Arizona’s Solar-Powered Rail System

Solar-powered high speed rail in Arizona

A new high-speed rail line in the United States is newsworthy for a number of reasons.  Arizona’s solar-powered rail system is the first of its kind.  You can travel from Phoenix to Tuscon in 30 minutes or less (by vehicle it takes over an hour), moving at speeds of up to 220 mph.  In the future, the rail line will extend to Flagstaff (near the Grand Canyon) and Nagales, as well.

“This innovative public transportation concept will use free, non-polluting green energy from our greatest natural resource – the sun, to power local commuter rail in Arizona’s major cities and high-speed passenger connections between Phoenix and Tucson.”

Called the Solarbullet, interest and enthusiasm for this rail system is growing!  I believe that it’s high time for us to cut transportation-related CO2 emissions through innovations like a solar-powered rail system:

There is probably no better state than Arizona in which to test a solar-powered rail system.  The desert southwest has some of the broadest coverage area of high density solar exposure in the nation.  Moreover, since many tourists flock to the warm region each year, why not expose them to some futuristic solar-powered transportation, too?

As mentioned on Inhabitat.com:

“The system is being proposed by Solar Bullet LLC, founded by Bill Gaither and Raymond Wright. Their plan is to create a series of tracks that would serve stations including Chandler, Maricopa, Casa Grande, Eloy, Red Rock and Marana, and may one day stretch as far as Mexico City. The train would require 110 megawatts of electricity, which would be generated by solar panels mounted above the tracks.”

This infrastructure is so exciting on a number of levels: (1) mass transit; (2) high speed; and (3) solar powered.  Reaching your destination in about 1/2 the time that it would normally take is one sure-fired way to get people to step out of their cars and into transit options.  The fact that the high speed trains are powered by renewable energy, instead of fuel (or coal-fired electricity) gives it a boost even higher in my book.

Would you ride a solar-powered rail system?  I sure would.  Come on up to Oregon, and I’m on board!

Tags: arizona mass transit, high speed rail, solar powered rail, solarbullet