Well, it seems so in Europe. It is working hard to lure passengers to travel by fast trains. An indication to the impact of this thrust is that Air France-KLM is considering replacing some of its short-haul European flights with a high-speed rail service.
” ‘Rail is becoming more of an option as people realise there is an alternative to flying,’ said Amanda Monroe, a spokeswoman for Rail Europe,” reports The Independent. ” ‘More tour operators are offering rail packages and that has to be because customers are asking for them.
” ‘There’s a combination of factors: people are fed up with the hassle and stresses of flying; they’re thinking about green issues, and they’re also realising it’s often quicker. These are good times for Europe’s railways’.” More here…
What about the USA? We witnessed on Saturday the wonderful connection between the rail ride and the US presidency. (See here…)
The Globe and Mail has this to add: “All but unnoticed amid the excitement over Barack Obama’s election last November, California voters endorsed a highly anticipated ballot proposition to approve raising $9.9-billion (U.S.) in state bonds for the first leg of a high-speed rail line extending from San Diego to San Francisco and Sacramento.”
“In a region famous for both its green politics and its populist tax revolts, Californians offered up a resounding vote of confidence in a $40-billion infrastructure scheme well calibrated to the energy dictates of the 21st century. The California High Speed Rail Authority predicts construction could begin as soon as 2011.
“But as is the case with high-speed rail systems in much of Europe and Japan, the proponents of the California project have been up front about the need to involve the private sector in this massive undertaking.
“What’s clear is that pure private plays don’t work, while publicly owned passenger service tends to suffer from a lack of investment. (An exception is Spain, where the state has moved aggressively to build high-speed rail since 1994.)
“Earlier attempts to privately develop such networks in Texas and Florida failed because of inadequate financing. In Japan, which originated the bullet trains in the 1960s as a national transportation policy, private firms now run the service.
“In much of Europe, state-run rail companies and private investors have a history of collaborating successfully across national borders, the best example being Eurostar, the London-Brussels-Paris high-speed rail service that now commands a 60- to 70-per-cent share of the transportation market among the three cities.” More here…
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.