:Vocalo.org

High-speed rail refers to passenger train service operating at an average speed of 124 mph or higher. Most European countries have extensive high-speed rail networks, as do Japan and China. The United States currently has no high-speed rail service. Although technically Amtrak’s Acela Express is a high-speed train, which does in fact briefly reach 150 miles per hour on some routes, its average speed is significantly less – for example, 80 miles per hour between New York City and Washington, D.C. High-speed trains have had real success abroad, but are market conditions in the U.S. suitable for this technology? In this eighth segment of The Infrastructure Show podcast series, Host Professor Joseph Schofer, Director of Northwestern University's Infrastructure Technology Institute, and Co-Host Tom Herman of Vocalo.org, talk with Rick Harnish, Executive Director of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association, about this topic, mainly focusing on the Midwest states. (20 minutes) For more information, see the web-site: www.theinfrastructureshow.com.

  

In this fifth segment of The Infrastructure Show podcast series, Host Professor Joseph Schofer, Director of Northwestern University's Infrastructure Technology Institute, and Co-Host Tom Herman of Vocalo.org, talk with James Carter Jr., Chief Engineer for Bridges and Structures with the Norfolk Southern Corporation, about the impressive Heartland Corridor Project. The Heartland Corridor Project is a collaboration between the Norfolk Southern Railroad and state and federal governments, intended to improve rail service between the Port of Norfolk and places in the Midwest. Among other elements of the project, it will provide a more direct routing for double-stacked container trains between Norfolk, Virginia and western Virginia, West Virginia, and Ohio, as far as Columbus. The project was begun in 2007, with completion anticipated in 2010. Included in the podcast is information on tunnel modification, intermodal terminals, double-stacked trains and freight, and funding. (29 minutes) For more information, see the web-site: www.theinfrastructureshow.com.

On June 3 and 4, the Chicago Transit Authority held open houses to discuss the extension of the Red Line to the southern city limits. It's been a long time coming, as you'll hear, and it still has a long way to go. This documentary aired on WBEZ's news magazine Eight Forty-Eight on June 3. It was co-produced by Andrew Bowen, Andrea Castillo, Brittany Petersen and Jason Plautz.

119th and State: This is the corner where Lola Beck waits for her bus every morning. She thinks a red line extension could bring Roseland back to where it used to be when she first moved to the area in the early 1990s.

By Christine Flores-cozza

If you care about how Indiana plans to spend the $4.3 billion in stimulus money it has coming from the federal government, you probably want to check out this conversation between Brian, Molly, and Lieutenant Governor Becky Skillman. After all, it's your money we're talking about here.

For more information, go to Invest.In.Gov.