(L-R) 4th from left Assembly Member Frank Bigelow, Madera County Supervisor David Rogers, Assembly Member Devon Mathis, Assembly Member Jim Patterson
April 2015 - In testimony before the transportation committee of the California State Assembly, Madera County Supervisor David Rogers revealed a critical flaw in the design of the rail bed for the high speed rail.
Rogers said that on April 15 he received a call from Dr. Yutaka Nakamura, an engineer who has real-world experience in observing high speed bullet train behavior around the world, including 14 years of service on the bullet train accident investigation team and partner in the Railway Technical Research Institute (RTRI).
Between 1959 and 1964, Japan used ballast design rail beds for bullet trains, said Dr. Nakamura.
Track ballast, made of crushed stone, forms the track bed upon which the railroad ties are laid. The ballast holds the track in place.
"This design failed miserably due to seismic activity. Even under good circumstances, the ballast design rail bed cannot be certified for travel at speeds of more than one hundred sixty five to one hundred seventy seven miles per hour," he explained, far short of the 220 mph required for the California rail.
According to Rogers, the ballast design rail bed is highly susceptible to seismic activity and subsidence due to drought.
"Bullet trains have been derailed by earthquakes," Rogers said. In his conversation with Dr. Nakamura, Rogers also discovered that the ballast design is also maintenance heavy.
"The maintenance on the rail bed would have to occur all night long every night at a very high cost," said Nakamura.
The ballast design is the choice of the High Speed Rail Authority in California, a region known for its seismic activity and subsidence, Rogers said.
"This is HSRA’s attempt to save money by building a cheap, but not inexpensive, rail system," said Rogers.
According to Nakamura, the United States Geological Survey and the California Office of Emergency Services have urged the rail authority "to use the seismic reinforced slab track,” Nakamura said. “To date they have ignored that advice."
"This poor design will result in catastrophic failure and accidents, which in turn will precipitate injury and loss of life on a large scale. This cannot be ignored," Rogers said.
