Siemens’ High-Speed Rail: These “Cars” Get 700 Miles-Per-Gallon
by David Fessler, Energy and Infrastructure Expert
Friday, June 11, 2010: Issue #1279
America has a “waiting problem.”
Think about the time you spend waiting in traffic jams… at the doctor/dentist’s office… at restaurants… at the gas station.
And how about the six months of your life spent waiting at traffic lights? Or the five years you’ll spend just waiting in lines at retail stores, the post office, DMV, etc. (Early buyers of Apple’s products likely spend far more.)
And according to Robert Poole, Director of Transportation Policy at the Reason Foundation, the average air traveler now spends two to three hours waiting at the airport. Granted, much of that is due to more rigorous security screening – time that is generally well spent – but air travel delays and traffic jams are only going to get worse, as more people take to the skies and roads.
In short, we wait an average of 45 to 62 minutes every single day. And that’s less time spent with family and friends, or doing other more productive, enjoyable activities.
Other countries have already recognized the problem and have addressed it for years. But the United States has failed miserably. So how can we improve our “waiting efficiency?” There’s a solution…
A Great Idea… Until Henry Ford Drove it Off the Rails
It’s called high-speed passenger rail.
I’ll get to the high-speed part in a moment. First, a quick overview of the U.S. rail service today.
Much of America’s freight still travels by rail. In fact, more than two billion tons plowed across the country in 2007 (the latest data available). It’s the transport mainstay for coal, lumber and other heavy industrial products and machinery.
Passenger rail service in the United States dates all the way back to 1830 when the “Best Friend of Charleston” – the first steam-powered train – traveled six miles with 141 passengers on board.
Boston, Baltimore and other major cities quickly established major railroads, due to the lack of river access to U.S. inland areas. And the idea of being able to travel, regardless of weather conditions – and at high speeds, too – was a big hit with most Americans.
As a result, passenger rail service soared…
- Even without government subsidies – which had disappeared by 1870 – rail travel jumped by 300% between 1896 and 1916.
- Until 1910, trains carried 95% of intercity passengers.
- U.S. rail travel hit its peak in 1920 when trains carried a total of 1.2 billion passengers.
But then Henry Ford came along and changed the playing field. When he introduced the mass-produced automobile in the following decade, rail travel fell by 18%.
And today?
700 Miles and a Tank of Gas Later…
Fast-forward to 2010…
You’d think that in today’s high-tech age, we could combine speed with efficiency and wouldn’t spend so long waiting. But that’s not the case. And with transportation, it’s an increasingly expensive wait for most Americans.
Take the average car, for instance. Fully loaded with five passengers, it gets about 100 passenger-miles-per-gallon (PMPG).
And according to the Department of Energy, the average passenger jet only gets about 36 PMPG. Of course, the trade-off there is speed.
But how about that speed/low-cost equation? Especially for regional travel? Europe and Asia already manage it. And we can here, too.
The answer lies in the method that squeezes out 700 PMPG.
You got it… high-speed trains. You can string their “cars” together and carry far more passengers than the average commercial jetliner. And these trains blast along at speeds of nearly 250 MPH.
So which company is behind this rapid rail transportation?
This Company Feels the Need… the Need for Speed
Take a quick jaunt around the globe and you’ll see this company’s trains in use all over the place…
- Spain has 26 high-speed rail trains that bridge the distance between Barcelona and Madrid.
- Russia a high-speed train link between Moscow and St. Petersburg. Eight trains are currently in service, with 54 more on order.
- The German railway system has just ordered 15 high-speed trains from this company.
- And the Chinese have taken delivery of 60 high-speed trains from this firm – with orders placed for over 100 more.
The company we’re talking about is Siemens AG (NYSE: SI) – the largest manufacturer of high-speed trains in the world.
Its Valero high-speed train technology is the world’s most successful. Siemens currently has 160 trains in operation and hundreds more on order.
And for speed-hungry America, it’s the perfect fit…
“All Aboard!”
Siemens is pushing hard to get its Valero high-speed train technology widely adopted across the U.S. rail network. Interest is high, too. There are several high-speed rail projects in the works…
- California plans to spend $2 billion to build a 220 MPH high-speed rail system that would initially connect Anaheim to Los Angeles. Eventual expansion of the system would link Southern California with the San Francisco Bay Area.
- Florida is throwing $1.25 billion in to jump-start an 84-mile, high-speed rail line between Orlando and the Tampa area. Future expansions would eventually extend all the way to Miami.
- The Midwest has plans to link Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City together. More than $2 billion is earmarked to upgrade existing rail lines, which would be able to support trains blasting along at up to 150 MPH.
Critics argue that few people will ride the high-speed rails. But frankly, that’s a myopic view. They’re not counting on expensive gasoline, because cheap gas is a thing of the past.
As if further proof were needed, U.S. politicians simply need to look around the world to see what other countries are investing in transportation and energy infrastructure.
They need to roll up their sleeves and get the same things going here.
And while you wait, you might want to hop onboard the Siemens train and pick up a few shares.
Good investing,
David Fessler
Any investment contains risk. Please see our disclaimer.
8 Responses to “Siemens’ High-Speed Rail: These “Cars” Get 700 Miles-Per-Gallon”
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David Fessler is the energy and infrastructure expert for Investment U.
Europe is certainly not the U.S. Just because it works there does not insure it will work here.
Besides, there already is rail service – Amtrak – that nobody uses. Not to mention the huge government subsidies to keep it afloat.
Also, taking a train can get you to the city you want to go but then what? How do you get where you need to go? A taxi or bus? And what about the train schedule? There just isn’t enough flexibility to appeal to most people.
And, how much time and money are you really saving by the time you drive to the station, pay to park, pay for your ticket, wait for the train, ride the train to your city, and get a cab or bus to your destination? Riding a train is just not practical for most commuters.
Also, the government is broke. I wouldn’t count on those subsidies to build these multi-billion $ systems.
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Just curious, how would high-speed rail affect waiting times? I could easily envision the need for just as rigorous security for trains as is the case for air travel. And if the price of the ticket isn’t competitive and relative to air travel, the incentive to travel this way would be less. And of course, the infrastructure cost could be enormous.
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2 billion dollars for a 25 mile rail line between Anaheim and LA, WOW what a deal.And why would you need a train to travel 250mph over that short of a distance? It would probably have multiple stops which would negate the speed any way.Then once you arrived at your destination you would still have to find another way to get to your final destination. And just where are we going to get the money for another boondoggle like this? Mass transit is just another taxpayer funded nightmare that keeps sucking up more and more tax dollars.
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thanks for the article
I’m in Italy and i can tell You for sure that here in Europe the high-speed trains are far from to be the solution to transportation:
1-to built the high-speed railway is VERY(!) expensive , especially on hills terrain; without the Gov. subside (i guess all the gov. don’t have much surplus money now) no company will build it, is antieconomic, plus it takes YEARS to built it!
2-the fares to travel are quite expensive for the regular guy , so is just some kind of “elite” service , (and here the taxpayer is paying the cost) and is only a passenger service , no good-shipment
3-about the waiting time… you must be of course on time to get the train , so you have to prepare in advance and go to the special railstation quite in advance …and i expect we will have some security check in the future, just wait for the next terrorist attack…so…I’m against it
Just on my opinion , of course
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Hi David
A real good piece on high speed trains.
There is only a couple of things that you did not cover and put into this piece.
1. Remember U.S.A. is not a small country made up of a few square miles. we are really huge in space.
2. The other countries you named are smaller then the U.S. In most cases way smaller.
3. I agree people will ride the high speed train
when going from a city to another city thats over say 100 to 550 miles or more away. Also because it will be cheaper then flying and like you said, maybe not as fast in getting there.
4. People will stick with their cars when driving around the city they live in or someplace that’s under say 100 mile trip one way.
5. The big one is the people really don’t ride buses, light rail and yes, even trains. Because 80% of the time the above do not go where the person wants to go too.
But any way it was a real good piece and oh yes, please think about this. If U.S. had taken all that money that was put into building and running buses, light rail and trains. We now would have had a long time ago electric cars that would go 1,000 miles or more on a charge.
Then we would really be free of giving all of our money for oil to the rest of the world.
But because the people in china are now wanting cars to drive, plus everything else that you have that makes your live worth living.
So that makes china going to be using each year more and more of the oil that’s produced in the world. That is what will drive the price of gas up from this year on.
Any way this is the comments that I have and if you would like to reply back to me that’s fine also.
Thanks
Ron Blake
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The idea to devellop high speed trains in the US is certainly a great idea, certainly not a new one. Could be new criterias like waiting time at airports, and gas price could change the game. Siemens is certainly skilled, very skilled in that game, at least technically. You are speaking of trains running on railtracks even those are high grades ones. The Germans got into real life, a no-wheel train, first test line was some 100 miles starting from Berlin. They tried to sell the stuff to the Chinese, without success, though a line, about 50 miles long was built and into operation for the Olympic Games. Now the Chinese just have to make copies, and replicate. This system, no-wheels, which had been tested by the French already, as early as the late 60s, is the most interesting, as energy saving ( no mechanical friction and loss of power), as can be run at COMMERCIAL speed 350 mph.
Indeed, special 1 line tracks must be especially built. For any high speed trains anyway bear that in mind, the tracks are to be laid new, to stand the technology. You cannot race a Formula 1 accross the fields. So a very heavy investment indeed. Who dares ? In Europe ( France, Germany ) the railways are national companies, so investment comes from the tax payers. In Japan I donot know.
The 3 big players in the world when it comes to high speed trains on wheels are France with Alsthom, Germany with Siemens, and Japan with a train named Shikansen, I donot know the builder…
The most numerous, the fatest, the cheapest are the French. Commercial speed is some 250 mph proven trouble free for more than 15 years already. Test speed is over 350 mph. At the “gare Montparnasse” ( the devoted railway station in Paris), a train is leaving EVERY MINUTE, from very early morning ( 6 am ) til late ( 12 pm ).
The French, in real life got a REAL advantage. By the way “Alsthom” already got a joint venture ( or had ?) with General Electric, concerning gas turbines. I have tested the german stuff too. Not so nice, not so smooth, not so fast, and fare some 50% more expensive. Both French and German people are rather rude and unpolite.
Getting out the French station you may queue up for 2 hours, people shoving in your back or trying to cheat your number. This is France: side by side the best and the worst. What’s the use to run your 300 miles in 1 hour, when U got to await a taxi cab for 2 hours ? The driver of course, will be very rude, will eventually try to take you the great loop around if you donot know your way, and indeed the fare is irrelevant. The cars usually good ones, Mercedes-Benz E, Volvo, or the likes. But I would be content with one half the price, assume the fare would be 50% off…
Germany proves more efficient. You may even get very fast into fast buses, to get away from the station. Or to reach it. There are probably french alternatives too. They’ll tell you there are many. You must be strong as to carry your baggage, if ever allowed. Everything is designed for you give up and surrender to the taxi system. No left luggage, of course…A big lobby ( the taxi gang ), I bet…
As for Japan, I simply donot know…
The French, more than 10 years ago tried to sell their stuff to Texas. Seemed they failed ?
As a conclusion, bear that in mind: the carriages are just one shackle of a transportation system, which got to be coherent…
I’m a Navy Captain, a Naval Engineer, and a Ph.D.
Best regards.
Capt. BOB
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The real transit time is door to door, not station to station. Wait times and local transportation efficiency are part of the equation… airports have the car rental and mass transit tie-ins needed by businessmen and tourists.
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China appears to have a sucess in developing its high speed train systems.
Does China use Siemens’s technology ?
Please advise.
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