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Japan maglev train breaks world speed record again

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Japan maglev train breaks world speed record again

#121

Post by js2 »

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.…

Just flew out of Boston this morning and was through security in under 5 minutes including the TSA pat-down due to opting out of the scanner. Watched a woman who I was with on the way to the airport make it through even faster as she got to security In fact, the last several times I've flown security has generally been under 10 mins. SFO is typically the slowest and most highly variable for me, but at its worst I don't think has taken more than 20 mins. Some of the airports this is based on: RDU, MIA, LGA.

Re: Japan maglev train breaks world speed record again

#122

Post by sentenza »

randomsearch wrote: post #91
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…

My experience is that the US has awful public transit, with the arguable exception of NYC, purely because of its subway. Here's the stats for Berlin vs Washington, as you wanted to make the comparison. Berlin subway (U-Bahn) has 10 lines, 94km (route length). Berlin trams have 22 lines, 190km. Washington Metro has 6 lines, 118km. No trams (under construction?). I'm excluding the S-Bahn, as Washington doesn't have any…

Wait. Shouldn't a more dense city mean more usage of public transportation? Because

a) the financial viability of public transportation increases with population density and

b) more densely populated means less parking space.

Re: Japan maglev train breaks world speed record again

#123

Post by goodcanadian »

alanho wrote: post #50
rwmj wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Almost certainly a spectral analyzer. Shine a light through it, see what the chemical signature is.

Re: Japan maglev train breaks world speed record again

#124

Post by mlmonkey »

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 seems to be the true advantage of rail travel

.... till some nut does something stupid, and then the whole security theater moves to railway stations.

Re: Japan maglev train breaks world speed record again

#125

Post by derf_ »

TillE wrote: post #55
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…

Tegel is fairly unique because each gate has its own security checkpoint. It's definitely a bit less stressful.

I found it more stressful. The biggest place where delays are caused at an airport is at security, so when I arrive at an airport, this is the first thing I want to take care of, and cannot relax until I've passed through it.

To be told I cannot go through security until a few moments before the flight departs (because it is not even open, or the gate not even assigned) means that anything that does go wrong will cause me to miss my flight.

Not to mention the expense of having screening apparatus at every gate seems a little inefficient. It means everyone on the flight tries to cram through the one line at the same time, whereas if it were in advance, it could be spread out in time and over more lines.

Re: Japan maglev train breaks world speed record again

#126

Post by vinay427 »

apendleton wrote: post #76
CountHackulus wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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."

It's probably a domestic vs. international thing (where "domestic," within Europe, probably includes actual-domestic as well as other destinations inside the Schengen area). To a large degree, US requirements have infected international travel around the world -- you can't fly into the US from a terminal that allowed people that weren't held to approximately the US's standards.

No, the DHS enforces the ICAO standards for flights entering the US. For example, the press release regarding the Venezuela issue: http://www.tsa.gov/press/releases/2008/09/08/tsa-issues-advi...

>Under Title 49 of the U.S. Code, Section 44907, the Department of Homeland Security is required to assess security at foreign airports with direct service to the United States to determine compliance with standards established by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

Re: Japan maglev train breaks world speed record again

#127

Post by Tloewald »

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.…

We need to learn to live without frequent air travel just because it's energy inefficient. What we need to do is get better at going places while asleep (and trains are great for that). Telepresence means getting places in a hurry will be increasingly unimportant for most people.

Driverless cars will be an interesting phenomenon (and possibly a net increase in our energy use). People will start living in them, doing ridiculously long commutes, etc.

Re: Japan maglev train breaks world speed record again

#128

Post by colanderman »

goodcanadian wrote: post #123
alanho wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Almost certainly a spectral analyzer. Shine a light through it, see what the chemical signature is.

That certainly won't work for my aluminum water bottle. Granted, neither do X-rays, and yet I've never had it even questioned going through security.

Re: Japan maglev train breaks world speed record again

#129

Post by Tloewald »

Someone1234 wrote: post #64
binarymax wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The security won't get blown out of proportion for trains like air, because while trains can do significant damage to themselves and surrounding buildings - you cant take one and crash it anywhere you like. 9/11 never would have happened with a train. A hijacked plane is a missile.

Trains still have an "end of the line." So, yes, you could if you were going fast enough. Also aircraft security was too much even pre-9/11.

> Also aircraft security was too much even pre-9/11.

In 1998 I was able to walk onto a plane in Sydney and fly to Zurich and walk off while barely breaking stride (I only had carry-on luggage, and Swiss customs waved me through based on my passport being US).

Re: Japan maglev train breaks world speed record again

#130

Post by rwmj »

colanderman wrote: post #128
goodcanadian wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Almost certainly a spectral analyzer. Shine a light through it, see what the chemical signature is.

That certainly won't work for my aluminum water bottle. Granted, neither do X-rays, and yet I've never had it even questioned going through security.

I think we're assuming here that this machine isn't merely security theatre.
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