China passenger train hits 300 mph, breaks record

[humblebum]

Source: Anita Chang, Associated Press – Fri Dec 3, 4:18 am ET

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.

The Xinhua News Agency said it was the fastest speed recorded by an unmodified conventional commercial train. Other types of trains in other countries have traveled faster.

A specially modified French TGV train reached 357.2 mph (574.8 kph) during a 2007 test, while a Japanese magnetically levitated train sped to 361 mph (581 kph) in 2003.

State television footage showed the sleek white train whipping past green farm fields in eastern China. It reached the top speed on a segment of the 824-mile (1,318-kilometer) -long line between Zaozhuang city in Shandong province and Bengbu city in Anhui province, Xinhua said.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101203/ap_on_hi_te/as_china_high_speed_rail

---

It is a shame that a portion of the stimulus funds were not spent on a project like this. It would have provided countless jobs and prepared this nation to better face the future.

[Overseas]

1. K&R ! //nt

[LibDemAlways]

2. Where it exists, rail in this country is slow and

mostly antiquated. In too many places it's impossible to get from Point A to Point B by train. 20 years ago I took a passenger train from LA to Las Vegas. It was slow and kept pulling off onto side tracks to let freight trains go by, but it existed. Today it's gone. In some places Amtrak is a bus.

In much of the world good rail service is a given and governments are working to improve it. In this country we put our money into bombs and bullets. Our wealthy politicians don't travel by train so they see no need for anyone else to.

[Ginto]

3. True, but..

This train is between Beijing and Shanghai which is about 1300KM. Try to lay a 1300KM route through and portion of the US and you'll have to "move" a lot of families or deal with major changes in elevation. We should have done it in the 50's. We've lost our chance now.

[Safetykitten]

9. Yes, everyone knows that 1950's mountains were softer than our early 21st century ones.

[Ginto]

10. The mountains are less of an issue than our population explosion.

We could have built shorter routes, but now we have to worry about going through existing neighborhoods.

[NuttyFluffers]

15. you're obviously not acquainted with our great plains...

y'know, one of the largest expanses of incredibly flat land. you're welcome to drive around the Dakotas and on down towards Texas. it might change your perspective.

ps: bullet trains are not about the complications of getting into and out of a downtown; they are about going across one large, empty expanse quickly. and as anyone who has driven across America can tell you, we have a lot of large, empty expanses.

[Ginto]

17. Okay, we can fun a train from outside Wichita, KS to outside Lincoln, NE. nt

If you're going to lay any new tracks anywhere near a metropolitan area, you're going to need to move a lot of people. And the people who do remain will have a high speed rail track in their backyard.

[NuttyFluffers]

20. Or a quadrangle connecting Minneapolis, Chicago, St. Louis, & Kansas City...

and obviously you've never seen how high speed rail in their backyard really is. it's usually raised and very light footprint in a community. freeways and highways are far, far larger (and noisier).

[Ginto]

24. Please map how this route will come into Chicago.

So they're going to raise it over the houses? I've spent time in Japan. I've seen how great high speed rail works. They did it right though and built their rail in the 50's.

[NuttyFluffers]

30. depends on how you want it done. trains already come into Chicago.

you can bring it up close and then decide how to get it in: ride it in the center divide of a major highway/freeway, use an already existing train track (tear it up and place it on the same space), or put it near the outer airport (IIRC, Midway airport in Chicago suburbs).

if you are worried about the dreaded words "imminent domain," who cares? they already do that bullshit to put up a fucking sports stadium (and then charge it onto the city's credit card). i'm sure someone is going to get screwed by placing the train SOMEWHERE. but people are ALREADY BEING SCREWED. so people will be screwed regardless might as well invest in infrastructure.

by the way, Japan did not build all their rail in the 1950s and stop. infrastructure is a continual process. people sit down and shut up about roads all the time -- and yet trains take up less space. "it all should've been built yesterday, it's too late now (oh, except for roads, airports, etc)" --it's an illogical failing argument. let it go.

[Ginto]

31. I am not worried about imminent domain.

It's never a worry until you are the one being "domained." I say we just plan the routes and tell people to get out of the way.

Which people would you pick?

http://maps.google.com/maps?um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=chicago,+IT&fb=1&gl=us&hq=chicago,+IT&hnear=chicago,+IT&cid=0,0,1571490299303665610&ei=BnT6TMiUE5G0ngfltN3HCg&sa=X&oi=local_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CCEQnwIwAA

[Posteritatis]

27. Yep. The unique geography of the contemporary US is implacably hostile to railways

They actually coil up and burst into flames, you see, because the land itself hates them so very very much.

Or at least that's what I hear; enough people believe that's the case that it's just a presumed truth now, from what I can tell.

[Ginto]

32. See post #27 please. nt

[Posteritatis]

34. Considering I wrote post #27 it's kind of hard for me not to. (nt)

[Ginto]

35. Ha. Meant 31. No glasses on. nt

[TheMadMonk]

28. Hey the initials match. BS. There is more than enough room to run tracks...

...down the middle of most modern multi-lane highways. It would take muy viaducts and cuts, but it's certainly doable and grade (slope) may be less of an issue than people think, given how roads have been leveled out over the years. Maglev which "grips" magnetically and doesn't rely on friction is even less gradient dependent. Many old railway rights of way also still exist in many places.


Install decent systems integration, devise a means of safe hot shunting at speed and a person could board the New York car in Los Angeles, and with good bladder control not leave his seat until reaching his destination <24 hours later. Meanwhile the cars that began the same journey on either side of him are in Winipeg and Miami.

The same systems integration and hot shunting, plus relatively cheap modern cargo handling equipment, would reopen goods rail access to any number of small towns.

By running rail and road in parallel the opportunity exists to closely integrate those too. 100 mile range for an EV is not such a hinderance if you can drive onto a train in Seatle and off in Las Vegas and make the journey at 2-3 times highway speeds into the bargain.

Ideally, long distance roads could then be phased out entirely.

Ignoring political differences. China has nothing of consequence in the way of transportation infrastructure. For it, it makes great sense to go for the deluxe package that will last them fifty years. In the US there is a lot of profit to be made in keeping the huge amount of install road infrastructure just barely ticking along. A huge project, that will essentially have to be started from scratch and would result in the eventual removal of a lot of existing infrastructure, would be hugely expensive, but in the long term it would seriously affect the profits of those who have a vested interest in charging a premium for tacking on just enough added capacity to a system whenever meltdown is imminent.

Driving a path through people's backyards would be the least problem, it gets done for roads all the time without great comment. However, you can bet that the media we all love to hate will get us cheering when it showcases the personal angle in much more depth than it ever gives to developers and roadbuilders.

[Ginto]

33. I just have a feeling that if this type of rail project was ever undertaken.

The eminent domain that would be needed would fall squarely on the poor, elderly, or anyone who couldn't really fight back.

[daleo]

36. China is much more densely populated than the U.S.

And it has elevation changes.

[Occulus]

5. Oh but we caint! We CAINT! The USA is TOO BIG fer dat!!1!11!eleventyone

:sarcasm:

[harmonicon]

8. Joe Biden did...

but I imagine that he's the very rare exception.

[LibDemAlways]

21. The very rare exception, and probably only because it made

sense given where he lived.

[harmonicon]

22. well, yeah, but give the guy some credit.

Most jerks would have still moved to DC; he took the train into work every day.

[LibDemAlways]

26. Absolutely. Credit where credit is due. n/t

[FreakinDJ]

4. What happened to the "High Speed Rail" project in Calif

last I heard they are still in the planning and zoning phase for San Jose to LA

[COLGATE4]

6. All the Rethugs elected in this past election are now shouting to

the rooftops that they will do away with any high-speed rail projects currently being planned, including the Midwest and Florida.

[humblebum]

12. This country might still be without an electrical grid if it had not been for FDR.

In fact, all of our major infrastructure might well not exist if we solely relied on private investment. Unconstitutional for the government to be involved in these things? Absolutely not! What is the phrase "to promote the general welfare" supposed to mean anyway? If our forefathers had had the attitude displayed by Republicans today at the Constitutional Convention, we probably would not even have a Constitution simply because the Constitution took power away from state governments, and centralized power in a federal government.
In fact, we probably would not even exist as a country today because dispute between factions would have torn us apart.
That is the danger we face today by giving TOO much power back to the states. Put simply, it is a "divide and conquer strategy" and it is working. There are certain things that are better handled at the state level, which are those things that are peculiar to any certain state BUT broad programs that affect the entire population, like healthcare, vital infrastructure, defense, civil rights, etc., deserve attention at the highest level. It is only at the federal level that ensuring "domestic tranquility", providing for the "common defense", and promoting the "general welfare" can be carried out for all of the people. Certainly, the states have a significant place because each has a different set of immediate circumstances, but those things that affect us all are the responsibility of all - and that implies the federal government.

[saigon68]

14. Like Walker in Wisconsin

http://althouse.blogspot.com/2010/08/scott-walker-on-high-speed-rail-line.html

The high-speed rail line between Milwaukee and Madison is dead. That remains the official word from Governor-elect Scott Walker’s office. The Obama administration has awarded Wisconsin $810 million to build the line, but Walker says he does not want the state stuck paying annual operating costs.

[LibDemAlways]

7. It's been in the talking stages for decades. I'm 58 and am confident

it won't get off the drawing board in my lifetime.

[NBachers]

11. I don't know why, but I find your banana quite amusing

[tclambert]

13. Yeah, but America's great, too!

We've got the tallest build--oh, wait, we don't anymore.
We've got the longest brid--no, we don't have that anymore, either.
We've got the longest tunn--nope, not that.
Biggest dam? No.
Best roads? No.
Longest life span? No.
Lowest infant mortality? No.
Best space program? Hah! Gotcha there! Well, for a couple more shuttle flights, then we have to hitch a ride on foreign rockets.

Highest national debt! Oh, boy, you betcha.

[NuttyFluffers]

16. most grossly overpaid CEO! we're #1, we're #1!

:evilgrin:

[onehandle]

18. Yeah, but we got Amtrak.

[BeHereNow]

19. I think we still have few buses running here...

Except on Sundays.
BHN

[alcibiades_mystery]

23. That's New York to Chicago in 2 and a half hours

It's an hour and forty-five minute plane ride.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

25. Is it just me or does it takes nerves of steel to ride in one?

Flying at 500 kph is one thing.

Skimming the ground at 500 kph is a completely different thing!

:scared:

[David__77]

29. Maglev is the way forward.

China is a leader in maglev transport. I'd take one.