Everywhere you look, from Argentina to Saudi Arabia, there’s a country planning a new high-speed rail line. Inspired by the success of fast train systems in Europe and Japan, politicians see these links as a way to speed travel between major cities, reduce carbon emissions, and spark smart urban development. President Obama shares those goals and devoted $8 billion to HSR in the stimulus bill.
This chart compares seven lines on four continents that are either in the engineering phase or already under construction. They range in size from the diminutive 34-mile project that will connect Jerusalem and Tel Aviv to the gargantuan 818-mile link between Beijing and Shanghai. The variations in construction cost per mile and local meaning of the term “high speed” are almost as great.
See the full-sized version of the chart after the jump.
Click below for the larger version:
Yonah Freemark is an independent researcher currently working in France on comparative urban development as part of a Gordon Grand Fellowship from Yale University, from which he graduated in May 2008 with a BA in architecture. He writes about transportation and land use issues for The Transport Politic and The Infrastructurist.
April 6th, 2009 at 7:47 pm
You forgot the Hokuriku Shinkansen and Kyushu Shinkansen.
April 8th, 2009 at 11:57 pm
Thanks, Yonah for this wonderful chart. It is a wonderful way to compare and contrast the different rail projects happening around the world. Keep up the good work!
April 9th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
Hey, did you guys MEAN to put in the little subtext over the larger image option “womencantdrive”? I hope not.
April 9th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
The Infrastructurist — your go-to spot for sexism and public works!
So the answer to your (very worthwhile) question is: yes, we meant to, but in a different context. Namely, for this story:
http://www.infrastructurist.com/2009/02/19/magazine-claims-women-dont-have-the-driving-gene/
But for some reason the tag is still showing up. Will look into it. Thanks for the heads up.
-Jebediah
April 9th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
Don’t you think it is time to use metric units?
April 9th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
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April 10th, 2009 at 1:27 am
Great infochart! Tufte would be proud.
So what’s the deal with the lozenges? San Jose is about 1.3 million, vs 800K for SF…
April 14th, 2009 at 11:19 am
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April 17th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
good chart.. great details… and simple.. i linked to it from my blog…
April 22nd, 2009 at 7:13 pm
[...] [...]
May 6th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
no!! do your science fair project!!!!!!
September 24th, 2009 at 7:25 am
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September 24th, 2009 at 8:16 am
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