Light Rail coming to Honolulu

[Mudkip Orange]

Part of the 1.3 billion Transit Projects Fund.

Obama budget seeks $250M for Oahu rail:

 

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20110215_Obama_budget_seeks_250M_for_Oahu_rail.html

 

Grant

 

Punahou kid does good...

 

 

Chi-town/Illinois lucked out in the High Speed Rail draw already.

 

$100 million for H-town North, can't really argue with that...

[gmat]

Updated Financial plan prepared by the city:

 

City readies plan on rail transit finances

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20110216_City_readies_plan_on_rail_transit_finances.html

 

And on a connecting note:

 

Hawaii leads nation as gas prices hit 28-month high

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/116341419.html

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[gmat]

Some interesting discussion on using the rail to develop areas on Oahu.

 

While economic growth potential exists at the future sites of rail stations, few projects are taking advantage of it

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20110220_If_they_build_it_will_developers_come.html

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[gmat]

Small blurb on Ground Breaking ceremonies with comments including rants.

 

Officials break ground today on rail transit project

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/Officials_break_ground_today_on_rail_transit_project.html

 

 

To moderators;

Why did you rejoin the thread? Like the 253 Kinugawa thread, this was getting long.

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[disturbman]

To moderators;

Why did you rejoin the thread? Like the 253 Kinugawa thread, this was getting long.

 

Because it's not a reason enough to create a new thread. There is no point having different threads dedicated to that very same subject. No thread can be too long and multiplying threads on the subject is actually making the access to informations more difficult. I know very long (+1000 posts) threads that are very functional and successful. :)

[gmat]

OK, Thanks.

But the photobucket intensive thread like the Kinugawa one takes a while to upload. That's all.

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[disturbman]

It's a bit different with photo only threads. They do get heavy when you document a whole train exterior and interior. Here it's different. It's pure news, discussions and article collection.

 

The Transport Politic made a post on Honolulu's project: http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2011/02/22/rapid-transit-closer-to-realization-as-honolulus-rail-project-breaks-ground/

 

extract:

With mountains to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south, there is little room for the city to expand, so the only place it can go is up. The “Manhattanization” of downtown and nearby Waikiki over the past few decades is representative of this trend. And transit is a popular way to get around — The Bus, the local transit agency, carries 236,000 daily riders, and the city has a transit work commute share of more than 10%, which is the highest of any major city without rail in the United States and about the same as the City of Portland.

 

236,000 daily riders?! That's quite good compared to the size of Honolulu (375,000 residents).

[Mudkip Orange]

236,000 daily riders?! That's quite good compared to the size of Honolulu (375,000 residents).

 

All US transit ridership is calculated using unlinked boarding rides.

 

So for instance, if I take two buses to get to my destination, and two buses home, I count as four "riders."

[Guest ___]

OK, Thanks.

But the photobucket intensive thread like the Kinugawa one takes a while to upload. That's all.

 

Best wishes,

Grant

 

 

To answer that question, when pictures are hosted on the JNS Forums, it only shows thumbnails which are small and load fast. When you click on them, the image enlarges.

[gmat]

Shashinka, I guess that I should look for that function at Photobucket and use that. I wanted to show the photos in the best size available which is why I've been doing it the other way. I'll see if it helps.

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[gmat]

New article about the ground breaking ceremony:

 

A ceremony marks the start of Honolulu's rail transit system

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20110223_Its_a_go.html

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[gmat]

News article about Ansaldo Honolulu, a consortium of Ansaldo Breda and Ansaldo STS, that is getting the contract to build and operate the rail cars.

 

 

Photos and drawings of the proposed rail cars included. Neat, but too bad they aren't Japanese, as it might be hard to model them in N gauge.

 

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20110322_Have_a_seat.html

 

Bombardier Transportation from Canada and a consortium lead by Sumitomo Corporation also placed bids.

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[Guest ___]

I cringe at the thoguht of seeing more Breda built cars in service anywhere with the history of service reliability most TA's claim to have with the Italian builder. Aside from Shaker Height's, I can't think of a single TA who has a current fleet who will accept a bid from them. Metro Magazine had reported Breda had planned to suspend bidding in the US because TA's were "overly sensitive toward their product's quality"

[keitaro]

couldn't be as terrible as the trains we have in sydney.

 

They drip water on your head in winter and have broken air con in summer :)

 

While not sure I swear they go slower than they can cause they like derailing.

 

i have been unfortunate enough to be on 2 derails before not bad ones but it's damn annoying heh.

[bikkuri bahn]

I cringe at the thoguht of seeing more Breda built cars in service anywhere with the history of service reliability most TA's claim to have with the Italian builder. Aside from Shaker Height's, I can't think of a single TA who has a current fleet who will accept a bid from them. Metro Magazine had reported Breda had planned to suspend bidding in the US because TA's were "overly sensitive toward their product's quality"

 

My feelings also.  Breda has a terrible reputation.  Apparently they have a cushy relationship with the unions, at least in Los Angeles...

[gmat]

Some of the concerns raised above are mentioned in the latest article below:

 

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20110323_Rail_car_makers_record_spotty.html

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[Guest ___]

Some companies as a whole have these issues. I can still recall the issues ABB use to have in the 90's with delivery schedules. Then there's the whole SEPTA Red Arrow/Norristown debacle to which I defer to Mudkip as his home turf.

[Mudkip Orange]

Then there's the whole SEPTA Red Arrow/Norristown debacle to which I defer to Mudkip as his home turf.

 

Hey, even if you pin 100% of the issues with the N5s on ABB, SEPTA still owns everything that happened with the M-4s. "Fool me once..."

 

[gmat]

Burial sites another problem for Honolulu Rail.

 

Old graves are expected to be found in the town section of the transit route

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20110327_212_dig_sites_dot_rail_leg.html

 

Something like this affected our family in Honolulu. When I was young, every year in August, we visited a cemetary in Aiea, near Pearl Harbor. It was small, old and run down. One year when we showed up, the whole cemetary was gone. The land was used as part of the off ramp for the new H-2 highway. It was pretty distressing. It turned out that information had been published in the newspapers, but we hadn't caught it. We never recoverd the remains.

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[Mudkip Orange]

Did they at least exhume the bodies?

 

I know when they redid 75 north of Dallas they ran into issues because the original 75 was built right over the top of what had been a negro cemetery. As part of the reconstruction they exhumed and relocated all of the graves so the rebuilt/widened freeway no longer disturbs the dead.

[gmat]

Yes, they exhumed the bodies and I guess cremated the reemains. I think that the ashes might have been disposed of by the time my family had asked about them.

 

Sumitomo Group challenges the award. Let the games begin:

 

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20110330_Rail_pact_faces_challenge.html

 

Besst wishes,

Grant

[gmat]

The selection of Ansaldo continues to generate waves:

 

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20110404_Cities_frustrated_by_rail_car_maker.html

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[gmat]

Short article that both of the losing bidders are protesting the decision. The reader's comments are interesting.

 

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20110412_2_bidders_protest_citys_rail_decision.html

 

If you far enough into the reader's comments, shibai is a local japanese word meaning being coy with the facts.

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[gmat]

Longer article about the protests filed by the other two bidders against the awarding of the contract to Ansaldo Honolulu.

 

Losing bidders might delay rail project

Two companies have filed protests with the city over a transit contract won by Ansaldo Honolulu

 

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20110419_Losing_bidders_might_delay_rail_project.html

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[gmat]

Star Advertiser OpEd on the need for a rail expert on the Board of Directors of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation.

Any volunteers?

http://www.staradvertiser.com/editorials/20110424__Oahus_rail_panel_needs_technical_expert_aboard.html

 

Best wishes,

Grant