Japan maglev train breaks world speed record again

Post by dang » Tue, Apr 21, 2015, 6:31 PM UTC

wahsd wrote: post #14

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.

Don't be such an idiot. I get it, you enjoy European infrastructure and social democracy. Remember though that you will pay half of the taxes you pay in Germany ... oh, did you just enjoy all the benefits of German infrastructure and society without actually paying any taxes, let alone your whole life? No one is keeping you from remaining in Germany, are they? I can guarantee you they will approve your work permit an…

Post by com2kid » Tue, Apr 21, 2015, 6:46 PM UTC

js2 wrote: post #121

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…

Post by tptacek » Tue, Apr 21, 2015, 6:52 PM UTC

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.

Post by csomar » Tue, Apr 21, 2015, 7:18 PM UTC

riffraff wrote: post #84

the8472 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

as someone who has taken a few hundred flights outside the US in the last years: people get to take their shoes off quite often, but mostly boots and worker's shoes, not sneakers. Sometimes they also ask you to take off a hoodie or such clothing, of course your belt, put your laptop separately from the rest, get an occasional pat down, and the liquid restrictions ("don't take that mysterious bottle in here, but your…

Post by stcredzero » Tue, Apr 21, 2015, 7:31 PM UTC

rayiner wrote: post #120

stcredzero wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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-juice routine at the train station too. It would be easier to economically restructure passenger rail cars so that you had independent bomb resistant compartments. Trains have the disadvantage, in contrast with planes, that you can bomb the rails t…

Another thing to note is that it's just a lot harder to cause as much damage to a train. The deadliest Amtrak accidents involved collapsed bridges over water. Derailments or even head-on collisions almost always involve a dozen or less, often zero, fatalities.