In some worlds trains are faster than airplanes, or at least definitely more convenient considering fuel and airline ticket prices, rising the way they are.

Image by Nicola Beccu

Europe’s first high speed train link from Paris to Lyon saw air traffic drop significantly. This was followed by the same phenomenon more recently in the Paris-London, Paris-Brussels and Paris-Amsterdam combinations. Madrid-Barcelona high speed trains caused an 18.4% drop in airline passengers. When I lived in Japan, Tokyo was linked to Niigata by bullet train and the air route was canceled altogether.

It’s faster to get on the train and than to going to the outer limits of the city to reach the airport, check-in, fly, check-out, etc.

Image by Dan Holder

Train speeds are pushing along faster - 300 kph (200mph) about the speed and sometimes better of small commuter airlines. In any event, can we expect trains to overtake plane routes in more places? I don’t see it happening in the States. The country is too big. However, there has been talk of a high speed train route from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

But, those talks always stall because of some special interest group. In this case, the environmentalists prevent environmentalists from trying to do ‘good.’ Then what?

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In the “that’s what happens when oil reaches new records” category (no we don’t have one) truckers from Spain and France went on strike on Monday to protest against high diesel prices. And they have damn good reasons : €1.30 for a liter in Spain ($7.71 a gallon) and €1.45 in France ($8.62 a gallon). This is 40-percent more than last year and 20-percent more than January.

For the record, these are not the highest prices for diesel in the European Union. The Brits are leading with ~ €1.65 for a liter.

Most of the big cities in Spain such as Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona suffered traffic jams because of the low speed driven trucks, while the two main borders with France, La Jonquera and Irun were blocked because no vehicle was allowed to pass, by the demonstrators.

The protests are expected to continue till the end of the week when Portuguesse truckers may join, too. Of course, one way to save gasoline/diesel fuel is to sit and let your trucks idle for a couple of days, right guys?

We’re still waiting for the mainstream electric trucks. How about you guys?

photo by juanpg

The newest museum in Madrid, CaixaForum, got a vertical garden on one of the exterior walls. Designed by Swiss architects Herzog & Meuron, there are 15,000 plants from more than 250 different species that are now covering a 1899 converted former power station.

They managed to get a “very unusual encounter between the rough and the natural” with a high contrast between the restored building that has a rusted iron top and the beautiful green plants.

photo by Funksturm

CaixaForum is a sociocultural center was inaugurated in the very heart of Madrid on February 2008 and serves as museum, auditorium, art gallery and bookshop.

The creator of the vertical garden is Patrick Blanc, already known for its work in France (the Quai Branley Office Wing) is expected to install the next one in China or probably in the UK. Actually he said that such gardens could be created anywhere, even in “those difficult spaces where you don’t expect to see greenery”. His experience comes from studying rainforests and you can see the results. - via - TreeHugger

Aside the architecture in Barcelona, the next thing that impressed me was the railroad system they have in place. It gets on time, you don’t have to check in or check out and it’s fast.

Renfe is the company that invested in the new high speed train network in order to take you from Barcelona to Madrid in just two hours and a half which is much faster than a normal flight. Another advantage is the fact that if it’s a windy day or heavy rain an airplane may not be able to take off.

400 passengers will be able to travel with the new AVE S103 (pdf link) that can hit speeds of up to 350 km/h and produces four time less pollution than an airplane. The cost of a trip is going to range between $30 and $80 depending on the class you’re traveling.

The Spanish Government is prepared to spend over 80 million Euros to develop their high speed inter-city railroad so that it can take you across Spain no more than 30 miles from your final destination. Rumors say that the AVE system will also be extended to France with a line going from Barcelona to Paris any time soon.

Add to all these the fact that Renfe will reimburse your ticket if the train is 5 minutes late and I can already see how flying short distances might die.

via Inhabitat