The term high-speed rail is one that politicians have been throwing around a lot in 2009. Earlier this year Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff put his support behind it, among many other bold and pricey visions for Canada’s future. For the most part Canada’s high-speed passenger transport infrastructure is, well, a joke compared to Europe – where automobiles are a minority in the transportation game. In Europe you can get almost anywhere fast and efficiently by train. Understandably most European countries, cities and states are much closer in proximity than that of North America.

But look at Russia. They are equally comparable in size, yet they are already much further along than Canada and the U.S.

This December, high-speed trains designed by the German conglomerate and adapted for Russian winters will ply the rails between St. Petersburg and Moscow. But Siemens hopes their final destination will be the last laggard of the high-speed age: the United States.

Russia is just one of many to beat North America in the high-speed rail game. Brazil is forging ahead with their plans to implement HSP, Poland, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Morocco, Iran, Israel and even, wait for it…turkey! Come on Canada, how is Turkey more efficient at transportation than we are?

Although there may be no concrete plans in place right now, a recent poll published in today’s National Post showed that Canadian’s overwhelmingly support high-speed rail.

Canadians overwhelmingly support high-speed rail and believe the federal government should provide the startup funding as well as investments on an ongoing basis, concludes a new poll.

The survey, conducted by EKOS for the Railway Association of Canada, found that 86 per cent of Canadians would strongly or somewhat support the introduction of high-speed trains in the country. Only nine per cent said they would be opposed.

Frank Graves, the president of EKOS, said the numbers show the issue can become a big political winner for parties that adopt it in their election platform.

The poll also found that 68 per cent of respondents said all levels of government should be involved in funding high-speed rail. Twenty nine per cent said the federal government should provide funding by itself, while three per cent said it should be solely up to provincial governments.

Realistically, there is no way any HSR is going to get built in Canada without full funding by the government. We don’t allow shady accounting like the French railways. VIA could risk its existence if it took on that much debt. There is no business case strong enough and no private operator large enough to justify taking a risk of tens of billions of dollars. HSR has to be built because the government believes that it is a missing infrastructure component needed for our economic well-being. There is no other way. If the government(s) can’t be convinced it won’t happen.

Similar to the CANDU debacle happening right now, our current government is complacent with allowing Canadian companies to sit idle right in front of them. Meanwhile they go overseas where their industry leading technology is appreciated and put to good use. The historic Canadian company Bombardier is on the fast track to dominating the high-speed rail game abroad.

Bombardier Inc. signed a landmark rail order in China yesterday, a $4.36-billion deal for 80 very-high-speed Zefiro 380 trains, of which Bombardier’s share is about $2.14 billion.

Bombardier is bidding on 15 other major rail deals around the world, including other projects in China, Europe, Britain, France, and Sweden, … and is bound to win some of them.

Full story here.

We are seeing changing trends in transportation worldwide.  The 19th century was the era of steam trains.  The 20th century was the era of the automobile.  North America was at the forefront of these transportation modes, which made North America the most efficient and wealthy economies in the world.

Most of the world now realizes that oil cannot be produced in ever-increasing amounts and many countries are positioning themselves for more efficient use of energy.  Most believe that high-speed rail is going to be an important component for maintaining a mobile society in the 21st century, yet Canada and the rest of North America lags badly behind.  Is this a sign of the end of the economic dominance of North America and the United States in particular?

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