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Japanese Maglev Train Hits 500kph

Posted by timothy on from the for-amtrak-that-takes-negligence dept.

An anonymous reader writes Japan has now put 100 passengers on a Maglev train doing over 500kph. That's well over twice as fast as the fastest U.S. train can manage, and that only manages 240kph on small sections of its route. The Japanese Shinkansen is now running over 7 times times as fast as the average U.S. express passenger train. 500kph is moving towards the average speed of an airliner. Add the convenience of no boarding issues, and city-centre to city-centre travel, and the case for trains as mass-transport begins to look stronger.

13 of 419 comments (clear)

  1. 510kph is airliner speed? by exabrial · · Score: 5, Informative

    Not to be "that guy" but I thought airliners cruised about 600ish mph... which is about 1000kph.

    1. Re:510kph is airliner speed? by fnj · · Score: 5, Informative

      777 cruise speed is 900 km/h, but the actual average speed from embarking to debarking - "block speed" - which includes loading, waiting for takeoff clearance, taxiing, takeoff, climbout, a percentage of adverse winds during cruise, waiting for landing clearance, landing, taxiing, and unloading - is a good deal lower.

      A block speed of 700 km/h, particularly over routes that are not very long, and match train route lengths, would not be too far off the mark. That's a lot closer to a train with a block speed not far short of 500 km/h, than is a naive comparison of 500 km/h to 1000 km/h.

      A train's block speed is also less than its "cruising" speed, but many of the factors that work against airliners are either absent or of reduced magnitude.

    2. Re:510kph is airliner speed? by dunkelfalke · · Score: 3, Informative

      These turboprops that are used by regional airlines are indeed that slow (ATR-72 cruise speed is 510 kph, Saab 340's is 467 kph, Bombardier Q200's is 537 kph).

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
    3. Re:510kph is airliner speed? by ilguido · · Score: 4, Informative

      Perhaps because the Hokkaido Shinkansen will open in 2016.

    4. Re: 510kph is airliner speed? by prefec2 · · Score: 3, Informative

      This might have something to do with the fact that the two Hokkaido and Tokyo are on two different islands.

      In addition you can fly in Germany from Hamburg to Berlin and Munich. But still most people use the train. For two reasons. Hamburg Berlin is 1.5 hours by train you cannot reach the plane in that time and definitely not fly. Munich req. 6 hours by train so a plane might be faster, but you can jump on a train every hour without planning for a specific hour. You cannot do that with a plane.

  2. kph? by manu0601 · · Score: 4, Informative

    It is nice to pick international system units, however it would be better to do it right. This should be km/h, not kph.

  3. Re:240km/hr? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Comparing average densities is absolutely and utterly pointless. Noone suggests to build a Lincoln-Cheyenne maglev train. What about looking at dense regions rather? The US North-East megalopolis has a density of 359.6 people/km with over 50 million inhabitants total. More than dense enough for a maglev. Or even just conventional high speed trains.

  4. Re:240km/hr? by silas_moeckel · · Score: 3, Informative

    Having worked at a DOT the primary stumbling block to high speed rail is the NIMBLY's that have a house that backs up the the rail lines. The secondary issue is wanting to keep stations every town aka every few miles making the effective speed hard to get above 30mph with all the stops.

    --
    No sir I dont like it.
  5. Re:how much does that cost to build? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    According to wikipedia about $80bn (9 trillion yen). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C5%AB%C5%8D_Shinkansen

  6. Re:stupid germans by vikingpower · · Score: 3, Informative

    Germany has a very well-working system of high-speed trains, named ICE ( InterCity Express ). Most of those average > 300 km/h on stretches between major cities. Stupid Germans ? They overtook the French, with their TGV.

    --
    Religous speak to God. Insane are spoken to by God. When all shut up, one can finally hear Shostakovich in peace
  7. $62,000 per person, $156,000 per family by raymorris · · Score: 3, Informative

    > it's called "public investment", each person pays a little bit so that everyone can use the thing, think "public roads"

    Just at the federal level alone (think just the interstate highways), along with any taxes you're paying, we're incurring $10,000 per person of debt each year. If there are 3 people in your family, that's $30,000 per year your family will have to pay back sooner or later. Right now, we owe $62,000 each ($156,000 per family) .

    Is that "each person pays a little" or "each person pays a lot"?

  8. Re:One of these is easy ... by zippthorne · · Score: 3, Informative

    Thanksgiving is coming up. If you visit with your extended family, try floating the idea of abolishing the TSA and see what kind of responses you get.

    --
    Can you be Even More Awesome?!
  9. Re: Is it wrong to wish for it to crash? by radarskiy · · Score: 4, Informative

    "If one of these things crashes at full speed, it is unlikely that anyone survives"

    Why do you think this?

    Crashes at up to 300kph in Japan and France have resulted in 0 fatalities. The worst "high-speed" crash was Eschede with a 50% fatality rate at "only" 200 kph because it went sideways into a bridge piling after derailing onto both sides of the switch and the bridge collapsed on top of it. As sxpert notes, for that to happen with this track design would require also lifting the train several feet to get it out of its trench before you could get it turned far enough to take out a bridge. The proximate failure at Eschede, where snagging the points resulted in the leading and trailing trucks of a car to leave a switch on separate tracks, is physically impossible with this maglev's track design..