China passenger train hits 300 mph, breaks record

http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article929388.ece

by mmphosis • 16 years ago

19 17 16 years ago

schan2• 16 years ago

This reminds me that California has approved construction of a section of high speed rail too.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-high-speed-route-201...

Hard to evaluate the cost/benefit of high speed rail since the costs are obvious while the benefits are delayed and not as obvious. It would be really cool to get from SF to LA in 2-3 hours though.

ghshephard• 16 years ago

SFO -> QLA takes 2 Hours, curb to curb, and costs $50 with pretty much every airline that flies the route. It costs me more for the taxi to get from Redwood City to SFO, than it does for the flight to Los Angeles.

It is neither the cost, nor the time that attracts me (neither of which are likely to be that much better on a train), but the possibility of using that 4-5 hours a day productively on a reasonably civilized train ride instead of the horrible experience one gets in the Cattle-Like experience every morning in the airport.

loewenskind• 16 years ago

I would value not having to fly very highly. At least until some idiot decides we need a security theater for trains as well.

dailo10• 16 years ago

"The line is due to open in 2012 and will halve the current travel time between the capital Beijing and Shanghai to five hours."

In the meantime, CA is spending billions to build a 54-mile high speed rail segment from Madera to Corcoran - aka the "train to nowhere".

schan2• 16 years ago

There is too much friction to build high speed rail in the US due to the democratic process. You have to get everybody along the way to agree which is pretty much impossible as you get to populated areas. In a place with a centralized government system like China, the nice thing is that things get built very quickly, but it sucks for the people who are affected negatively along the way.

muhfuhkuh• 16 years ago

Eminent Domain displaces people in the US all the time. When a developer wants a pretty lake by the highway to build a condo complex, guess where the trailer park that was next to the lake goes?

Kelo v. City of New London for just one example.

Anechoic2• 16 years ago

They're starting there precisely because there's nothing there and hence fewer obstacles (NIMBY and otherwise). Besides, that segment will have to be constructed eventually.

Starting in SF, SJ or LA makes more sense from a population standpoint, but you run the risk of the project being delayed or facing cost-overruns because of lawsuits and environmental concerns. If the CA HSR authority can get the starter segment up and running relatively smoothly, that might create more demand in the major metro areas and grease the skids somewhat.

waterlesscloud3• 16 years ago

With a ridership of approximately....0? And no one from any major city ever even seeing it, much less riding it?

I think there has to be a better plan.

albahk• 16 years ago

"Chinese passenger train" or "Passenger train in China". China passenger train sounds wrong although I cannot explain why.

RiderOfGiraffes• 16 years ago

Same story from Yahoo:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1968712

No comments or upvotes on that item, but it is a different source.

MarkMc• 16 years ago

Grand infrastructure projects like this often signal the height of a construction bubble that will pop sooner or later.

China passenger train hits 300 mph, breaks record

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