Slashdot Mirror
Japanese Train Sets A Speed Record Of 581 kph
Azuma writes "Last night, on December 2, a high-speed Japanese train set a new record of 581 kph, breaking its own previous record. The new Maglev high speed had real passengers on board this time. They proved that the distance between Osaka and Tokyo can be covered in one hour's time. However, we wouldn't see real trains for a while now since the cost is prohibitively expensive at this time. However, they expect that the cost would come down over the next 20 years. This seems to be the future of transportation, at least in Japan. Here is a detailed article from The Japan Times."
-
Bet those passengers were scared out of their pants. With it flying that fast, I'd be...if the thing derailed, you'd be really screwed.
I've ridden some of the current shinkasens, and you really don't notice. It's a very smooth ride, and you feel very safe. The best I can compare it to is flying on an airplane, only quieter and smoother.If a conventional train derails at 60mph you're screwed. What's your point, caller?
I just wish the US would invest in more passenger trains. They don't have to be super fast (like the one in this article), but imagine how much fuel/electricity we could save if we could all easily commute by train. And hey, you can always sleep on the train on the way to work, something you can't do while driving. (Or rather, something you shouldn't do, I'm sure someone's tried it.)
And much less hassle as well.
Train:- Arrive 5 minutes before departure.
- Get on.
- Travel, with passport check on the way.
- Get off.
Airplane:I, for one, welcome our new super-fast trains. I've used the 300kph trains (TGV,Eurostar,etc) and they are a really nice way to get around. For travelling within continents, these will a far better alternative than flying.
Forget thrust, drag, lift and weight. Airplanes fly because of money.
It's expending 8 times as much energy to go twice as fast... which is even more amazing..
Arrive 5 minutes before departure.
Get on.
You can bet that this will change with these trains. The costs are high enough that it becomes a target so Security will be done.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Twenty Years ago the first maglevs were build in Germany. Increadibly fast and very quiet. For Testingpurposes. Since then ... nothing happened. Oh, yes, they sold the whole stuff for a piece of bread to china which also build the first "german maglev" for public use. Well, in germany we still have no public maglev.
At least in central europa (germany, france, benelux) we have conventional trains running at speeds of 150-300kph since decades. But then europa has a highly incompatible trainsystem. Western Europa (except once Great Britain) uses one type of track, eastern europa another one and while the british system closely resembles western europas tracks its not safe for high speeds.
Thank goodness china desided to use western-europa tracks which will more or less force eastern europa and russia to adopt or wither away.
"Life is short and in most cases it ends with death." Sir Sinclair
You're forgetting that you can even take a comfortable night train and sleep while you travel. I do this with my family when we need to cover a "one night's distance". We loose less "wake time" and we arrive in a better shape.
I hadn't the slightest objection to his spending his time planning massacres for the bourgeoisie... (P.G. Wodehouse)
While I do not fully agree with your assesment of Chicago->LA, the most important route to build would be NY->Pit->Det->Chg->Mil.
These 4 cities have more traffic between them than any other route in the USA. In fact, most airlines make all their profits doing cargo between NY/Chg.
As to Chi->LA, well, I would argue for 3 East-west high-speed maglevs with stops every 1000M. Likeiwise, 4 North-South (W, Rocky, Missisppi River, E coast) to carry cargo.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Are you saying that there isn't any car accidents in US? High-speed train with 200 passengers is much more safe than a 200 cars on a highway.
I don't think so. There have been terrorist attacks on trains (e.g., Carlos the Jackal's bombing in 1983). They just haven't been very successful and haven't led to cumbersome security measures.
From a terrorist point of view, I suspect that a building is a better target than a train: easier to get to, easier to get away from, and more likely to kill lots of people.
In fact, even when it comes to airline security, Americans seem to be going from one extreme to another without ever getting it right: prior to 9/11, airlines just didn't want to inconvenience passengers even though even simple measures could have prevented 9/11. Post 9/11, US airlines seem to be working hard to make their passengers' lives as miserable as possible (without necessarily improving security much).
Of course, there may be a sort of a "last mile" problem in the US too - once you arrive at your destination, it might take almost as long or longer to make the second half of the journey from train station to final destination (because of car rentals, traffic, etc.).
--- Bwah?
Well too bad you are living in UK, well known for his train system :)
More seriously, though, i disagree with you to some extent, having taken both the plane and the train extensively.
Waiting for another train or plane is exactly the same thing. They can be both delayed very easily by technical problems, weather problems, and strike (only if you are in France of course, by the way i am French).
But when i look at the trip Paris-London, i prefer taking the train. You have quite a big number of trains leaving everyday to London. The overall trip is around 2-3 hours depending on stop. But the big plus is you leave in the center of Paris, you arrive in the center of London.
Now when you look at the plane, you would be better off if you arrive at least one hour before (probably more as they get anal with security). Then you have 45 mn plane and you have to wait for your case, etc... But since the airports are far from the center, you can add easily 45 mn both ways to get from the airport to the center.
Annoying !!! I prefer moving more freely in the train and then to arrive directly in London, than having to take the plane.
Pelops
Seriously, if you're not willing to pay tax dollars for rail infrastsructure, why also pay for roads and bridges? And while you're at it, why not dismantle the education system and courts as well? When private enterprise performs all of these civic functions, will "freedom" have been expanded or will we simply have seen a net transfer of power away from voters into private hands? Just asking. --M
Actually, 10 fingers is a base 11 system, not base 10 (because 0 is usually represented by not raising any fingers, and than you have 10 numbers left, 10 + 1 = 11)
Ever heard of Thalys? It's a high-speed rail link between France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands operated jointly by these countries. At the moment you can travel from Paris to Brussel, Cologne and the Ruhr bassin on these trains and I believe the Brussels-Amsterdam portion is about to be completed. When it is, you'll be able to travel from Paris to Amsterdam in less than two hours. That's downtown to downtown. Compare this with the time it will take you to get to CDG, check in, pass security controls, board, fly 1 hours to Amsterdam, spend another 20 minutes in the plane while it gets to the gate (Schipol is one of the worst airports for that, the gates always seem to be miles away from the landing strips), wait for your baggage and get downtown.
That's just an example. The Eurostar has been in operation between France, Belgium and England for a couple of years now. The French are also working with the Italians to create a high-speed link to Milan and Northern Italy, across they Alps. There are also talks of linking the TGV Mediteranne with the Spanish TGV Network by adding a line between Perpignan and Barcelona.
For some reason, many Americans fear the EU and try to dismiss it as a heavy, socialist, frog-controlled superstructure that only brings burocracy and more taxes. I am the first one to concede that the burocracy sometimes appears overwhelming (but can you do things otherwise when 15 distinct governments speaking 12 languages try to work together?), but they do have a vision, along with 'coherent policies' and an agenda to implement them. I you wanted to use high-speed rail transport to ridicule the EU, you chose a very bad example.
even simple measures could have prevented 9/11
You mean like the passengers beating the crap out of some dorks with box cutters, rather than sitting like the trained sheep the left has been attempting to turn them into?
More of my thoughts
It may be artificial but it just makes a hell of a lot more sense.
What's simpler? 10 decimeters in a meter? 10 centimeters in a decimeter? Even the prefixes follow a standard pattern...
Compared to: 12 inches in a foot? 3 feet in a yard? fractions for fine measurements (1/8 inch, 1/16 inch)... ever have to reoganize a ratchet set?
Or how about: water freezes at 0 and boils at 100? Makes sense to me. Compare to: water freezes at 32 and boils at 212? God awful!
Stupid sexy Flanders.
It's not the left that's been trying to do that... More like the right -- specifically "the establishment". I don't know how many times, I've seen news reports where the police have thanked some random 'citizen' for arresting some violent creep then followed up by saying that these things sre best left to police.
Even right-wing militia types seem well trained to follow orders.
Left wing types, on the other hand, are much more likely to chafe under orders, start mouthing off the attackers and lead a 'popular revolt' against them.
Free Software: Like love, it grows best when given away.
I live in Boston and I take the train (amtrak acela) all the time to NYC. I do not own a car. The eastern corridor (DC-NYC-Boston) is the only profitable route that Amtrak runs. In roughly 450 miles (shorter than the length of California by about 250 miles) the 5 major metropolitan areas (Boston, New York, Philly, Baltimore and DC. There's also minor mets such as New Haven, Providence and Trenton) represents about 60 million people. The density is roughly comparable to that of England. The current system, even though profitable, has SERIOUS limitation in its currently incarnation - it has to abide to Metro North's speed limit of 60MPH when it's in Metro North territory, for example. This is done on a train that's designed to cruise at 150MPH. Bottom line - you CAN run a profitable maglev operation in US.
Actually, the environmentalists SHOULD support this idea.
Between getting a lot of road traffic off Interstate 15 between Los Angeles and Las Vegas and also reducing the need for air travel between Los Angeles and Las Vegas (imagine 375-450 passengers per train leaving four times per hour from Los Angeles to Las Vegas), that means a lot less air pollution from automobiles, buses and jet airliners.
It's also worth noting that the Shinkansen lines in Japan have never had _any_ passenger deaths. The odd inattentive railway worker, or suicide jumping on the tracks, but _no_ train accidents.
They've been running since 1964. I would say almost 40 years of constant use with no accidents is a pretty damn fine record. JR are very good at safety.
Jedidiah
Craft Beer Programming T-shirts
> than sitting like the trained sheep the left
> has been attempting to turn them into
The left what? The left hand? The left foot? Oh, you mean the Left! It seems your grasp of history is as tenuous as that of spelling, otherwise you'd know that a lot more social change has taken place because of public disobedience by what you call "the Left" than by (presumably) your own camp. Attributing conformism to the hippies of the 60s, or the civil rights marchers of the 50s, or even what you would probably consider the quintessential Lefties--the Bolsheviks of the Russian Revolution--smacks of ignorance and self delusion.
In fact, in recent history conformism is a trait much more frequently found amongst conservatives, or the Right. Who introduced the doctrine of "if you're not with us you're against us"? Or forwarded the notion that opposing the war in Iraq is paramount to being anti-American? Don't get distracted into addessing those particular issues, focus on the fact that they exemplify conformist thinking--behaving the way your leaders want you to as a matter of policy.
Do you know how hard it is to make a wheel, suspension system that can stand the enormous forces in 500 km/h.
(vibration, small bumps etc.)
The wheels are supposed to last for years running daily at that speed. (this is a big problem for high speed trains.)
MAGLEV has "no" moving parts.
eg. less material stress.. (safer and cheaper in the long run.)
MAGLEV's only limit is the air drag.
Warning: This sig contains a small bug. ==> *
huh?
the trainwreck a few years back in germany was with the ICE. that's a cheaper and older construction very similar to the TGV, i.e. a normal (very fast) train on a track arrangement.
the worst part of the crash was that the different cars folded onto each other and into a bridge. the TGV supposedly has a more ridgid construction and should be, in similar circumstances, safer.
but still, ICE is pretty much a normal train.