France’s SNCF ‘Very Interested’ In US High Speed Railway
A senior executive of France’s national high-speed rail system, SNCF, told reporters that the group would be “very interested” in creating a similar system in the US.
"We strongly believe that in this country, in some of the corridors, the system should logically be profitable," SNCF International chairman Jean-Pierre Loubinoux said on Thursday.
Loubinoux said such a network of rail systems would work best among large cities at distances of 600 to 930 miles. Such conditions exist in the east coast, California, the Midwest, Texas and Florida, said the AFP.
"You could have more than just a corridor. You could have a system," he told AFP.
"If the possibility (of operating a network) is open we certainly would consider it with great interest."
As a part of the economic stimulus, $8 billion has been set aside for the development of high-speed rail.
States will be competing for their piece of the funds. Most are expected to spend their portion on small improvements to current rail systems so that speeds can be increased from 79 mph to 110 or 150 mph.
Loubinoux told AFP the money would be better spent on entirely new railway systems that can reach speeds up to 217 mph.
There is "a lot of business potential to be considered," Loubinoux said,
"Will it be just a build and transfer of technology, will it be maintenance and operation… commercial contracts, operating possibilities," he said.
"Definitely in some cases, especially in high-speed corridors… we could envisage participating in some operation systems."
"What we can bring is our experience. It’s been more than 25 years since we developed high-speed rail services,” he added.
—
On the Net: