Indiana High-Speed Rail Association Seminar is a success for the Midwest

Posted on March 20, 2009 by Matthieu Desiderio

Transport Expertise attended the 10th Annual Golden Spike Seminar organized by the Indiana High Speed Rail Association on March 19 and 20 in Merrillville, Indiana. Matthieu Desiderio’s presentation on “Intermodality in Passenger Transportation” and “Private Participation in Public Transportation” will be made available online on Transport Expertise website in the next couple days. Since this event, and especially Jean-Pierre Loubinoux (SNCF International Chairman and CEO) presentation, was a great success, we decided to provide you with a selection of articles that have been published in the U.S. press. A similar article with French newspapers publications is also available on our French website.

High-speed rail conference rolls into Merrillville (Northwest Indiana Times, March 18, 2009)

[...] “I really believe Indiana can emerge as a leader in rail transport,” said Dennis Hodges, Indiana High Speed Rail Association founder. “We did it once before, and we can do it again.”

But Hodges admits high speed rail has so far been a go-slow proposition in Indiana. State and local officials here are notably cool toward the idea while governors and public officials in other states already have announced plans for the high-speed rail stimulus funds.

The 10th Annual Golden Spike Seminar is scheduled to begin with an overview at 8:30 a.m. at the Radisson Hotel in Merrillville. Registration and payment will be taken at the door. [...] (Story continued here)

Seminar addresses need for speed (Northwest Indiana Times, March 20, 2009)

“High speed rail travel is flourishing just about everywhere in the world except the Midwest, the leader of a pioneering passenger rail system in France told a region gathering Thursday.

Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, chairman of SNCF International, spoke of the benefits of implementing high speed rail systems during a conference hosted by the Indiana High Speed Rail Association.” [...] (Story continued here)

SNCF “very interested” in running railway in US-paper (Reuters, March 20, 2009)

“PARIS, March 20 (Reuters) – France’s state-owned railway SNCF would be “very interested” in operating a high-speed railway network in the United States, French newspaper Les Echos reported on Thursday. In France’s experience, high-speed railway systems are most efficient when they link large cities 1,000 to 1,500 kilometres apart, Les Echos quoted SNCF International president Jean-Pierre Loubinoux as saying on the sidelines of a conference in Indiana.” [...] (Story continued here)

France’s SNCF hopes to run high speed rail in US (AFP, March 20, 2009)

“MERRILLVILLE, Indiana (AFP) — The United States is ready for a truly high-speed rail system and France’s national railway SNCF would be “very interested” in operating a network, a senior executive said Thursday. “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 in an interview on the sidelines of a rail conference in Indiana.” [...] (Story continued here)

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