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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSouth Korea's Hyper-Tube Train Hits Major Milestone, Reaches Over 621 MPH (Leaving U.S. behind)
The race to create the world's fastest train system has properly kickstarted with a bang! The Korean Railroad Research Institute (KORAIL) announced on Wednesday that its hyper-tube train reached speeds over 621 mph (1,000 km/h) during a test. This marks a major milestone in the move towards faster trains.
The hyper-tube is South Korea's version of the more-known hyperloop. The Asian country started its hyper-tube project back in 2017, and its recent news has been welcomed with open arms. /snip
Up until yesterday, the maximum speed KORAIL managed to achieve with its hyper-tube train was 443 mph (714 km/h), so the new record smashed through the old one.
We're talking speeds similar or faster than that of a plane's. A regular international flight from Europe to Asia, for example, flies at speeds of around 497 to 621 mph (800 to 1,000 km/h). So it's an insanely speedy train. /snip
https://interestingengineering.com/south-koreas-hyper-tube-train-hits-major-milestone-reaches-over-621-mph?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Article&utm_campaign=organic&utm_content=Nov12&fbclid=IwAR2xB2abQwcIXfpPYDaJGsFGCMIh6ofJIsXbkBibBCDc-KJezlW9zjt9PnA
Why can't we have nice things?
cyclonefence
(4,483 posts)is embarrassing to watch. Other developed countries are so far ahead of us in rail travel--providing safe, fast transportation, but also jobs jobs jobs.
brooklynite
(93,866 posts)You won't be able to get the property to build the ROW here; we're far too litigious.
crickets
(25,896 posts)I grew up near RR tracks that crossed our neighborhood entrance and criss-crossed several areas in and around town. At least one train ran through our little town every day for decades. As rail use trailed off, the ROWs have been abandoned and some have been reclaimed by local interests. What used to be tracks near my old neighborhood is now a popular bike path. My father lamented as it happened, "One day the railroad companies are going to regret giving them up. They'll never be able to get them back." He was right, and it's too bad.
https://www.calt.iastate.edu/article/us-supreme-court-says-ownership-abandoned-railroad-right-way-reverts-landowner
ProfessorGAC
(64,425 posts)I wonder if they reduce air pressure in the tube to reduce drag.
This would be awfully good for many big metro areas here.
Chicago, Minneapolis, Des Moines, St. Louis, Indianapolis, in a ring, for instance.
Places not worth flying to, but WAY faster than driving.
Super cool.
dalton99a
(81,068 posts)ProfessorGAC
(64,425 posts)I didn't notice that in the article.
That's only 0.76mmHg!
That's a very good vacuum. The sealants for the tube must be awfully good!
Harker
(13,880 posts)roamer65
(36,739 posts)They are an impediment to progress.
Response to Tom Yossarian Joad (Original post)
sl8 This message was self-deleted by its author.
grantcart
(53,061 posts)Passengers.
The only corridor that we have that is close to having sufficient density is on the Eastern seaboard but the key transit points are too close together.
It also requires that once passengers reach the key destination that they are willing to proceed with ordinary mass transit to the final destination, something most Americans are not interested.
High speed trains (like the one in CA) are high profile high capital boutique projects that are pushed by special interests (including unions) for short term benefits but are not sustainable in the long term. The fact is that they are not sustainable and will become budget sink holes siphoning mass transit funds from inner city and poor neighborhoods where more practical but less glamorous options would be more sustainable, reduced more rider time and be better for the environment.
I have lived in Asia and used high speed mass transit but the density and travel patterns here are not a good match.
crickets
(25,896 posts)I'd take a train over a plane in a heartbeat. The US interstate highway system is a wonderful thing, but in retrospect it's a shame Eisenhower didn't go for rail instead.
grantcart
(53,061 posts)and can only be sustained by metrics ofmillions of passengers by the day over relatively short distances.
There is little evidence that a high speed train will have much of an impact on the SF/LA air shuttle which is still faster.
My family loves trains and many still use it for vacation travel from West Coast to Chicago, but the number of people who will opt for slower movement on high speed trains versus jet travel are minuscule.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,154 posts)so it's perhaps 7 inches across.