|
01-11-2010, 10:11 AM
|
|
|
|
13,136 posts, read 39,403,517 times
Reputation: 12284
|
|
|
I was just reading about China's new high speed rail trains that are now operating as it's top speeds of 245 mph crushes the closest competitor from France costing them $16 billion to construct. The article states that California is getting ready to construct high speed rail simular to these speeds from LA to San Francisco over to Sacramento costing $10 billion.
One concern about these trains going so fast are the safety mechanisms working properly that constantly monitor the tracks and trains.
China's High-Speed-Rail RevolutioN - Technology Review magazine |
|
01-11-2010, 11:36 AM
|
|
|
|
28,790 posts, read 45,565,128 times
Reputation: 37871
|
|
|
Considering the track record of Chinese manufacturers I wouldn't get on one of those for any amount of money. Even if it doesn't crash it's probably full of toxic materials.
|
|
01-11-2010, 03:04 PM
|
|
|
|
Location: Sarasota, Florida
15,395 posts, read 21,725,548 times
Reputation: 11118
|
|
|
Our nation's infrastructure is crumbling and mostly antiquated; while China and Europe forge ahead our country is quickly becoming "second rate"; only our military keeps us at the forefront. That cannot last long as our economy/infrastructure "tanks"....I remember Rome going through a similar scenario and we all know how that story ends. WE BETTER WAKE UP!
|
|
01-12-2010, 11:22 AM
|
|
|
|
13,136 posts, read 39,403,517 times
Reputation: 12284
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by PITTSTON2SARASOTA
Our nation's infrastructure is crumbling and mostly antiquated; while China and Europe forge ahead our country is quickly becoming "second rate"; only our military keeps us at the forefront. That cannot last long as our economy/infrastructure "tanks"....I remember Rome going through a similar scenario and we all know how that story ends. WE BETTER WAKE UP!
|
Pitt
Well spoken as that was my take of the article that how a country that's still years behind us in technology is able to build an high speed train that can go 245 MPH when we still have antiquated Amtrac and rail service in our country.
I heard some of the estimates at 2.2 trillion dollars for all the infrastructure needs in the entire county. |
|
01-12-2010, 04:04 PM
|
|
|
|
Location: Sarasota, Florida
15,395 posts, read 21,725,548 times
Reputation: 11118
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by 6 FOOT 3
Pitt
Well spoken as that was my take of the article that how a country that's still years behind us in technology is able to build an high speed train that can go 245 MPH when we still have antiquated Amtrac and rail service in our country.
I heard some of the estimates at 2.2 trillion dollars for all the infrastructure needs in the entire county.
|
It really is absurd...the money we wasted on a "personal Bush vendetta" on Iraq would have reinvigorated our economy and created millions of jobs as we replaced our antiquated/crumbling infrastructure; preparing our nation to compete with other economies in the 21st century.
Our once superior infrastructure built decades ago is the main reason we initially rose to become an economic powerhouse and just as surely it's crumbling is stifling our economic resurgence. In addition many lives are lost and it will get worse like the interstate bridge collapse in Minneapolis has proven....IMHO.  American Civil engineers have recently given our infrastructure a grade of D-......PATHETIC! |
|
01-13-2010, 12:53 PM
|
|
|
|
13,806 posts, read 26,006,936 times
Reputation: 14206
|
|
|
High speed rail is a huge waste of time/money in our country. Airplanes are extremely efficient in getting people to where they need to go.
In China, the government just takes the land and forces people to work. In America, we actually have property rights that prevent the government from doing such things.
|
|
01-13-2010, 06:18 PM
|
|
|
|
Location: Sarasota, Florida
15,395 posts, read 21,725,548 times
Reputation: 11118
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by wheelsup
High speed rail is a huge waste of time/money in our country. Airplanes are extremely efficient in getting people to where they need to go.
In China, the government just takes the land and forces people to work. In America, we actually have property rights that prevent the government from doing such things.
|
Railroads are FAR more efficient than airplanes; especially for trips of 600 miles or less!
High-speed rail - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fuel efficiency in transportation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia  .
Apparently you never heard of eminent domain...our country uses it all the time!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eminent_domain Also our country stole the majority of our land from the indiginous people, who were here first!
Last edited by PITTSTON2SARASOTA; 01-13-2010 at 06:27 PM..
|
|
01-13-2010, 08:15 PM
|
|
|
|
Location: Orlando, Florida
43,854 posts, read 49,023,399 times
Reputation: 58735
|
|
|
Very few Americans are going to opt to take a train for a shorter trip when they can take a car....or for longer trips when they can take a plane.
In the long run, it may be a good thing since the hotel/restaurant/shopping business depends on this revenue generated by car travel.
We'll save on fuel....but jobs will be lost.
|
|
01-13-2010, 08:36 PM
|
|
|
|
Location: NoVA
1,391 posts, read 2,550,634 times
Reputation: 1969
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by GloryB
Very few Americans are going to opt to take a train for a shorter trip when they can take a car....or for longer trips when they can take a plane.
In the long run, it may be a good thing since the hotel/restaurant/shopping business depends on this revenue generated by car travel.
We'll save on fuel....but jobs will be lost.
|
http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/2094/highspeedrail4.jpg (broken link) VS. http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/5183/gridlock420x0.jpg (broken link)
When I drive 45 minutes to visit friends out of town, if I had a choice between:
A. Sit in your car and stop and go and stop and go at ½ m.p.h. for who knows how long, or:
B. No construction zones, no idiotic ***hole drivers, no accident scenes, just kick back and browse the web on my iPhone or maybe take a nap the whole way there.
hmm.....
Yea, I'll have to go with B. |
|
01-14-2010, 04:42 PM
|
|
|
|
Location: Lead/Deadwood, SD
948 posts, read 2,678,600 times
Reputation: 872
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by wheelsup
High speed rail is a huge waste of time/money in our country. Airplanes are extremely efficient in getting people to where they need to go.
In China, the government just takes the land and forces people to work. In America, we actually have property rights that prevent the government from doing such things.
|
Our US gov subsidizes hundreds of millions of $ per year to keep the airlines afloat (and many still file bankruptcy) - Efficient? Not for me, never even been on a commercial plane but my tax dollars help others fly around using airlines that file bankruptcy every so often then get restructured to better use the subsidies all because (as we have heard too many times) they are too big to fail. hmmm. I say build the rails - raising a several thousand ton vehicle to 10 -20,000 ft above the ground to move a few hundred people a few hundred/thousand miles while burning several thousand gallons of fuel and depositing it directly into the upper atmosphere is dumb as........ |
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
|
|
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
