physorg.com— Japan unveiled a sleeker version of its celebrated bullet train, the Shinkansen, which is billed as being the fastest in the world.
Apr 6, 2006View in Crawl 4
The train in this article hasnt been tested any higher than around 400 km/h. It is said that they aren't gonna test any speeds in the 500 km/h range.So it probably theoretically has a top speed that is higher than 500 km/h but they aren't gonna push the train that far.
I took a Shikansen from Tokyo to Hiroshima and back in February. It was awesome. If you think you wish we had these in the states now, go over to Japan and take a ride on one. You'll be willing to sign over your first born. The one I rode was slower than the one in the article - it traveled at about 180MPH I believe. It was awesome. It was like flying on the ground. The ride is extraordinarily smooth and comfortable. Plus, you don't have the hassles that you have with flying - baggage claims, security checkpoints, pressure changes, uncomfortable seats, cramped spaces, etc. With a train, you don't have the weight constraints that you do on aircraft so things are much more spacious. Some of them have dining cars.Hopefully someday we'll have something similar on the east and west coasts. There's even been talk of building something similar between Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati. It always gets shot down though. I think it would be great if I could hop a train to Cleveland from Columbus, be there in 45 minutes, catch a concert or have dinner and be back home 45 minutes later - not to mention possible business advantages. I could easily work for a company in Cleveland or Cincy. It would be a long commute but it wouldn't be all that bad.P.S. I don't think the one in the picture was necessarily the new model. It looks exactly like the one I rode and the different models in the past have looked radically different from each other.
haha I just copy and pasted the articles name from some site that linked to physorg.com soooo SORRY if it was not proper grammar. How is this "Japan unveils the fastest train in the world" Is that better?
Philidelphia I assume. I take the R5 :)I'd like to see less stops so that it's actually faster (than driving) to take a train to NYC, DC, Baltimore, Boston, etc...I hope the "high-speed" lines mentioned above aren't referring to the Acela, which is a joke I think. It cuts barely anytime from the Amtrack regional rails.
Actually, they are huge money sinks, Japan in particular. The entire main Shinkansen system was funded with government money when JR was a government organization on very long term bonds and near zero interest loans. After privatization, it was mentioned that the new Nagano extension to the network would potentially take 100 years to pay off at the predicted ridership rates, and that rate has yet to fully materialize. TGV is subsidized by SCNF, the french national railroad, same with the ICE by DB of Germany. The truth is such large systems are infrastructure, which by definition must be created by the state as it is unprofitable and/or necessary for the public. The reason why it doesn't look like a total folly is that the population densities along major corridors almost justify the spending, and are better than the alternatives. You'll see a high correlation of mass transit to areas with high population density and citizens who are willing to walk to places most of the time. Overlaying high speed transit over that is like building a backbone to a network, a necessary evil.
basoukazumaApr 6, 2006
The train in this article hasnt been tested any higher than around 400 km/h. It is said that they aren't gonna test any speeds in the 500 km/h range.So it probably theoretically has a top speed that is higher than 500 km/h but they aren't gonna push the train that far.
uprightjoeApr 6, 2006
I took a Shikansen from Tokyo to Hiroshima and back in February. It was awesome. If you think you wish we had these in the states now, go over to Japan and take a ride on one. You'll be willing to sign over your first born. The one I rode was slower than the one in the article - it traveled at about 180MPH I believe. It was awesome. It was like flying on the ground. The ride is extraordinarily smooth and comfortable. Plus, you don't have the hassles that you have with flying - baggage claims, security checkpoints, pressure changes, uncomfortable seats, cramped spaces, etc. With a train, you don't have the weight constraints that you do on aircraft so things are much more spacious. Some of them have dining cars.Hopefully someday we'll have something similar on the east and west coasts. There's even been talk of building something similar between Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati. It always gets shot down though. I think it would be great if I could hop a train to Cleveland from Columbus, be there in 45 minutes, catch a concert or have dinner and be back home 45 minutes later - not to mention possible business advantages. I could easily work for a company in Cleveland or Cincy. It would be a long commute but it wouldn't be all that bad.P.S. I don't think the one in the picture was necessarily the new model. It looks exactly like the one I rode and the different models in the past have looked radically different from each other.
yukevsterApr 6, 2006
@Gookie"Most probably he's a Jap himself."Keep your derogatory, racist terms to yourself, and off Digg.
sniper6121Apr 7, 2006Submitter
haha I just copy and pasted the articles name from some site that linked to physorg.com soooo SORRY if it was not proper grammar. How is this "Japan unveils the fastest train in the world" Is that better?
mrstylzApr 7, 2006
Philidelphia I assume. I take the R5 :)I'd like to see less stops so that it's actually faster (than driving) to take a train to NYC, DC, Baltimore, Boston, etc...I hope the "high-speed" lines mentioned above aren't referring to the Acela, which is a joke I think. It cuts barely anytime from the Amtrack regional rails.
ouroborosApr 7, 2006
Actually, they are huge money sinks, Japan in particular. The entire main Shinkansen system was funded with government money when JR was a government organization on very long term bonds and near zero interest loans. After privatization, it was mentioned that the new Nagano extension to the network would potentially take 100 years to pay off at the predicted ridership rates, and that rate has yet to fully materialize. TGV is subsidized by SCNF, the french national railroad, same with the ICE by DB of Germany. The truth is such large systems are infrastructure, which by definition must be created by the state as it is unprofitable and/or necessary for the public. The reason why it doesn't look like a total folly is that the population densities along major corridors almost justify the spending, and are better than the alternatives. You'll see a high correlation of mass transit to areas with high population density and citizens who are willing to walk to places most of the time. Overlaying high speed transit over that is like building a backbone to a network, a necessary evil.