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Rail was developed for freight. Rail makes money moving freight. Rail traditionally loses money on passengers. Overhead is too high.
Actually it was developed for both but the Govt stuck its nose in the Passenger services , thus you have only private freight today. Although alot of freight companies in the Northeast and Midwest want to return to the Biz of Passenger Rail.
I've been on the Shanghai airport maglev, which, I think, is the fastest train currently in service. It is FAST. I've been on HSR in Europe, Japan, Taiwan, and China, and the Pudong maglev is noticeably faster. Of course, it's only 13 miles long.
There are a LOT of people traveling the Shanghai-Beijing corridor, and the current Z-class and D-class trains still take quite a while. This is the perfect place for the world's faster HSR.
On a side note; Chinese trains are the WORST in terms of passenger comfort. I'd rather be in 2AC class on an Indian diesel crawler from Mumbai to Bangalore for a day or two than on the 6-hour D-class from Beijing to Shanghai. The only trains rivaling the the Chinese for discomfort are the Spanish torture locomotives.
Maybe the Vietnamese trains are worse, that line is one of the few I haven't ridden. The tourist busses sure are nice, though.
"A Chinese passenger train hit a record speed of 302 miles per hour (486 kilometers per hour) Friday during a test run of a yet-to-be opened link between Beijing and Shanghai, state media said. Railway officials say they want to reach speeds over 500 kph (312 mph)."
How fast do our fastest trains go now and would something like this work in the US?
We are looking forward to the day that we get a whopping 110 MPH High-speed trains get green light - USATODAY.com "The Midwest routes chosen will only achieve a top speed of 110 miles per hour and were selected more for political reasons than for high-speed service," he said. "The last thing the American people need is another bailout program with low-speed trains to nowhere."
Some grant recipients are working on systems whose trains would reach top speeds of 110 mph, others with speeds no faster than 79 mph.
Yes, we are trying to get 1/3rd the speed as everyone else and celebrating our great investment...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nexis4Jersey
No , they can go faster ......but the tracks have to be built for that...
They just contracted $8B for new tracks, see link above.
We are looking forward to the day that we get a whopping 110 MPH High-speed trains get green light - USATODAY.com "The Midwest routes chosen will only achieve a top speed of 110 miles per hour and were selected more for political reasons than for high-speed service," he said. "The last thing the American people need is another bailout program with low-speed trains to nowhere."
Some grant recipients are working on systems whose trains would reach top speeds of 110 mph, others with speeds no faster than 79 mph.
Yes, we are trying to get 1/3rd the speed as everyone else and celebrating our great investment...
They just contracted $8B for new tracks, see link above.
Thats an old article and not HSR by NE standards.....
We cannot afford the high speed rail in 99% of the places this admin wants it.
We need to fix our current roads and bridges long before we waste money on any rail system.
Once we fix the current problem then we can look at rail later on.
1. Under current conditions, true. However, rail is more efficient than any other land transportation system at this time. Though that might change if there is a breakthrough. I'd prefer zero public subsidy, and zero tax liability for privately funded rail systems.
2. I disagree.
A. 99% of road damage comes from buses and trucks, which will be progressively less economical as fuel prices escalate.
B. Rail is far more efficient and effective in moving cargo and passengers for any fixed energy budget and limited resources. America is no longer Queen of Oil, and can't afford importing the majority of its consumption.
3. The current problem IS fossil fueled transportation (gasoline and diesel), which will become progressively uneconomical. We need to transition to electric traction rail, ASAP. Without electric rail alternatives, this nation will be crippled if the flow of imported oil is interrupted for whatever reason.
it won't work well in america because of he culture. people like to ride in cars.
also, high speed rail doesn't seem to make much sense in america as it's not very dense in population and there is a lot of space.
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