Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Japan maglev train breaks world speed record again

bbc.co.uk

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 170 posts

Re: Japan maglev train breaks world speed record again

#41

Post by jasonkester »

odiroot wrote: post #32
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.…

I am on Hauptbahnhof at least 4 days a month, waiting, and have never heard this announcement. Neither in English nor in German. Was it on top or bottom level?

Actually, come to think of it, out the bottom level then hail a cab to Berlin Zoo. And make sure it's ten years ago or they might have changed the recorded message :)

Re: Japan maglev train breaks world speed record again

#42

Post by the8472 »

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.…

That still exists outside the US. Last year I took a flight from germany to a conference in poland and strolled through the airport after checking in. I left the security zone by accident - simply walking through a pair of sliding doors which only open from one side - 10 minutes before departure.

But it wasn't a big problem, I simply went through the metal detector/xrays for hand luggage and arrived at the gate with time to spare. Someone before me in the line even asked if they had to take their shoes off, the security guy said "haha, no, this isn't america".

Re: Japan maglev train breaks world speed record again

#43

Post by the8472 »

atom-morgan wrote: post #21
pbz wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You want a double digit billion dollar MagLev train that connects Boise, Idaho with, St. Louise Missouri? That will be another 10% of your income No, just reallocate some of the hundreds of billions spent on wars / military and make something productive.

It's worth noting JR Central is a private company. So I don't think the Japanese are giving up any of their income unless they pay for a ride.

I would assume they get some govt subsidies in one form or another for building infrastructure.

Re: Japan maglev train breaks world speed record again

#44

Post by ceejayoz »

wahsd wrote: post #10

I used to be all about public transportation and trains, but I cannot reconcile that anymore with advancement in technology. It simply does not make sense to me anymore to try and build high speed rail on the ground, on fixed "rails" in order to not even get close to even slow airplane speeds. With the roll-out of more sophisticated air traffic control systems that will allow denser traffic, higher frequency landing…

> It simply does not make sense to me anymore to try and build high speed rail on the ground, on fixed "rails" in order to not even get close to even slow airplane speeds.

Planes have higher max speeds, but they're subject to weather delays and other issues that bring their average speeds down well into maglev territory.

> With the roll-out of more sophisticated air traffic control systems that will allow denser traffic, higher frequency landing / take-offs, I don't see the sense in fixed systems like rail.

Significant limits remain - planes simply can't takeoff/land too close together due to things like wake turbulence, unloading a plane through a couple doors and jetways takes much longer than a train, etc. The weather issue is a big factor here, as well - a thunderstorm in Chicago can disrupt the entire nation due to connecting flights.

> Do we think that high speed rail will enjoy the freedom that current AMTRAK does where you just drive up, hop on the train and off you go?

It does in Europe and Japan.

Re: Japan maglev train breaks world speed record again

#45

Post by jusben1369 »

rwmj wrote: post #35
mmaldacker wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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…

Internal flights in Japan are basically turn-up-and-go (and cheap too), and have only a little security.

So that's fascinating. Having no expertise whatsoever on the topic of domestic Japanese transportation my immediate response is "Strong competition from fast rail means that air travel is a superior experience"

It breaks my heart we don't have fast rail in the US. Even if it was just the North Eastern corridor (extended maybe to Chicago and Atlanta) it would have a huge impact on air travel. Of course the cost and final date to roll this out means it's probably not worth buying into.

Re: Japan maglev train breaks world speed record again

#46

Post by maxerickson »

dheera wrote: post #6
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.

Agreed. The current incarnation of the US transportation system is also downright unsustainable from a fuel and carbon standpoint, and will lead to various downfalls if something isn't done about it. As much as I'm a public transportation advocate (I don't own a car, and refuse car rides if a public transportation option is available for the place I need to get to), it's becoming increasingly more difficult to promot…

Many medium to low density counties in the US operate on demand bus services that get anyone from A to B while dynamically routing and picking up others in-between.

They are usually subsidized (the county spends more than the service makes, so taxpayers are paying for the service) but still don't see the ridership it would take to justify higher service levels (these places generally don't have traffic jams, just short periods where you might have to wait for the second green to pass through a busy light).

These counties already tend to be depopulating, which is the main way to reduce car traffic levels in such situations. Broader economic change has left them geographically uncompetitive, or automation has destroyed jobs in whatever extraction industry pulled in the population in the past.

I think one of the best ways to improve the availability of public transport would be to treat rising housing prices as a government failure (it's currently considered a success when the value of someones home increases).

Re: Japan maglev train breaks world speed record again

#47

Post by jusben1369 »

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.…

In the US we really don't have any rail alternative to flying. I'd love to know how European travellers thinks and weigh up rail (which seems relatively fast and efficient) vs flying. Do you think the two are interchangeable services? Is there a magical breaking point (more than 500km's distance etc) ?

Re: Japan maglev train breaks world speed record again

#48

Post by CountHackulus »

the8472 wrote: post #42
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.…

That still exists outside the US. Last year I took a flight from germany to a conference in poland and strolled through the airport after checking in. I left the security zone by accident - simply walking through a pair of sliding doors which only open from one side - 10 minutes before departure. But it wasn't a big problem, I simply went through the metal detector/xrays for hand luggage and arrived at the gate with…

That's strange, I flew from Toronto to Budapest through Munich, and Munich was by far the strictest security I encountered. They made my take off my shoes and sweatshirt.

So it's maybe not "outside the US" just "in some places."

Re: Japan maglev train breaks world speed record again

#49

Post by cbr »

kuschku wrote: post #38
cstross wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, the TGV record was set by a specially-rebuilt train set that was heavily customized -- and the test crew reportedly couldn't stand/walk around the instrument car at speeds over 500km/h due to vibration. (The track they ran the test on was newly-laid and not yet open to regular traffic: they had to replace most of the overhead cables from the stretch where the train hit maximum speed due to arcing and shock…

Interestingly, the TGV record was broken by an unmodified Velaro-D train recently. Standard rolling stock, used the week before for normal transport, used a week after for normal transport.

Are you sure? I'm not finding anything about this.

The TGV record is about half the speed of sound, which means the wheel rims are bordering on supersonic, so it's not a simple thing to talk about exceeding it.

Re: Japan maglev train breaks world speed record again

#50

Post by alanho »

rwmj wrote: post #35
mmaldacker wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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…

Internal flights in Japan are basically turn-up-and-go (and cheap too), and have only a little security.

you can even bring your own bottled drinks/liquid on Japan domestic flights. they have a machine specifically for "scanning" drink/liquid. put your bottle on it, green light, then off you go. not sure how it works
Post reply on HN