European rail firms say they can expedite U.S. jobs

VALPARAISO | European rail companies at Thursday's Golden Spike seminar at Valparaiso University said they are the solution to the U.S. jobs dilemma and not the problem.

A dozen European rail companies were led by French national rail operator SNCF, which presented a plan for creating a $68.5 billion high-speed rail system in the Midwest with Chicago as its hub.

"We are ready to offer the transfer of know-how and technology," said Guillaume Genin, SNCF North American business development manager. "We won't bring 10,000 French people over here to operate a U.S. system. We will hire and train people here in the U.S."

Genin spoke in response to a reporter's questions on the sidelines of the conference, just before taking to the podium to present SNCF's HST 220 proposal for the Midwest. The 220 refers to the 220 mph maximum speed of the electric trains.

Keynote speaker and Ohio Department of Transportation Director Jolene Molitoris stressed the $8 billion Obama administration high-speed rail stimulus is all about rebuilding the U.S. economy and creating badly needed jobs.

"We need to learn from the Europeans," Molitoris said. "But we need to create and adapt our systems for our marketplace because this is the people's railroad."

Molitoris and others may have been sensitive to recent criticisms from Democratic U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer that too much of President Barack Obama's stimulus for renewable energy projects is going to overseas manufacturers.

Schumer has called on the Obama administration to block $450 million in stimulus money from going to develop a $1.5 billion wind farm in Texas that would rely entirely on wind turbines built in China.

In addition to Genin, Golden Spike attendees heard from representatives from SYSTRA Consulting, a subsidiary of French planning design and engineering firm SYSTRA; and Armin Kick, director of high-speed rail development for Siemens Industry Inc., a division of the German conglomerate Siemens AG.

The seminar has been hosted annually for the last 11 years by the Indiana High Speed Rail Association. Several attendees, including rail company executives, expressed amazement at the turnout at this year's seminar.

SYSTRA Consulting CEO Diego Diaz told the audience there is nothing wrong with the U.S. effort to get trains to 79 mph and then 110 mph and then faster. That incremental approach is being criticized, but high-speed rail in Europe developed the same way, he said.

"We need to remind ourselves it's always good to learn from what has already been done," Diaz said.

Later, outside the seminar room, Diaz also talked about the job creating potential of high-speed rail projects.

"In the end, we will need the people to do the work and people to maintain it," Diaz said. "If it's carefully planned, this will create a lot of U.S. jobs."

A year ago SNCF made it known it would be chasing the right to operate high-speed rail systems in the United States.

But Genin's presentation of plans for a high-speed passenger rail-only system that would cut train travel times between many Midwest cities by two-thirds offered the company's concrete vision of the future.

It includes making three Chicago airports main hubs, including Gary/Chicago International Airport. In fact, the airports and not downtown Chicago would be its most important stops.

Public funding would be required for 54 percent of the system's $68.5 billion cost, with participants and investors putting up the other 46 percent, Genin said.

"What we are trying to do is implement a true long-term vision for high-speed rail," Genin said.