By Robert Presser on September 9, 2010
There are two figures readers need to keep in mind as they contemplate the possibility of boarding a 250 km/h train between Montreal and Toronto: 511 and 19. The 511 is the number of kilometers of High Speed Rail (HSR) that Brazil plans to build to link its largest cities, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro via Campinas. The 19 is the number of billions of US dollars this project is likely to cost. The Brazilians deserve a great deal of credit for not hiding the truth from their population as to the cost and complexity of the project. Creating HSR in Brazil is essential to relieving pressure from Brazil’s overcrowded airports and its decaying roads, which are overwhelmed by crowded buses that fight with the truck traffic between the two massive population hubs.
