For most people the issue is not high speed train but rather suburban and inner city transportation. For 1k km we can take a flight, but there is a lot to be done for 100km radius type of transportation and that's what we should focus on.
China laying tracks for 1,000km/h maglev trains
181–190 of 503 posts
Re: China laying tracks for 1,000km/h maglev trains
#182Earlier quoted context omitted.
American here. Public transportation is seen as inconvenient and for lower class people, so large transit projects like this get no traction. You will never see executives or politicians taking trains to work like you do in European countries. Except in NYC.
> Public transportation is seen as inconvenient and for lower class people, so large transit projects like this get no traction. You will never see executives or politicians taking trains to work like you do in European countries. Except in NYC. I disagree. This is a chicken-or-egg problem. Nobody is inherently against public transit. Having commuted in a few cities in North America, it's far more comfortable than si…
> Nobody is inherently against public transit.
I knew plenty of people in the suburbs of Dallas who were against public transportation and any expansion of DART out to their towns. It was usually accompanied by talk of "that element" coming up from the city to rob their houses. It was fucking ridiculous, but unfortunately these people exist and need to be dealt with in order to get transit projects through.
Re: China laying tracks for 1,000km/h maglev trains
#183So, as someone that lived in New York for 6 years and California for 6 years, stories like this are incredibly depressing. The US is the world's largest economy and should be the shining example of amazing infrastructure, high-tech, green cities, and forward thinking policies. California is an especially egregious example in terms of infrastructure investment: If California was a country it would be the world's fifth…
The alternative to being stuck in traffic for hours is flying. A major problem with train systems in the United States (and this is both short and long haul) is that almost the entire country is sprawl - built around the automobile. In dense environments (China and the north-east coast of the US (which has Acela), it's great to take a train into the core -- you beat traffic and are near your destination. In sprawling…
> A major problem with train systems in the United States (and this is both short and long haul) is that almost the entire country is sprawl - built around the automobile.
this is an excuse i have repeated myself, but it is just that, an excuse. have you actually been to china? i have never seen such sprawl. shanghai is massive and sprawling. but yet, they (china) have extremely efficient and unbelievably cheap trains and subways. also, i have never seen a cleaner subway than what i saw in shanghai.
and this excuse doesn't even account for regions like the northeast. the amtrak from boston to new york takes four hours at its absolute fastest and costs couple hundred dollars. this is unbelievably sad. in china, the same ride would take about 1.5 hours and cost around $20 for business class (in u.s. terms, as in china, it's called first class).
Re: China laying tracks for 1,000km/h maglev trains
#184As fast as a jetliner, and way more efficient. Can be powered without fossil fuels. This is the future. Where is America on HSR?
This feed should give you some indication: https://twitter.com/metronorth We're struggling with rain and leaves.
Here's a better one:
Re: China laying tracks for 1,000km/h maglev trains
#185Earlier quoted context omitted.
American here. Public transportation is seen as inconvenient and for lower class people, so large transit projects like this get no traction. You will never see executives or politicians taking trains to work like you do in European countries. Except in NYC.
A lot of executives and politicians take the train between DC and NYC/Boston. The reason they do it is because the trains in the NE Corridor don't suck. This whole thing is kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy: build crappy trains, people hate them. Build nice ones, people like them.
The NE corridor doesn't suck compared to the rest of the US but it's pretty dismal compared to the EU and EA.
A favorite experience of mine was waiting at South Station and watching the train get delayed 5 minutes at a time for two and a half hours.
Re: China laying tracks for 1,000km/h maglev trains
#186I’m not sure if it’s just lost in translation, but Wuhan to Guangzhou isn’t even 1000 km so I don’t know where they get the 2200 km they’re quoting. That’s likely a figure for GZ to Beijing. I have used the high speed line between Wuhan and GZ (and through to HK) several times. It’s currently a 4.5 hour direct journey (once per day) or a 5 hour journey if you change at GZ or Shenzhen. The HSR is 300ish km/h at the mo…
> only to stop 4-5 times along the way That's the big one. What HSR needs is not even higher top speed but some control breakthrough that allows much higher train frequencies in order to cut down on stops via more trains that can serve more specialized connections (e.g. the local/through etc). No idea what that breakthrough might be, perhaps something as crazy as rocket-assisted emergency braking.
this for example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9Ig19gYP9o
Re: China laying tracks for 1,000km/h maglev trains
#187Earlier quoted context omitted.
Those tracks you reference are owned by the freight companies, not the gov. Even a good chunk of the rail lines that Amtrak uses are merely being rented from the freight companies. The Northeast regional line that connects Boston -> NYC -> DC is one of the few lines in which Amtrak themselves own it.
Thanks, I did not know this fact. So the only hope would be then that the private companies would invest into improving the tracks or the government nationalize the tracks(buy them most probably).
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Re: China laying tracks for 1,000km/h maglev trains
#188Earlier quoted context omitted.
The alternative to being stuck in traffic for hours is flying. A major problem with train systems in the United States (and this is both short and long haul) is that almost the entire country is sprawl - built around the automobile. In dense environments (China and the north-east coast of the US (which has Acela), it's great to take a train into the core -- you beat traffic and are near your destination. In sprawling…
Interesting, from https://www.amtrak.com/acela-train : "Superior comfort, upscale amenities and polished professional service at speeds up to 150 mph, Acela offers hourly service downtown to downtown during peak morning and afternoon rush hours between New York, Washington, DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia and other intermediate cities, as well as many convenient round-trips between New York and Boston."
“And at only five times the cost of a Jetblue shuttle from JFK to Logan!”
Having lived between NY and Boston for most of my life, and being a massive fan of trains, I am always so disappointed this isn’t a more realistic option.
Re: China laying tracks for 1,000km/h maglev trains
#189Earlier quoted context omitted.
Meanwhile in America we have a world class freight system between America, Canada, and Mexico that’s unrivaled anywhere else in the world. Europe uses trucking which is less environmentally friendly[1] than rail. The United States also runs the largest rail system in the world[2] vs any country (and the combined EU[3]). Europe is leading the world in electrification and they are likely getting that power from greener…
Keep telling yourself that… Here in Europe, we actually use mostly trains. Trucking is for the smaller deliveries, like some five bathtubs from Sweden to Germany. And we use trains for humans too. The reason your trains are so long is because they need to go so far. While around here, we use more local products. As we are still actually separate countries, not one big lowest common denominator culture mush. ;)
Is there a need to boast about your own perceived superiority and is that an attractive trait?
Re: China laying tracks for 1,000km/h maglev trains
#190As fast as a jetliner, and way more efficient. Can be powered without fossil fuels. This is the future. Where is America on HSR?
The Texas Central Railway project will be the first true high speed rail in the country, using Shinkansen tech.
You can gauge the insincerity of the project by the mendacity of the title. There is an area of Texas known universally as "Central Texas". The "Texas Central" project goes nowhere near it.
It's a rail line from Houston to Dallas. It's not going to happen, unless the legislature goes full bore socialize-the-losses and subsidizes it.