abstract: In the U.S., high-speed passenger rail has recently become an active political topic, with multiple corridors currently being considered through federal and state level initiatives. One frequently cited benefit of high-speed rail proposals is that they offer a transition to a more sustainable transportation system with reduced greenhouse gas emissions and fossil energy consumption. This study investigates the feasibility of high-speed rail development as a long-term greenhouse gas emission mitigation strategy while considering major uncertainties in the technological and operational characteristics of intercity travel. First, I develop a general model for evaluating the emissions impact of intercity travel modes. This model incorporates aspects of life-cycle assessment and technological forecasting. The model is then used to compare future scenarios of energy and greenhouse gas emissions associated with the development of high-speed rail and other intercity travel technologies. Three specific rail corridors are evaluated and policy guidelines are developed regarding the emissions impacts of these investments. The results suggest prioritizing high-speed rail investments on short, dense corridors with fewer stops. Likewise, less emphasis should be placed on larger investments that require long construction times due to risks associated with payback of embedded emissions as competing technology improves. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Sustainability 2011

High-speed corridor is the future of travellibg. Many Eauropian states have begun with building it a few years ago and it works well. The Czech Republic still does not have this form of transport, but due to the location it will be necessary to build high quality railways even here for the future connection across Europe. This thesis deals with the construction of high-speed train stop (the HST) nearby the airport Brno Turany. The service follows the previous semestral work - Brno main railway station. The HST station building is drafted as a bridge over the rail and the platforms, it works not only as a check-in and waiting area but also like a pedestrian crossing over the corridor. The solid responds to the airport nearby and used bridge construction to smartly takes roof up. Public parts are at ground level, technical background and maintenance are located along the platforms below the ground level.

After decades of standstill in intercity passenger rail in the United States, the Obama administration recently started major initiatives to implement high-speed ground transportation projects that are expected to improve the nation's transportation system significantly, addressing most prevailing issues like congestion and energy prices while having positive effects on the economy. This study evaluates and compares two high-speed ground transportation systems that have the potential to improve intercity passenger transportation in the United States significantly: the wheel-on-rail high-speed system and the high-speed maglev system. Both high-speed ground transportation systems were evaluated with respect to 58 characteristics organized into 7 categories associated with technology, environmental impacts, economic considerations, user-friendliness, operations, political factors, and safety. Based on the performance of each system in each of the 58 characteristics, benefit values were assigned. In order to weight the relative importance of the different characteristics, a survey was conducted with transportation departments and transportation professionals. The survey produced weighting factors scoring each of the 58 characteristics and the 7 categories. Applying a multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) approach, the overall utility values for either system were calculated based on the benefit values from the systems comparison and the weighting factors from the survey. It was shown that the high-speed maglev system is generally slightly superior over the wheel-on-rail high-speed system. Because the magnitude of the difference in the overall performance of both transportation systems is not very big, it is recommended that every project in the high-speed intercity passenger transportation market consider both HSGT systems equally.

Changes in climate caused by changes in anthropogenic (i.e. "man-made") greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have become a major public policy issue in countries all over the world. With an estimated 28.4% of these emissions attributed to the transportation sector, attention is being focused on strategies aimed at reducing transportation GHG emissions. Quantifying the change in GHG emissions due to such strategies is one of the most challenging aspects of integrating GHG emissions and climate change into transportation planning and policy analysis; the inventory techniques and methods for estimating the impact of different strategies and policies are still relatively unsophisticated. This research developed a method for estimating intercity passenger transportation energy and carbon footprints and applied this method to three US DOT-designated high speed rail (HSR) corridors in the U.S.-- San Francisco/Los Angeles/San Diego; Seattle/Portland/Eugene, and Philadelphia/Harrisburg/Pittsburg. The methodology consists of estimating the number of trips by mode, estimating the direct CO₂ emissions, and estimating indirect CO₂ emissions. For each study corridor the impacts of different strategies and policies on carbon dioxide emissions were estimated as an illustration of the policy application of the developed methodology. The largest gain in CO₂ savings can be achieved by strategies aiming at automobile emissions, due to its sizeable share as main mode and access/egress mode to and from airports and bus and train stations: an average fuel economy of 35.5 mpg would result in a 38-42% savings of total CO₂ emissions; replacing 25% of gasoline use with cellulosic ethanol can have a positive impact on CO₂ emissions of about 13.4-14.5%; and a 10% market share for electric vehicles would result in potential CO₂ savings of 3.4-7.8%. The impact of a 20% or 35% improvement in aircraft efficiency on CO₂ savings is much lower (0.88-3.65%) than the potential impacts of the policies targeting automobile emissions. Three HSR options were analyzed using Volpe's long-distance demand model: HSR125, HSR150, and HSR200. Only the HSR150 and HSR200 would result in CO₂ savings, and then just for two of the three corridors: the Pacific Northwest (1.5%) and California (0.8-0.9%). With increased frequency and load factors, a HSR150 system could result in CO₂ savings of 5.2% and 1.8% for the Pacific Northwest and California, respectively. This would require a mode shift from auto of 5-6%. This shift in auto mode share would mainly have to be a result of pricing strategies. From these results, HSR may not be such an obvious choice, however, with increased ridership and diversions from other modes, CO₂ savings increase significantly due to the lower emissions per passenger mile for HSR. The framework developed in this study has the ability to determine the GHG emissions for such HSR options and increased diversions.

高速鐵路的興建與營運，除為臺灣交通運輸開啟新紀元外，而以大眾運輸導向為概念劃設之高鐵特定區亦為新市鎮開發以及大眾運輸導向（Transit-Oriented Development, TOD）建立代表性意義。由於高鐵特定區土地開發具備大眾運輸導向之代表性意義，而究竟影響高鐵特定區內住宅土地價格之因素為何?高鐵站對於特定區內之土地價格影響為何?鄰近高鐵車站或位於高鐵前站，是否有助於土地價格之提升?總體經濟環境是否為影響特定區內土地價格之重要因素，其影響程度為何?實為值得探討之問題。 經本研究證實，影響高鐵特定區住宅土地價格之因素包括面臨道路寬度、與高鐵站距離以及與高鐵站距離平方以及土地處分前一季經濟成長率、土地處分前一季住宅建照核發面積與土地處分前一月銀行業基準放款利率等因素，其中除與高鐵站距離以及與高鐵站距離平方一項變數外，其餘顯著變數皆與過去文獻及本研究預期相符合。本研究亦證實與高鐵站距離以及與高鐵站距離平方與土地價格間，呈現先正後負之曲線關係，故與高鐵站具有相當距離者，其可兼具交通便捷性及居住寧適性，購地者亦願意支付較高土地價格。 其次，是否位於高鐵前站之變數，並不具顯著性且未符合本研究預期，認為其主因係特定區尚未發展成熟且區內土地多未開發，故尚無法發揮原預期效益，加上實際發展係以後站開發較為成熟且多數通勤人潮往來之出入口處，如高鐵新竹車站、高鐵台中車站等，故造成此一變數非為影響高鐵特定區住宅土地價格之主因。

Travel demand models are a useful tool to assess transportation projects. Within travel demand, long-distance trips represent a significant amount of the total vehicle-kilometers travelled, in contrast to commuting trips. Consequently, they pay a relevant role in the economic, social and environmental impacts of transportation. This paper describes the development of a microscopic long-distance travel demand model for the Province of Ontario (Canada) and analyzes the sensitivity to the implementation of a new high speed rail corridor. Trip generation, destination choice and mode choice models were developed for this research. Multinomial logit models were estimated and calibrated using the Travel Survey for Residents in Canada (TSRC). It was complemented with location-based social network data from Foursquare, improving the description of activities and diverse land uses at the destinations. Level of service of the transit network was defined by downloading trip time, frequency and fare using the planning service Rome2rio. New scenarios were generated to simulate the impacts of a new high speed rail corridor by varying rail travel times, frequencies and fares of the rail services. As a result, a significant increase of rail modal shares was measured, directly proportional to speed and frequency and inversely proportional to price.

Cette recherche a pour objet le transport ferroviaire interurbain de passagers aux Etats-Unis dans une double acception : les services ferroviaires classiques d’Amtrak et les projets de grande vitesse ferroviaire. Il s’agit de comprendre comment les politiques publiques concernant le mode ferroviaire fonctionnent, ce qu’elles contiennent et la manière dont elles sont élaborées et portées par les différents acteurs. L’originalité de la recherche repose sur son approche multiscalaire avec un aller-retour continu entre les différentes échelles d’analyse et sur son ambition d’analyser la territorialisation des politiques en faveur du mode ferroviaire interurbain grâce à plusieurs études de cas. L’analyse met en évidence le fait que s’impose une approche bottom-up pour le portage des projets, c’est le cas notamment pour le projet californien de GVF californien et la modernisation du corridor des Cascades. Cette logique est même poussée à l’extrême avec la multiplication de ces projets ferroviaires privés qui revendiquent leur indépendance par rapport à la puissance publique tant en termes de prise de décision que de gouvernance ou de financement. Cela semble éloigner définitivement toute tentative de définition d’un schéma national pour la grande vitesse ferroviaire, sur le modèle de ce qui s’est passé dans les pays historiques de la GVF, au-delà des considérations partisanes – c’est-à-dire de l’engagement traditionnellement plus fort du parti démocrate dans les grands investissements fédéraux. Deux conclusions en ressortent : en premier lieu, une uniformisation de cet argumentaire et des préconisations pour encourager de nouvelles politiques ferroviaires – effets structurants, rôle économique de la grande vitesse, lutte contre la congestion, report modal ; en second lieu, un engagement à toutes les échelles, tangible mais à divers degrés, des acteurs publics en faveur du mode ferroviaire. Il n’y a pas de projets, portés par des acteurs publics, de nouvelles lignes exclusivement réservées à la GVF. L’essentiel des corridors à grande vitesse concerne des corridors à vitesse élevée (higher speed rail) dont certains ont vocation à devenir à plus ou moins long terme à grande vitesse comme le corridor Nord-Est. Le projet californien, quant à lui, repose en partie sur la réalisation d’une nouvelle infrastructure mais aussi sur l’utilisation de tronçons existants améliorés. La territorialisation des projets ferroviaires passe par la conception et la mise en œuvre de réseaux de transport davantage intégrés – au moins sur le plan de la desserte et de la connexion physique – selon une véritable logique réticulaire. Après analyse des projets de modernisation de corridors à vitesse élevée et de construction de nouvelles infrastructures, nous constatons l’importance des gares et une mise à l’agenda d’une meilleure coordination entre transports et urbanisme par le soutien aux quartiers de gare. En effet, un projet de corridor ferroviaire, qui se trouve au croisement d’intérêts politiques, économiques, techniques et territoriaux, est bien au centre d’un processus de territorialisation qui inscrit matériellement l’infrastructure dans les espaces urbains, et d’un processus de politisation par une mobilisation des acteurs locaux. Les projets ferroviaires apparaissent comme un instrument permettant l’implantation d’équipements à l’échelle métropolitaine (gares, pôles intermodaux) et la structuration ou la reconfiguration du tissu urbain (quartiers de gare, projets plus vastes de renouvellement d’un quartier) / The subject of this research is intercity passenger rail transportation in the United States, approached from two perspectives: Amtrak’s traditional rail services and high-speed rail projects. The aim is to understand the workings of public rail transportation policies, what they contain, and how they are developed and pursued by the different actors. The originality of the research lies in its multiscale approach, with a constant back-and-forth between the different scales of analysis, and in its use of several case studies to analyze the territorialization of intercity rail transportation policies. The analysis demonstrates the emergence of a bottom-up approach to projects, notably apparent in the Californian HSR project and in the modernization of the Cascades corridor. This process has even gone to the extreme with the proliferation of private rail projects that stress their independence from government, be it in decision-making, governance, or funding. This seems definitively to preclude any attempt to establish a national framework for high-speed rail, like those found elsewhere in the world, regardless of party-political considerations, i.e. the traditionally greater enthusiasm of the Democratic Party for large-scale federal investment. Two conclusions emerge: first, the development of uniform arguments and recommendations to encourage new rail policies, emphasizing the structuring effects and economic role of high-speed rail, congestion reduction, modal shift; second, a tangible though uneven pro-rail position among public actors at all levels. Priority is placed on improving and modernizing existing corridors for the launch of higher-speed services, and then on hybrid networks that combine different types of infrastructures. There are no publicly backed projects for new lines exclusively dedicated to high-speed rail. Most of the high-speed corridors are in fact “higher-speed” corridors, some of which are intended to become high-speed at some time in the future, such as the Northeast corridor. The territorialization of rail projects entails the design and construction of transportation networks that are more integrated – at least in terms of service provision and physical connection – and genuinely interconnected. After analyzing projects for the upgrading of higher-speed corridors and the construction of new infrastructures, we note the importance of stations and the emphasis on the need for better coordination between transportation and urbanism through support for station districts. Indeed, a rail corridor project – situated at the intersection of political, economic, technical, and territorial interests – is the nucleus of a process of territorialization that materially embeds the infrastructure within urban spaces, and of a process of politicization through the involvement of local actors. Rail projects seem to be an instrument that leads to the implantation of metropolitan scale facilities (stations, intermodal hubs) and to the shaping or reshaping of the urban fabric (station districts, larger-scale district regeneration projects)

High-speed railway, as a modern means of transport with convenient, fast and mass transport volume characteristics, plays a significant role on regional development. Since 2008, in order to react to the influence of international financial crisis, China began the mass construction of high-speed rail. With the rapid construction, China has the longest mileage of high-speed rail in 2014. On the one hand, China enjoys the benefits of improved accessibility. On the other hand, many scholars think the expectations of high-speed rail are a bit exaggerated. In order to knowing and predicting the effects of high-speed rail objectively, the thesis tries to study how high-speed rail promotes the regional development in the Yangtze River Delta region of China, based on the experiences in Stockholm-Mälar Region of Sweden. The study in Stockholm-Mälar region suggests that: high-speed rail improve the overall accessibility in the region, and land along high-speed line and around station has better accessibility; frequent and easier commuting promotes regional integration; high-speed rail, on the one hand, strengthens the central position of regional center, on the other hand, brings more and equal opportunities for regional cities; moreover, large cities with good accessibility have the potential to grow up to the sub-centers. Combined with the experiences in the Stockholm-Mälar region and self-development situation, the development in the Yangtze River Delta region under the impacts of high-speed rail have following trends: first, high-speed rail promote the reorganize of urban system through the growth of new regional sub-centers and flat development; second, high-speed rail guides the reorganization of regional spatial structure, which mainly reflects in the urban land and regional cities distribute along the high-speed rail corridor; third, high-speed rail increases potential of regional commuting and accelerates the regional integration, and commuting trends will appear from major cities to Shanghai and peripheral cities to sub-centers; fourth, high-speed rail might bring positive effects (e.g. the radiation effect of regional central city) and negative effects (e.g. siphon effect, the outflow of city population and resources) for regional cities. In addition, aiming to the existing and possible issues, two supportive strategies are proposed about regional governance and urban public transportation development.

The aim of this master’s thesis is the design of railway junction from high-speed rail RS1 Bohumín – Přerov to railway station Hranice na Moravě at a speed 160 of kph. The design has been developed with minimisation of land occupation and the minimisation of engineering structures. The next aim is the design of two pairs of railroad switch on the high-speed rail. Part of the thesis is the design of the railway substructure, railway superstructure and track drainage.

This study investigated the potential for development of station catchment areas around the proposed California High-Speed Rail System. The study was prompted by a review of practices of Japanese railway company groups that engage not only in train operations, but also in business diversification and property development within the station areas of their lines. These actions allow the company groups to diversify their revenues streams, increase ridership on their lines, and operate as a whole with net profits. This is in contrast to transit agencies in the United States, which only focus on transporting passengers along their lines and do not engage in other commercial activities. This situation limits the potential for transit in the United States to play a larger role in urban transportation. With the implementation of the California High-Speed Rail System, an opportunity exists to introduce the commercial transit model seen in Japan to the United States. Since the California High-Speed Rail System is a brand-new system with few entrenched interests to impede change, it has the potential to lead as an example of transit operating with net profits and providing additional benefits to the station areas it serves. However, since planning for station areas to turn into commercially successful activity centers is still a new concept and practice in the United States, a methodology has to be developed to assess the potential for development of station areas. This study set out to answer the two questions: 1) To what extent are the locations of the California High-Speed Rail System’s planned stations currently attractive to development within their respective contexts? 2) Given the information gathered from the study, what policies should be taken to enhance the future development potential of the California High-Speed Rail System’s planned stations as activity centers within their respective station areas? The potential for development was quantified by calculating accessibility indices for each station catchment area using the inputs of number of jobs, population size, and number of housing units within a gravity model. The results of the analysis indicate that the station areas at the ends of the alignment in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area will benefit the most. The next biggest beneficiaries are the major population centers in the San Joaquin Valley, which are Fresno and Bakersfield. Other stations that are not likely enjoy the benefits of a high-speed rail connection as much as other stations are those that have very little development around them currently, such as Kings Tulare and Madera. However, the potential exists for all stations to enjoy substantial development opportunities if the proper plans, policies, and business strategies are implemented early on and at the corridor level to make the station areas attractive for development. The study makes the following recommendations: Promote the commercialization of train operations and station areas to capitalize on their long-term economic value; Integrate the planning, construction, ownership, and management of train operations and station area development and services to reduce transaction costs; Develop plans or business strategies for each station area to create roadmaps and timelines for their development; And plan for land use activities at station areas on a corridor level to capitalize on specific synergies between station origin-destination pairs (e.g., land use activities that accommodate long-distance travelers between the San Francisco Bay Area and the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, or those that accommodate commuter needs between up-and-coming station areas in the San Joaquin Valley with major job centers).