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."

Comments

Come on, America

[ReadParse]

I've never gotten this Japan train thing. Don't get me wrong. Happy to see how the Japanese recovered from WWII and became the powerhouse that they are in many ways. A nice stable government, an economy similar to ours, great scientific advances.

(America haters will reply something like "how is being like America a good thing? Bush sucks" -- or something. Disregard those morons).

Anyway, as much respect as I have for Japan, trains are our thing. Why is America not the one always building the fastest train in the world? Why isn't the rest of the world chasing us? And why don't we care about having the world's tallest building anymore? Especially now that we have some rebuilding to do in NY, I can't think of a single decent reason to not make it the tallest building in the world.

And while I'm on a Superman theme, I might as well complete it. We should also have the fastest speeding bullet. Come on ammo manufacturers. Get your act together :)

RP

Let's not forget...

[fiannaFailMan]

5. The auto makers bought up trolley and light rail companies in the sixties and promptly tore up the tracks to make way for their cars

6. The auto industry lobbyists make sure that their congressmen insist that Amtrak pay for rolling stock, pay for the maintenance of the track and still make a profit whilst the Interstates that carry their products remain subsidised by Uncle Sam.

Re:Too bad the US doesn't invest in more trains

[erroneus]

It's not theory, it's history. The auto industry activiely lobbied for taking funds away from railroads and putting them into highway development. It's in the books. Don't make me cite references... I kinda thought everyone knew about that. This was before air travel was taken seriously.

Re:You talk about Europe as if it's a country.

[Lars T.]

[...]a bunch of countries who don't really like each other very much getting together to prevent from becoming financially irrelevant as the size of the superstate increases.

Sounds like the US of A.