Japan maglev train breaks world speed record again

Post by mmaldacker » Tue, Apr 21, 2015, 1:35 PM UTC

jasonkester wrote: post #27

I wonder if we'll ever get back to "High Speed Air" in my lifetime. Back in the 70s, you could rock up at the airport twenty minutes before your flight left, jump on with minimal hassle, and cruise along at 600mph to your destination. Now, you need to endure two hours of having your fingernail clippers confiscated so that you can fly at 500mph to save on fuel costs. That seems to be the true advantage of rail travel.…

Post by zimpenfish » Tue, Apr 21, 2015, 1:38 PM UTC

Shivetya wrote: post #7

zachalexander wrote: post #3

Amazing. Writing this from Berlin, which doesn't have maglev trains, but has phenomenal public transit. It's sad to be going back to the US soon where the infrastructure is so primitive.

Primitive? Really? Doesn't seem to affect usage rates does it? Its a myth really, one that is perpetuated simply because people think its correct and far too many who like the idea of it being correct don't want to know otherwise. Maybe Berlin and Germany stand out amongst Europe, but with regards to passenger miles trains are less that seven percent of all travel within the EU [1]. High speed rail does two things, e…

Post by rwmj » Tue, Apr 21, 2015, 1:41 PM UTC

mmaldacker wrote: post #31

jasonkester wrote: post #27

I wonder if we'll ever get back to "High Speed Air" in my lifetime. Back in the 70s, you could rock up at the airport twenty minutes before your flight left, jump on with minimal hassle, and cruise along at 600mph to your destination. Now, you need to endure two hours of having your fingernail clippers confiscated so that you can fly at 500mph to save on fuel costs. That seems to be the true advantage of rail travel.…

>Back in the 70s, you could rock up at the airport twenty minutes before your flight left This still exists, for example Tegel airport in Berlin. Also, in the 70s there was waaaaaay less traffic in airports so it is simply not a fair comparison. >Sadly, I bet the way we'll end up equalizing this will be that somebody will eventually bomb a TGV and we'll have to start doing the two hour confiscate-your-kids'-apple-jui…

Post by dkhenry » Tue, Apr 21, 2015, 1:42 PM UTC

nharada wrote: post #30

dkhenry wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you look at Washington DC's metro its pretty much the same QoS as you get off the Berlin metro. So I am not quite sure how its considered "primitive" Berlin - 4 - 5 minute trains DC - 6 minute trains Berlin - 9 lines, 170 stations DC - 6 lines, 91 stations and thats not even the biggest metro system in the US. So really the problem isn't going back to the US, its going back to whatever place you're going to in the…

Metro and subway systems in the US are to me basically comparable to systems abroad. I'd argue most US city rails are better than Berlin's. Where you immediately notice is longer distance commuter and cross-country lines. I often take the train from Chicago to Detroit, and every time we stop partway for ~15-30 mins because the company can't run trains in both directions on the tracks. Even when we are moving, most of…

Post by gutnor » Tue, Apr 21, 2015, 1:44 PM UTC

jasonkester wrote: post #27

I wonder if we'll ever get back to "High Speed Air" in my lifetime. Back in the 70s, you could rock up at the airport twenty minutes before your flight left, jump on with minimal hassle, and cruise along at 600mph to your destination. Now, you need to endure two hours of having your fingernail clippers confiscated so that you can fly at 500mph to save on fuel costs. That seems to be the true advantage of rail travel.…