Green Options

The Norfolk Southern Railway recently debuted a green transportation option that’s among the first of its kind. It’s currently only a prototype, but is just the beginning of things to come; with plans by 2011 to unveil a long-range locomotive that will produce zero-emissions.

Nashville legend Merle Haggard has sued environmental awareness group the Green Train for illegally using his name and forging his signature in an effort to collect donations. The group claims to have been founded by Haggard himself along with Bob Wolf.

Haggard says that Bob Wolf asked him for support on a non-profit project in 2007 and Haggard obliged with a $20,000 donation. However, the organization never attained nor attempted to gain non-profit status, said the director of Tennessee’s Divicision of Charitable Solicitiations and Gaming.

A quick look at the Green Train website through Internet Archive’s Way Back Machine, it’s clear that The Green Train has some explaining to do:

Maybe you’ve heard about the proposed high-speed train in California. Well, Sweden is beating the West Coast to the punch with their Green Train.

The Green Train, or Gröna Tåget, will cut energy use on rail lines by 30 percent through lowered operational costs and journey times. Top speeds reached 183 MPH on a test run.

Best of all, the Green Train can operate on the current rail infrastructure. That means there’s no need to lay down new tracks.

Energy saving measures on the train include a permanent magnet motor to increase propulsion chain efficiency and a system that saves up to 15 percent of traction energy by assisting drivers with speed and traction force information.