(Source: The Transport Politic & Telegraph, UK)

With support from Tories and Labour, project construction is virtually guaranteed

The United Kingdom, despite its intense population concentration and relatively straight-shot connection between its biggest cities, has yet to invest in a major high-speed program, unlike its peers in France, Spain, and Germany. Beginning late last year, however, the Conservative Party, under leader David Cameron and shadow Transportation Minister Teresa Villiers, began pressuring the Labour-controlled government to begin planning a high-speed rail link between London and Manchester, via Birmingham, as a replacement for the planned third runway at Heathrow airport. Plans to route the line through the airport to allow easy connections to flights were incorporated into the proposal almost immediately.

Though in January Labour did approve the runway at Heathrow as a way to relieve the significant congestion there, the U.K.’s ruling party has come to see a high-speed rail program as politically advantageous – especially as Mr. Cameron’s party has risen in popularity in recent years. It’s not surprising, then, to see Lord Andrew Adonis, the nation’s Minister of State for Transport, endorsing the line’s approval by early next year, before the next general election. With support from both major parties, the line is unlikely to face major opposition – and will likely get government funding as soon as its route has been finalized.

The map above illustrates the general consensus on the routing of the full route (in red). Running northwest from London, the line would hit Birmingham and then Manchester, before heading north to Leeds, Edinburgh, and Glasgow. A spur line from Manchester to Liverpool is likely, and, if conservatives and engineering company Arup get their way, the line would be routed through Heathrow Airport before extending north. Planning on the service has begun by a company called High Speed 2; the name is a reference to High Speed 1, the company that completed the Channel Tunnel Rail Link in 2007 (in black on the map above). High Speed 1 carries Eurostar trains from London to Paris and Brussels in 2h15 and 1h50, respectively, down 40 minutes from pre-construction travel times.

Click here to read the entire Transport Politic article.

(Source: Autobloggreen)

Spain’s fourth largest city is getting 75 public electric vehicle recharging stations throughout the city this year. Spain’s ambitious program of introducing EVs, hybrid and plug-in cars (a million units for 2012) is promoting the new network under the Movele program. Seville is getting recharging stations in the most used parking lots in the city, as well as at the airport, city hall offices and other official buildings. The plan includes 500 electric cars, which will be allocated not only to public institutions but for private users as well. It’s expected that each simple recharging post will cost €1,000.  The picture shows a recharging post in Lisbon, Portugal.

Click here to read the entire post. 

 (Source:  Autobloggreen)

Last month, Germany reported a shocking 21 percent improvement in auto sales, and the greatest driver in the uptick was a used vehicle scrapping plan that pays drivers 2,500 euros ($3,150) to remove their old car from the road. With new car sales in most other countries down by at least that much, it was widely speculated that other governments would look closely at Germany’s new system to see if it would be worth adopting in their areas.

An opinion piece at Automotive News (sub. req’d) suggests that it’s time for the United States to implement its own vehicle scrapping program. President Obama’s recently-passed economic stimulus plan does contain provisions that are intended to help spur new vehicle sales, but has nothing as dramatic as what’s been enacted in Germany. 

Click here to read the entire article.