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Norfolk Southern unveiled an all-electric locomotive this week at its Juniata Locomotive Shop in Altoona, PA The 1,500 horsepower locomotive gets its power from 1,080 12-volt lead-acid batteries, the same kind found under the hoods of most cars.

No diesel motor here, just all electric baby.

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China just awarded Bombardier Sifang a contract to build 80 “very high speed trains” for the country.

These are super progressive trains that are energy efficient as well as lightning fast. China intends to invest a total of $300 billion in high speed trains by 2020.

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Nude pole dancing on the New York subway and pole dancing on a pedicab (bike)! Two more reasons to ditch your car…

See the video here.

image credit: Wikimedia Commons–Creative Commons Public Domain

May 9 is National Train Day, one of my favorite holidays. (Well, since it was created last year, at least.) I find trains to be a particularly great way to travel, for both short and long trips. In fact, I took a 6,000-mile trip around the country in January on Amtrak. It was fantastic. But even if you’re not going to use trains for such purposes, it’s good to keep in mind a few things about rail travel (and rail freight) and how environmentally friendly it is. Well, at least compared to other forms of transportation.

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Last week, Congressman James Oberstar, chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, was slated to speak at the launch of EDF’s new report Reinventing Transit — but he got stuck in traffic! The irony was not lost on one commenter in the StarTribune.com blog who noted, “You couldn’t ask for a better footnote to the report.”

Watch our report video showing how people across the country are getting on board these innovative transit systems.

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Editor’s note: Yep, that video’s changed places. Our embedding system is acting up, so here’s the video on YouTube.

Oberstar’s absence was a clear illustration of how traffic congestion is sapping time and productivity across the country. Cars stuck in traffic don’t just waste time, but they also waste fuel.  This has consequences for the environment in terms of health and global warming. In fact, about a quarter of our country’s greenhouse gas emissions come from cars and trucks (see graph of breakdown of transportation sector).

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Compared to most other industrialized countries, the rail infrastructure system in the United States is only in its most stunted infancy.

President Obama’s stimulus package, however, is now going to help bring our nation’s transit system into the 21st century. Nine billion dollars has been allocated over the next five years to begin building a faster and cleaner high speed rail network that will not only provide many needed jobs, but will also give us more sustainable transit options and help to make us more competitive internationally.

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More people than ever are now using mass transit in the United States. Ridership on trains, buses, ferries and subways is at record levels, according to a survey just released by the American Public Transportation Association.  Their study reports that, “despite falling gas prices and an economic recession, increasing numbers of Americans took 10.7 billion trips on public transportation in 2008, the highest level of ridership in 52 years and a modern ridership record“, and a 4% increase from 2007.

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Passenger numbers on fuel-guzzling domestic flights fell 20% in the year to November as commuters and tourists swapped cramped airline seats for the space and convenience of the train, according to figures released yesterday.

High-speed rail travel - boosted by the opening of a line that slashed the journey time from Madrid to Barcelona to 2 hours 35 minutes in February - grew 28% over the same period. About 400,000 travellers shunned airports and opted for the 220mph AVE trains.

Last year’s drop in air travel, which was also helped by new high-speed lines from Madrid to Valladolid, Segovia and Malaga, marks the beginning of what experts say is a revolution in Spanish travel habits.

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Shibuya Station is a vital hub in Tokyo’s transit network, linking trains and subways with bicycles (the station provides a bicycle parking space), buses and the always heavy Tokyo pedestrian traffic. On the average weekday, the station sees over two million passengers, making it one of the busiest rail stations in Japan.

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Pack it to go - Grab one of your tote bags and start adding all your crafting accessories needed for your current project. For my knitting projects, I keep a small zippered pouch stocked with small scissors, a tape measure, darning needle and stitch marker. I throw that in along with my yarn, needles and my pattern.

In the air - Knitting needles, small scissors under 4 inches, and sewing needles are permitted in carry on luggage. TSA recommends that your knitting needles be made of plastic or wood/bamboo, but metal needles are permitted. They urge caution if for some reason your supplies could be constituted as weapons, and suggest you bring a self addressed stamped envelope in case your items need to be shipped, but I’ve never had an issue.

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Yesterday, we took a look at how piezoelectrics— crystals or ceramics that generate voltage when mechanical stress is applied— could allow cell phones to be powered by sound waves. Now the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) has announced that it is installing piezoelectric elements in the floors of its Tokyo station in an attempt to generate power from passengers passing through ticket gates.

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John Podesta is no stranger to politics. He was the Chief of Staff to Bill Clinton from 1998 to 2001 and he’s held countless positions as advisers to various other politicians. He’s also currently the President and CEO of the D.C. think tank, the Center for American Progress, which, just over a month ago, published the report “Green Recovery: A New Program to Create Good Jobs and Start Building a Low-Carbon Economy.“

It’s no coincidence, then, that Barack Obama has already tapped Podesta as the leader of his transition team to get a head start on getting this country back on track. And with Podesta’s appointment, it should be blaringly apparent that a Green Recovery — a Green Deal, if you will — is going to be the keystone of Obama’s plan.

In fact, Obama has already stated this in countless speeches, but his appointment of Podesta backs up his words with substance.

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Florida authorities have announced bold plans to begin running many of the state’s trains on biodiesel. The switch will result in a significant reduction in carbon emissons and drastically reduce the chances of soil pollution in the event of a fuel spill.

Under the plan, South Florida’s Tri-Rail system is to operate 8 of its fleet of 10 locomotives on a 99 per cent blend of either soya or palm oil. The move has been hailed as an important step towards energy independence by the nation’s top transport regulator, the Federal Transit Administration.

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Johnny Colt is not your typical musician. Although he was once a member of The Black Crowes and is now a member of both Train and Rockstar Supernova, Johnny is, among other business ventures, the creator and principal partner in two real estate development companies which own over 650K of commercial real estate. Currently, he is working on an adaptive reuse project – which means is that an existing building once used for another purpose will be converted into either homes or another business. For example, one of his projects is a 50,000sf four-sided brick former furniture warehouse that was converted to commercial loft office warehouse/flex space. It’s the perfect green solution – use what’s already there and not being used. The building will include green objectives as well.

I had the chance to ask Johnny a few questions about his endeavor:

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As if the announcement of a high-speed rail line that will go from San Francisco to Los Angeles in 2 hours and 40 minutes isn’t exciting enough, Navigant Consulting now claims that the bullet train can run with zero greenhouse gas emissions.

According to the energy consulting firm, the train’s expected usage of 3,350 GWh each year can easily be generated using renewable energy resources in California. The rail line’s energy consumption will be about one percent of the state’s total energy usage—not bad considering its speed, convenience, and potential for widespread use.

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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.

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Designed to never stop running – something you would almost imagine to be a vital necessity on a train – Peng’s talent for invention has awarded him a bronze medal at the Nuremburg International Inventors Exhibition in Germany, as well as a silver medal at the Taipei International Inventors Exhibition; so he can’t be too far off the track (sorry), can he?

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