MIT proposes to Reinvent the 737 for 70% greater fuel efficiency

Post by ryana » Thu, Oct 07, 2010, 2:54 PM UTC

ardit33 wrote: post #16

enjo wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is rail travel inherently superior to air? Every spot in the continental U.S. is already well within 8 hours of...everywhere.

for short to medium distances it is: 1. Much more comfortable (wider seats, more luggage space, etc) 2. A lot more convenient. No taking off shoes, check points and lines. Plus the chances are a train station would be a lot closer to the center of the city, rather than an airport. 3. Cheaper and less pollution. E.g. If the CA High Speed Rail got build, it would take about 2.5 hrs. from downtown SF, to downtown LA. By…

"2. A lot more convenient. No taking off shoes, check points and lines. Plus the chances are a train station would be a lot closer to the center of the city, rather than an airport."

I would imagine that the first part would change as rail became a more traveled medium, thus making it a more attractive target for terror attacks.

However, having train stations closer to the city centers than out in the suburbs would be great.

Post by cstross » Thu, Oct 07, 2010, 4:49 PM UTC

ryana wrote: post #21

ardit33 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

for short to medium distances it is: 1. Much more comfortable (wider seats, more luggage space, etc) 2. A lot more convenient. No taking off shoes, check points and lines. Plus the chances are a train station would be a lot closer to the center of the city, rather than an airport. 3. Cheaper and less pollution. E.g. If the CA High Speed Rail got build, it would take about 2.5 hrs. from downtown SF, to downtown LA. By…

"2. A lot more convenient. No taking off shoes, check points and lines. Plus the chances are a train station would be a lot closer to the center of the city, rather than an airport." I would imagine that the first part would change as rail became a more traveled medium, thus making it a more attractive target for terror attacks. However, having train stations closer to the city centers than out in the suburbs would b…

There have already been terrorist bombing attacks on high speed rail: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TGV_accidents

It turns out that high speed trains are a lot more robust than planes: the failure mode is usually "soft", i.e. the train comes to a halt safely and damage is confined to one carriage (unlike an airliner). To inflict mass casualties (e.g. 7/7, Madrid) attackers target either busy subway systems at rush hour (7/7) or busy transport terminals with lots of people (Madrid). It's worth noting that both 7/7 and the Madrid bombings involved large suicide teams and multiple bombs -- but killed fewer people than a typical airliner bombing.

Re: MIT proposes to Reinvent the 737 for 70% greater fuel efficiency

Re: MIT proposes to Reinvent the 737 for 70% greater fuel efficiency