CAPT/NARP Meeting Details - More

Carolinas Association for Passenger Trains

Speakers and Guests

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--> Michael Dukakis will be the keynote speaker.

--> Deborah S. Wetter, Director of Planning & Development, Southeast, will represent Amtrak on the luncheon panel discussion on HSR in the Southeast.

--> Paul Worley, NCDOT Rail Division Assistant Director for Engineering & Saftey, will brief us on efforts to minimize the potential for grade crossing collisions along the Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor.

--> Nazih Haddad, executive director, Florida High Speed Rail Authority, will attend and participate in the luncheon panel discussion on High Speed Rail in the Southeast.

Michael Dukakis
Amtrak vice-chairman, Governor Michael Dukakis, will be the keynote speaker the night of Saturday, March 29. Here he is shown at the NARP fall board meeting, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, October 2000.

Governor Dukakis with NARP President Alan Yorker (left) and NARP Director, the late Kevin Gregoire, at Pittsfield, October 21, 2000. President Yorker will also speak in Fayetteville.

Crossings
With more and faster trains, grade-crossing safety becomes a critical issue. Learn about the North Carolina Sealed Corridor Program. Paul Worley of NCDOT will address the group on this topic.

Nazih Haddad
The Florida High Speed Rail Authority has just received 4 bid proposals on their program to connect all major cities in the state with a network of trains running at least 125 MPH. Two of the proposals are based on conventional steel wheel on steel rail technology, one is based on MagLev technology and the other on a vacuum tube technology similar to that used in drive-through banking. Nazih will not have a winner to announce in Fayetteville (each proposal weighed in the 20 to 30 pound range) but I am sure that what he can tell us will be interesting. For a current report on the Florida project, please go to the National Corridor Initiative's web site at www.nationalcorridors.org and click on the Feb 17 issue of "Destination : Freedom."