High Speed Rail as a Climate Strategy

Many commercial passenger flights in the United States consists of relatively short flights between 100 and 500 miles, distances that could easily be covered by the more environmentally friendly alternative of high-speed train service.

In 2006, CNT partnered with the Center for Clean Air Policy to release a study of the feasibility of high-speed rail service between major urban transit corridors in the United States, concluding that a full network of high-speed trains could save as much as 6 billion pounds of Carbon Dioxide per year. The result was a corridor-by-corridor estimate of the potential annual greenhouse gas benefits-from emissions reductions-of high speed rail systems in the U.S. based on current plans for high speed rail development in the federally designated high speed rail corridors.

Download “High Speed Rail and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the U.S.” here.

The report was funded by The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Atmospheric through a cooperative agreement.

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Clinton Foundation Partnership

In conjunction with the William J. Clinton Foundation, CNT has designed an online tool for measuring greenhouse gas emissions in the world’s 40 largest cities, thus providing critical data for use of urban resources.

High Speed Rail as a Climate Strategy

CNT, with the Center for Clean Air Policy, has documented the potential of high speed rail networks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as an alternative to short-haul airplane trips.

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