The Daily Dig: Runaway Train Edition

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• China’s expanding rail network is shaping up to be a phenomenal catalyst for change: it’s reducing the strain of internal immigration to Beijing and Shanghai, helping mid-size cities grow, and allowing talent and industry to move west into the poorer provinces. (Newsweek)

• $4.5 billion dollars spent over seven years, and the tunnels for Amsterdam’s rapid transit system are nowhere near finished.  Historic buildings and marshlands are being destroyed, but at least no one has died. “We are all just amateurs,” says the mayor. (Reuters)
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• Is redemption possible? The I-35W bridge in Minnesota, which, um, collapsed, was redesigned and rebuilt by the state DOT in just eleven months. As a reward for timeliness of the project, as well as its innovative structure and sensible budget, the project was selected as Grand Prize Winner in the 2009 American Transportation Awards. Thoughts? (Reuters)
• Two Native American tribes in Massachusetts are protesting the construction of Cape Wind in Massachusetts on the grounds that it’ll “disturb their spiritual sun greetings” and submerge ancient burial grounds. This could result in delays of more than a year. (Boston.com)

• The Federal Railroad Administration is finalizing its new safety rules, which would require that operators install collision-avoidance systems. Amtrak and a number of private rail companies say the cost of implementing the rules would make expansion impossible. (WSJ)
• A new study indicates that electric cars are a great idea, but if their electricity comes from coal-fired plants, they’re really not helping out the environment that much. This should probably not come as a surprise. (SciAm)
• Chicago’s four-fold increase in the cost of parking tickets earlier this year, coupled with a 26% increase in ticketing, has generated $7 million in revenue in 2009. As a result, some suburbanites are choosing to leave their cars at home. (Tribune)
• The Energy Department is accelerating its research programs by issuing grants for bold ideas like creating enzymes that capture carbon dioxide and bacteria that will make gasoline. Most will fail, but the point is to fund programs that could potentially have “a transformative impact.” (NYTimes)
• What happens when you unhook a set of train cars on a hill, and forget to put on the brakes? Better yet, what happens when there’s a lot full of brand-new cars sitting at the bottom of that hill? (Jalopnik)