A US company has partnered with a China Railway Group-led consortium to build a high-speed railway between Las Vegas and Los Angeles. The venture, called XpressWest, will travel the 230 miles separating the two cities at 150 mph. Earlier proposals for a high-speed train on this route were made, but never got far in development.
The US Railroad
The railroad expansion and consolidation coincided with the Gilded Age of US history. It’s how Railroad Dynasties like the Vanderbilts made their fortune. Although once the preferred way to travel by the elite of American society, trains were eventually replaced by planes with the advent of airlines such as Pan Am and Concorde in the 1950s and 1960s. Currently, the US is far behind in high-speed train technology compared to other advanced economies like Japan, Germany, and France. This may change if the US-China project in the western US is realized.
China Benefits from US High-Speed Railway
For years, China has been trying to market its high-speed railway technology to advanced economies. “This is the first high-speed railway project where China and the U.S. willl have systematic cooperation,” Yang Zhongmin, a deputy chief engineer with China Railway Group, said after a news conference in Beijing. “It shows the advancement of China-made high-speed railways.” Negotiations on the project began four years ago, and $100 million initial capital has already been raised.
The Golden Age of High-Speed Railway
The Tokaido Shinkansen in Japan opened in 1964 and is considered a breakthrough in the development of high-speed trains. While Japan continues to dominate the industry, Germany (InterCityExpress), Italy (RENFE), and France (SNCG) have also joined the ranks. China’s Shanghai Maglev Train is the fastest with a peak operational speed of 268 mph.
Projects comparable to XpressWest are underway in the US as well. A private venture seeks to link Dallas and Houston in Texas, and California is in the nascent phases of its own high-speed railway project.
US project leaders maintain that it will benefit by creating jobs and advancing American high-speed railway technology. However, the project has been hit with criticism by those who view it as disruptive, as well as a waste of time and money.
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China and US Partner on High-Speed Railway
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