An experimental carriage for the next-generation bullet train ALFA-X was shown to the media in Kudamatsu City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, at a branch of its manufacturer, Hitachi. One of the main features of the ALFA-X is the front car’s characteristic 22-meter-long nose designed to minimize pressure and noise when passing through tunnels. Another feature is that additional equipment has been installed to reduce the impact of tremors if an earthquake occurs.

The ALFA-X will have a maximum speed of 360 kilometers per hour, which is 40 kilometers faster than the fastest trains running now. The new bullet train aims to dramatically shorten the travel time between Tokyo and Sapporo.

The ALFA-X features a unique 22-meter-long nose.

Most travelers now use airplanes to travel between Tokyo and Sapporo. It’s about a 90-minute flight from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport to the New Chitose Airport near Sapporo. Around 9 million people use this route annually, which is the largest number among all domestic commercial flights. In contrast, it takes about 8 hours total to travel by train from Tokyo to Sapporo, even with the use of both bullet and express trains. This is not a realistic way to travel. The ALFA-X promises to considerably shorten travel time and to shake air travel’s unrivaled position in this route.

High-speed trains and airlines have continued to fiercely compete for passengers. The Hokkaido Shinkansen line between Hakodate in Hokkaido and Aomori that opened in March 2016 shortened train travel time from 5.5 hours to about 4. As a result, the proportion of passengers using the train to travel from Aomori to Hakodate increased from 13 percent to 35 percent, while those using airlines for this route decreased from 87 percent to 65 percent.

Likewise, the Hokuriku Shinkansen which opened in 2015 recorded a considerable increase in passengers using train services between Tokyo and Kanazawa from 42 percent to 74 percent, reversing the market shares of airlines and bullet trains. The new route shortened the travel time on the train to 2.5 hours, which is half of what it used to be.

As travel time shortens, the extra noise the trains produce must be dealt with. At present, the maximum speed for bullet trains running in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area between Tokyo and Omiya is 110 kilometers per hour. The maximum speed limit is set low in densely-populated residential areas. JR East is now advancing the construction of even higher walls along railway tracks to increase the maximum speed limit to 130 kilometers per hour after 2020. It is considering doing the same for the Morioka-Aomori route to increase the maximum speed limit from 260 kilometers per hour to 320.

The ALFA-X, which could determine the fate of the Hokkaido Shinkansen line, is expected to be completed by May 2019. Test runs will then continue for three years. Koji Asano of East Japan Railway’s Advanced Railway System Development Center says JR wants to enhance speed and convenience as well as services and passenger comfort.

Nowadays you can fly from Orlando (MCO), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Miami (MIA), Newark (EWR), Philadelphia (PHL), Chicago (ORD), Los Angeles (LAX), Atlanta (ATL), Baltimore (BWI), Boston (BOS) and San Francisco (SFO) to San José (SJO) and Liberia (LIR) on full-service carriers like JetBlue, Delta, United and American Airlines.

Most of these flights are in the basic economy, so be prepared for some extra fees on checked luggage and seat selection, credit cards can help you get around some of these extra costs.

For more information, head to “Google Flights” and enter your origin and destination cities. Scroll through the calendar function to find dates and prices that adapt to your needs, then, click through to book directly with the airline of your choice or have the alternative of an OTA.

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STOCKHOLM, Feb. 25, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — SCA is for the first time reporting the company’s impact on the climate as part of its Annual Report, to be published on February 27. At a seminar in Stockholm, SCA reported the positive effect on the climate from forest growth and substitution, as well as the climate impact of its operations. The net effect is positive and is equivalent to the total of emissions from road freight and domestic air travel in Sweden. 

During a seminar at the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry on Monday, February 25, SCA reported the climate effect of its operations for some 100 seminar participants, including people in the fields of research, policymaking, government agencies and media.  

“The climate is today’s key issue and the forest and forest products can provide a decisive contribution to combatting the adverse effects of climate change. SCA will as of now report the total climate impact of the company’s operations and this will become an important metric together with the financial statements when we describe the company’s performance,” said SCA’s CEO Ulf Larsson at the seminar. 

The calculations are presented in detail in a report by Peter Holmgren, a consultant and former head of CIFOR, an international organization for forest research, and SCA’s Sustainability Director Katarina Kolar. The model encompasses the carbon sequestration that occurs in SCA’s growing forests, all emissions of fossil carbon dioxide from SCA’s entire value

chain and the positive climate effects of SCA’s products. When forest products, such as solid-wood products, paper and biofuels, replace material and energy with a larger carbon footprint, oil and coal can permanently remain underground and the climate burden of society as a whole is reduced. 

“The net effect of SCA’s operations is positive for the climate and amounts to eight million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents. This corresponds to the total negative climate impact of all road freight in Sweden and Sweden’s domestic air travel,” said Katarina Kolar, SCA’s Sustainability Director. 

Lena Ek, Chair of the forest company Södra, also took part in the seminar, and talked of this company’s ambition to become fossil-free. Södra’s Sustainable Forestry Strategist Göran Örlander explained how well-managed forests are contributing in climate work and Göran Berndes, professor at Chalmers, clarified the effects of replacing fossil-based material and fuels with renewable alternatives. Johan Kuylenstierna, Vice Chair of the Swedish Climate Policy Council, moderated the seminar. 

For further information, please contact

Björn Lyngfelt, Senior Vice President, Group Communications, +46-60-19-34-98

Katarina Kolar, Sustainability Director, +46-60-19-31 05

The full report is available here. 

The core of SCA’s business is the forest, Europe’s largest private forest holding. Around this unique resource, we have built a well-developed value chain based on renewable raw material from our own and others’ forests. We offer paper for packaging and print, pulp, wood products, renewable energy, services for forest owners and efficient transport solutions.

2018 the forest products company SCA had approximately 4,000 employees and sales amounted to approximately SEK 18.8bn (EUR 1.8 bn). SCA was founded in 1929 and has its headquarters in Sundsvall, Sweden. For more information, visit www.sca.com

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

http://news.cision.com/sca/r/sca-reports-climate-impact-compensates-for-road-freight-and-domestic-air-travel,c2748697

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SOURCE SCA

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Proposed new flights to Japan lead this week’s air travel news. 

This week both American Airlines and Delta announced their intention to apply for additional flights to Tokyo’s Haneda airport. American said that the application will cover additional service from Dallas – Fort Worth, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The airline currently operates one daily flight between Los Angeles and Haneda, a service that began in 2016. The proposal would add one additional service from Los Angeles, which American says will improve connection options for customers, as well as new flights from Dallas and Las Vegas. The new service will operate as part of American’s Pacific joint business with Japan Airlines. 

Delta’s application, meanwhile, covers daily daytime service between Haneda and Seattle, Detroit, Atlanta and Portland, as well as twice-daily service out of Honolulu. The proposed routes would be the only direct service currently offered by U.S. carriers out of Seattle, Portland, Atlanta and Detroit, and they would add to the carrier’s existing service from Minneapolis – St. Paul and Los Angeles. Pending government approval, the new routes would launch in 2020. 

The two applications are the result of an agreement reached last month between the United States and Japan to expand access at Haneda, a deal that will open up to 12 additional daytime slot pairs for operations by U.S. carriers. 

Also on the West Coast, this week Alaska Airlines unveiled plans for a new 8,500-square-foot, top floor lounge at San Francisco International Airport. Set to open in 2020, the new lounge will be located in Terminal 2, offering guests sights of the Bay and the runway, as well as a number of food and beverage options, including a tapas bar in the afternoon and evening. Made-to-order meals will also be available for purchase. The move is part of the airline’s ongoing investment in its lounge experience, which will also include refreshes of its lounges in Portland, Anchorage, Los Angeles and Seattle. 

In other domestic travel news, this week American Airlines released its summer schedule for its Charlotte hub, which will include more than 700 daily flights by the end of this year. Notable new flights will include two daily flights to Baltimore, two to Fort Lauderdale, one to Orlando and one to Newark. The airline also plans to increase its Chicago O’Hare service to 10 daily flights, Los Angeles to eight and New York – JFK and Newark to up to 16 daily flights. The airline will also launch new long-haul international service to Munich on March 30, as well as eight additional new routes this year: to Erie, PA, in May; and to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and Traverse City, MI in June. This week also saw the reopening of the airport’s refreshed Admiral’s Club. 

In Europe, this week saw low-cost carrier Norwegian report that, in 2018, it became the largest non-North American airline to serve the New York and New Jersey area, overtaking British Airways. The airline carried over 2 million passengers in 2018, falling 50,000 passengers short of being tied with Air Canada for the largest international airline to serve New York City. 

Also this week Paris-based XL Airways announced it will move its flights from New York – JFK to Newark Liberty starting June 3 and combine its operations with its 100 percent business class sibling airline, La Compagnie. That airline has been operating out of Newark since 2018. 

Finally, in the Caribbean, this week St. Maarten welcomed the inaugural flight on JetBlue’s new daily service from Fort Lauderdale. 

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