52-degree (128%) incline, although if you’re feeling brave you can adjust the angle of your seat to the “Cliffhanger” position at 64 degrees. Fortunately, there’s also a “Laidback” option for the less adventurous.
The rope-hauled railway dates back to the late-1800s when it was part of the Katoomba mining tramways, but since 1945 the remaining line has been a thrilling tourist attraction. More than 25 million people have braved the trip since it opened and the latest generation of cars feature panoramic roofs, allowing visitors to get an even better view of the forest canopy and rock formations.
High speed trains have proved their worth across the world over the past 50 years.
It’s not just in reducing journey times, but more importantly, it’s in driving economic growth, creating jobs and bringing communities closer together. China, Japan and Europe lead the way.
So why doesn’t the United States have a high-speed rail network like those?
For the richest and most economically successful nation on the planet, with an increasingly urbanized population of more than 300 million, it’s a position that is becoming more difficult to justify.
Although Japan started the trend with its Shinkansen “Bullet Trains” in 1964, it was the advent of France’s TGV in the early 1980s that really kick-started a global high-speed train revolution that continues to gather pace.
But it’s a revolution that has so far bypassed the United States. Americans are still almost entirely reliant on congested highways or the headache-inducing stress of an airport and airline network prone to meltdowns.
China has built around 26,000 miles (42,000 kilometers) of dedicated high-speed railways since 2008 and plans to top 43,000 miles (70,000 kilometers) by 2035.
“Many Americans have no concept of high-speed rail and fail to see its value. They are hopelessly stuck with a highway and airline mindset,” says William C. Vantuono, editor-in-chief of Railway Age, North America’s oldest railroad industry publication.
Cars and airliners have dominated long-distance travel in the United States since the 1950s, rapidly usurping a network of luxurious passenger trains with evocative names such as “The Empire Builder,” “Super Chief” and “Silver Comet.”
Deserted by Hollywood movie stars and business travelers, famous railroads such as the New York Central were largely bankrupt by the early 1970s, handing over their loss-making trains to Amtrak, the national passenger train operator founded in 1971.
In the decades since that traumatic retrenchment, US freight railroads have largely flourished. Passenger rail seems to have been a very low priority for US lawmakers.
Powerful airline, oil and auto industry lobbies in Washington have spent millions maintaining that superiority, but their position is weakening in the face of environmental concerns and worsening congestion.
Some of this will be invested in repairing Amtrak’s crumbling Northeast Corridor (NEC) linking Boston, New York and Washington.
There are also big plans to bring passenger trains back to many more cities across the nation – providing fast, sustainable travel to cities and regions that have not seen a passenger train for decades.
Add to this the success of the privately funded Brightline operation in Florida, which has been given the green light to build a $10 billion high-speed rail link between Los Angeles and Las Vegas by 2027, plus schemes in California, Texas and the proposed Cascadia route linking Portland, Oregon, with Seattle and Vancouver, and the United States at last appears to be on the cusp of a passenger rail revolution.
“Every president since Ronald Reagan has talked about the pressing need to improve infrastructure across the USA, but they’ve always had other, bigger priorities to deal with,” says Scott Sherin, chief commercial officer of train builder Alstom’s US division.
“But now there’s a huge impetus to get things moving – it’s a time of optimism. If we build it, they will come. As an industry, we’re maturing, and we’re ready to take the next step. It’s time to focus on passenger rail.”
Sherin points out that other public services such as highways and airports are “massively subsidized,” so there shouldn’t be an issue with doing the same for rail.
“We need to do a better job of articulating the benefits of high-speed rail – high-quality jobs, economic stimulus, better connectivity than airlines – and that will help us to build bipartisan support,” he adds. “High-speed rail is not the solution for everything, but it has its place.”
Only Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor has trains that can travel at speeds approaching those of the 300 kilometers per hour (186 mph) TGV and Shinkansen.
Even here, Amtrak Acela trains currently max out at 150 mph – and only in short bursts. Maximum speeds elsewhere are closer to 100 mph on congested tracks shared with commuter and freight trains.
This year, Amtrak plans to introduce its new generation Avelia Liberty trains to replace the life-expired Acelas on the NEC.
Capable of reaching 220 mph (although they’ll be limited to 160 mph on the NEC), the trains will bring Alstom’s latest high-speed rail technology to North America.
The locomotives at each end – known as power cars – are close relatives of the next generation TGV-M trains, scheduled to debut in France in 2024.
Sitting between the power cars are the passenger vehicles, which use Alstom’s Tiltronix technology to run faster through curves by tilting their bodies, much like a MotoGP rider does. And it’s not just travelers who will benefit.
“When Amtrak awarded the contract to Alstom in 2015 to 2016, the company had around 200 employees in Hornell,” says Shawn D. Hogan, former mayor of the city of Hornell in New York state.
“That figure is now nearer 900, with hiring continuing at a fast pace. I calculate that there has been a total public/private investment of more than $269 million in our city since 2016, including a new hotel, a state-of-the-art hospital and housing developments.
“It is a transformative economic development project that is basically unheard of in rural America and if it can happen here, it can happen throughout the United States.”
Alstom has spent almost $600 million on building a US supply chain for its high-speed trains – more than 80% of the train is made in the United States, with 170 suppliers across 27 states.
“High-speed rail is already here. Avelia Liberty was designed jointly with our European colleagues, so we have what we need for ‘TGV-USA’,” adds Sherin.
“It’s all proven tech from existing trains. We’re ready to go when the infrastructure arrives.”
And those new lines could arrive sooner than you might think.
In March, Brightline confirmed plans to begin construction on a 218-mile (351-kilometer) high-speed line between Rancho Cucamonga, near Los Angeles, and Las Vegas, carving a path through the San Bernardino Mountains and across the desert, following the Interstate 15 corridor.
The 200 mph line will slash times to little more than one hour – a massive advantage over the four-hour average by car or five to seven hours by bus – when it opens in 2027.
Mike Reininger, CEO of Brightline Holdings, says: “As the most shovel-ready high-speed rail project in the United States, we are one step closer to leveling the playing field against transit and infrastructure projects around the world, and we are proud to be using America’s most skilled workers to get there.”
Brightline West expects to inject around $10 billion worth of benefits into the region’s economy, creating about 35,000 construction jobs, as well as 1,000 permanent jobs in maintenance, operations and customer service in Southern California and Nevada.
It will also mark the return of passenger trains to Las Vegas after a 30-year hiatus – Amtrak canceled its “Desert Wind” route in 1997.
Meanwhile, construction is progressing on another high-speed line through the San Joaquin Valley.
Set to open around 2030, California High Speed Rail (CHSR) will run from Merced to Bakersfield (171 miles) at speeds of up to 220 mph.
Coupled with proposed upgrades to commuter rail lines at either end, this project could eventually allow high-speed trains to run the 350 miles (560 kilometers) between Los Angeles to San Francisco metropolitan areas in just two hours and 40 minutes.
CHSR has been on the table as far back as 1996, but its implementation has been controversial.
Disagreements over the route, management issues, delays in land acquisition and construction, cost over-runs and inadequate funding for completing the entire system have plagued the project – despite the economic benefits it will deliver as well as reducing pollution and congestion. Around 10,000 people are already employed on the project.
Costing $63 billion to $98 billion, depending on the final extent of the scheme, CHSR is to connect six of the 10 largest cities in the state and provide the same capacity as 4,200 miles of new highway lanes, 91 additional airport gates and two new airport runways costing between $122 billion and $199 billion.
With California’s population expected to grow to more than 45 million by 2050, high-speed rail offers the best value solution to keep the state from grinding to a smoggy halt.
Brightline West and CHSR offer templates for the future expansion of high-speed rail in North America.
By focusing on pairs of cities or regions that are too close for air travel and too far apart for car drivers, transportation planners can predict which corridors offer the greatest potential.
“It’s logical that the US hasn’t yet developed a nationwide high-speed network,” says Sherin. “For decades, traveling by car wasn’t a hardship, but as highway congestion gets worse, we’ve reached a stage where we should start looking more seriously at the alternatives.
“The magic numbers are centers of population with around three million people that are 200 to 500 miles apart, giving a trip time of less than three hours – preferably two hours.
“Where those conditions apply in Europe and Asia, high-speed rail reduces air’s share of the market from 100% to near zero. The model would work just as well in the USA as it does globally.”
Sherin points to the success of the original generation of Acela trains as evidence of this.
“When the first generation Acela trains started running between New York City and Washington in 2000, Amtrak attracted so many travelers that the airlines stopped running their frequent ‘shuttles’ between the two cities,” he adds.
However, industry observer Vantuono is more pessimistic.
“A US high-speed rail network is a pipe dream,” he says. “A lack of political support and federal financial support combined with the kind of fierce landowner opposition that CHSR has faced in California means that the challenges for new high-speed projects are enormous.”
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), urban and high-speed rail hold “major promise to unlock substantial benefits” in reducing global transport emissions.
Dr. Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director, argues that rail transport is “often neglected” in public debates about future transport systems – and this is especially true in North America.
“Despite the advent of cars and airplanes, rail of all types has continued to evolve and thrive,” adds Birol.
Globally, around three-quarters of rail passenger movements are made on electric-powered vehicles, putting the mode in a unique position to take advantage of the rise in renewable energy over the coming decades.
Here, too, the United States lags far behind the rest of the world, with electrification almost unheard of away from the NEC.
Rail networks in SouthKorea, Japan, Europe, China and Russia are more than 60% electrified, according to IEA figures, the highest share of track electrification being South Korea at around 85%.
In North America, on the other hand, less than 5% of rail routes are electrified.
The enormous size of the United States and its widely dispersed population mitigates against the creation of a single, unified network of the type being built in China and proposed for Europe.
Air travel is likely to remain the preferred option for transcontinental journeys that can be more than 3,000 miles (around 4,828 kilometers).
But there are many shorter inter-city travel corridors where high-speed rail, or a combination of new infrastructure and upgraded railroad tracks or tilting trains, could eventually provide an unbeatable alternative to air travel and highways.
Amtrak is restoring service after a slew of train cancellations, primarily in the Midwest due to “a rail-industry control system that continues to experience intermittent communications issues,” according to Amtrak spokesperson W. Kyle Anderson.
The industry control system is used to connect to other railroads, Anderson said. Amtrak trains can operate on freight rail lines, so the trains have to connect to freight railroads to begin their journey – that communication was down.
The system issues began early Friday morning, Amtrak said.
On Friday, Amtrak began tweeting that several trains – many in and out of Chicago – had been canceled. Amtrak’s alert feed on Twitter was still announcing cancellations Sunday morning.
CNN has reached out for comment on how many trains were canceled.
At least two people were killed, and 16 others were injured after a train derailed north of Cairo on Tuesday, according to Egypt’s Health Ministry.
The train crashed into a train station platform in the city of Qalyub, the Ministry of Transport said in statement.
About 20 ambulances rushed to the scene to assist the wounded.
Kamel El-Wazir, Egyptian transport minister, has ordered a committee to be formed to find out what caused the derailment and “to identify those responsible and limit the damage” the statement added.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has apologized for one of the country’s worst train crashes in years, saying “We cannot, will not, and must not hide behind human error.”
A passenger train carrying more than 350 people collided with a freight train on Tuesday evening in Tempi, near the city of Larissa, killing at least 57 people and injuring scores more.
Demonstrators have been pouring onto the streets in the wake of the deadly crash, with widespread anger over the country’s railway safety record. Fresh unrest broke out on Sunday, with protesters clashing with police in Athens in scenes that are expected to be seen across the country.
“This crime should not be covered up, we will be the voice of all the dead,” was one of the slogans during Sunday’s protest in Athens.
In a statement, Mitsotakis said it should not be possible for two trains moving in opposite directions “to be on the same track and not be noticed by anyone.”
“As prime minister, I owe everyone, but above all to the relatives of the victims, a big sorry. Both personally, and in the name of all those who ruled the country for years,” Mitsotakis said.
The reference to human error marks a change of tone from the prime minister. In the aftermath of the collision he blamed “tragic human error.”
His latest statement though suggested systematic problems in the Greek railway network, promising announcements in the coming days to “immediately improve the safety of the railways.”
On Thursday after a train station manager was arrested in Larissa in connection with the collision, Greek authorities made public dispatch recordings revealing that one of the train drivers involved had received instructions to ignore a red light.
Greece has a poor record of railway passenger safety compared with other countries in Europe, recording the highest railway fatality rate per million train kilometers from 2018 to 2020 among 28 nations on the continent, according to a 2022 report from the European Union Agency for Railways.
The head-on collision left toppled carriages and scorched debris in its wake. Many of those on board were young people returning home from a holiday weekend.
The country’s transport minister resigned in the wake of the tragedy and a rail workers’ union went on strike, accusing the government of neglecting the system.
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