If you Google high-speed rail, whatever comes up with have a Siemens ad on it. Siemens, an old time German manufacturer in the electric equipment business, is very much in the high-speed rail business. Their lobbyists have been working the halls of government in the US like crazy. They are advertising at airports and on television. They see the US as a potential bottomless plastic credit card.
Yes, there's gobs of money to be made on high-speed rail. Only not for the HSR operators. They will need eternal subsidies. But the contractors, consultants, manufacturers and all the ancillary businesses. . . they stand to make fortunes on our tax dollars.
And, that's what this HSR program and project are all about; not the train, the money! And politics is the "rolling stock" for this pork train.
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http://www.earthtechling.com/2011/05/high-speed-rail-nets-10-billion-in-germany/
High Speed Rail Nets $10 Billion In Germany
by Aaron Colter, May 28th, 2011
Siemens has signed a contract with German transit company Deutsche Bahn to build up to 300 new high speed trains, in a deal worth reportedly worth near $10 billion. Under the agreement that will remain intact until 2030, at least 130 trains will be ordered immediately, which others planned in the coming years.
The trains, called the ICx, will built in two different models – one a seven part unit with three power driven cars and 499 seats which can travel at speeds up to approximately 125 miles per hour, and the other a ten-part unit with five power driven cars and 724 seats, with a top speed of around 155 miles per hour.
The high speed rail trains, which the companies claim are 30% more efficient than current models in operation due, in part, to being roughly 20 tons lighter in weight, will be manufactured entirely in Germany.
Before full-scale production, two trainsets will undergo 14 months of testing for safety and performance data gathering. The first trains are being planned for public service sometime in 2016.
