Mr Harry Dale, speaking at High Speed Rail World USA 2010

Mr Harry Dale,
Chairman
Rocky Mountain Rail Authority

Harry is a County Commissioner in Clear Creek County serving in his second term. He is Chairman of the Rocky Mountain Rail Authority (RMRA) which is a 52 member intergovernmental organization created to complete a high speed passenger rail feasibility study for the state of Colorado. Harry has been a well informed and passionate advocate for high speed passenger transit service in the I-70 mountain corridor for the past seven years and a very active participant in the I-70 Mountain Corridor Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) process. He has been an enthusiastic high speed passenger transit advocate in the I-25 and I-70 corridors for the past four years. In 2006, Harry teamed up with Bob Briggs, President of Front Range Commuter Rail, to secure CDOT SB-01 Transit dollars for conducting a high speed passenger rail feasibility study for the state of Colorado. Their efforts resulted in the formation of the RMRA in January 2007 and a CDOT SB-01 Transit grant award for $1.246 million for the RMRA high speed passenger rail feasibility study. Harry has been RMRAs Chairman since January 2007. In addition to the RMRA, Harry currently serves as Chairman of the Colorado Counties Inc. Tourism, Resorts and Economic Development Steering Committee, Vice Chairman of the I-70 Mountain Corridor Coalition, Co-Chairman of the I-70 PEIS Collaborative Effort Group, member of the I-70 PEIS Project Leadership Team, member of the Denver Regional Council of Governments Board and member of the CDOT Interim Advisory Committee on the Division of Transit and Rail. Prior to being elected County Commissioner in November 2002, Harry was a Project Manager for ADC Telecommunications directing telephone service deployments for cable television companies and digital video fiber optic transmission deployments for broadcast television service providers. Harry is an Industrial Engineering graduate of the University of Dayton, (Dayton Ohio) and has worked as an Applications, Systems and Project Engineer, Project Manager and Manager in Telecommunications since the early 1980s. He moved to Colorado from Connecticut in 1997.

Appearing:

Day One: Tuesday, April 20, 2010

9am

Expert panel: Developing high speed rail: building the business case

Building the business case for high speed rail investment
The definition of high speed rail as it applies to the United States and Canada
Evaluating the success of existing international business models for high speed rail
Criteria for judging feasibility studies and forecasting
Interstate cooperation and national competition
Competition from airlines
The costs of going faster - construction, equipment and maintenance implications for high speed and higher speed rail

DJ Mitchell,

AVP Commuter Operations,
BNSF Railway Company

Erik Steavens,

Director,
Georgia Department of Transportation

Mr Harry Dale,

Chairman,
Rocky Mountain Rail Authority

Dr. John Harding,

Chief Maglev Scientist,
NAMTI

Pre-conference workshop: Monday, April 19, 2010

9.30am

Workshop begins

This workshop will examine the ins and outs of high speed rail in the United States. You will learn how to navigate the buying process, how the federal government and states dole out funding and financing, and their plans for building an integrated high speed rail network over the coming years.

What constitutes “true” High Speed Rail?
What key elements are necessary for a self-sustaining HSR line or network?
Who are the stakeholders and what are their roles?
How high speed rail fits into the overall transportation strategy (interaction with airlines, highways and traditional rail)
Craft, track and ROW standards
Tunneling costs versus the costs of long eminent domain legal battles
Can HSR be built on existing ROWs developed in the 19th century?
Environmental considerations of HSR
How does the FRA regulate existing rail operators and is this experience applicable to the international standard of 150mph HSR?
Working with multiple signaling systems and lack of signaling standards
For fast and “effective” deployments of true HSR, does America need a new public/private paradigm?