| NuRail Project ID | NURail2012-MIT-R02 |
| Project Title | High-Speed Rail Productivity |
| University | MIT |
| Principal Investigator | Sussman |
| PI Contact Information | Phone: (617) 253-4430 Email: sussman@mit.edu |
| Funding Source(s) and Amounts Provided (by each agency or organization) | $130,000 MIT funds and other non-federal research funds; $130,000 USDOT RITA |
| Total Project Cost | $260,000 |
| Agency ID or Contract Number | DTRT12-G-UTC18 |
| Start Date | 9/1/2012 |
| End Date | 8/31/2013 |
| Brief Description of Research Project | Massachusetts Institute of Technology's research activities will focus on intercity passenger rail. The project will consider the development of internationally scaled High-Speed Rail (Shinkansen, TGV and so forth) in the United States as well as incremental High-Speed Rail where the same track is used for conventional freight trains as well as passenger trains that run at "higher" (but not international) speeds. This research will focus on several of the Department of Transportation's (DOT's) strategic goals. Clearly there are safety implications in the sharing of right-of-way between passenger and freight. Also the project will suggest that development of rail systems as noted above will potentially lead to a modal shift from highway to rail and air to rail; this will have environmental and sustainability implications. Further, the enhanced mobility that will be provided through the development of such rail systems will likely lead to an improvement in the economic climate in the US and in economic competitiveness. This project will do a study of international High-Speed Rail productivity by looking at systems developed in various countries around the world. The study would begin with Japan, the pioneer in High-Speed Rail in 1964, continue with France and Germany and possibly consider Korea and Taiwan as well depending on available resources. The project will consider the productivity of these systems and the business case underlying them at the time of inception. It is suggested this will provide substantial input to decision making about such systems in the US. The project plans to focus on High-Speed Rail in the Northeast Corridor and also in the California Corridor using the international results obtained to help frame a business case in those instances. |
| Describe Implementation of Research Outcomes (or why not implemented) | |
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| Impacts/Benefits of Implementation (actual, not anticipated) | |
| Web Links | Click HERE |
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| Project Website |