[ViagraPriceBuying]

And we have bailouts, AIG, Goldman Sachs and derivatives (bets on bets)....

In the week that Britain's high speed rail link closed down because the wrong sort of snow interfered with the engine's electronics, China unveiled the world's fastest train service on one of the coldest days of the year.

Days after thousands of passengers were left stranded when Eurostar services were cancelled, China's new system connects the modern cities of Guangzhou and Wuhan at an average speed of 217mph - and it took just four years to build.

The super-high-speed train reduces the 664-mile journey to just a three-hour ride and cuts the previous journey time by more than seven-and-a-half hours, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Work on the project began in 2005 as part of plans to expand a high-speed network aimed at eventually linking Guangzhou, a business hub in southern China near Hong Kong, with the capital Beijing, Xinhua added.


Read more: Unveiled: China's 245mph train service is the world's fastest... and it was completed in just FOUR years | Mail Online

[M_Marked]

don't forget foreign wars and the worlds largest military budget. What do you expect from a country that spends so much and gets so little from education

[Dndjzirw]

Unfortuntely, it's constructed entirely of lead, asbestos, and Chinese drywall.

[ViagraPriceBuying]

Maybe ...maybe not...they mostly reserve those materials for US Transnational corporations like Mattel for "bottom line" purposes....

Remember just because something is made in China doesn't always mean it's made by China. Nevertheless, I wouldn't downplay this accomplishment with false dichotomies. However, China certainly still has it's problems and is still an emerging market...but one in overdrive and in better position than the U.S. although they have some bubbles (global asset bubble in the works) to work out in the short term that will hurt them when they pop but not as much as us....

[ViagraPriceBuying]

Also the world's longest high speed passenger train, the Harmony Express topped speeds of 245 mph during trial runs in early December. France previously operated the world's fastest train at 172 mph. The U.S. lags behind, with Amtrak's Acela Express reaching its top speed of 150 mph between the Boston and New Haven, Connecticut route

China's Harmony Express, world's fastest train

[M_Marked]

even worse, it averages 83 mph and runs with a ridiculous six car trainset. I believe capacity is 264 people, eurostar trains carry ~750

[betraaaus]

Well if we were a communist country, we too could bypass our local and state officials, move people to "better living conditions", and we too could have a 245mph train built from NY to L.A.


Tho, I too have my doubts about this safety also, after dams and houses just crumbled after the 2008 summer earthquakes, the tainted milk crisis and then the suicides and executions of said people behind those "accidents"



So we'll see if any corners were cut

[M_Marked]

spain isn't communist and has a well built train system. here, we're pushing for train service to wyoming and podunk towns in the pandhandle at slow speeds
Support builds up to return Amtrak's Sunset Limited | marionstar.com | The Marion Star

meanwhile, it takes longer to get to pitt than it did in the 30's

[betraaaus]

spain isn't communist and has a well built train system. here, we're pushing for train service to wyoming and podunk towns in the pandhandle at slow speeds
Support builds up to return Amtrak's Sunset Limited | marionstar.com | The Marion Star

meanwhile, it takes longer to get to pitt than it did in the 30's

Yeah, I know..its a lot more complicated then most countries as the rail system is so tied into more of moving goods then moving people.

I was just refuting the OP's claims that we could have a rail system like China if we just threw money at it like the bailouts.

China also did things we'd never approve of...

[M_Marked]

Yeah, I know..its a lot more complicated then most countries as the rail system is so tied into more of moving goods then moving people.

I was just refuting the OP's claims that we could have a rail system like China if we just threw money at it like the bailouts.

China also did things we'd never approve of...

it's not altogether untrue, though it may not be the most effective means of doing things. US transportation policy has long been skewed towards highway by the government while rail is expected to pay for itself entirely plus taxes to local, state, and federal governments. either get rid of the taxes or allow them to apply for federal transportation dollars. you are correct, they can do a lot of things we can't (as bush said, "it'd be alot easier if I were dictator") as can France....OTOH, Spain's network is growing because they actually built an HSR route. proponents were ridiculed just as they are here (people won't ride it) but they've proven popular. and certainly I'd be hard pressed to argue that bailing out the nation's homeowners, who already receive subsidies, banks, and blowing up countries is a better investment than HSR. I'd also posit that the money we do spend is poorly allocated, funding t new highways at the expense of maintenance of existing ones.

[Kiariitf]

Tho, I too have my doubts about this safety also, after dams and houses just crumbled after the 2008 summer earthquakes, the tainted milk crisis and then the suicides and executions of said people behind those "accidents"

I was going to bring that up: "We've replaced these people's milk solids with the plastic melamine. Let's see if they notice!"

There was also the "Let's buy poisoned grain and sell it as dog food thing."

[betraaaus]

proponents were ridiculed just as they are here (people won't ride it) but they've proven popular. and certainly I'd be hard pressed to argue that bailing out the nation's homeowners, who already receive subsidies, banks, and blowing up countries is a better investment than HSR. I'd also posit that the money we do spend is poorly allocated, funding t new highways at the expense of maintenance of existing ones.

Yeah, as long as Amtrak is sharing/renting tracks, it will never be more then what it is.

If half of those new highways had trains built into them, that'd be a grat way to start a new era of rail.

[ViagraPriceBuying]

I was just refuting the OP's claims that we could have a rail system like China if we just threw money at it like the bailouts.

China also did things we'd never approve of...

You can refute but I'm not sure I agree that investing in a productive capacity within your economy is such a bad idea or something we shouldn't approve of. "Throwing" money into technically insolvent TBTF financial institutions that are dragging the economy down doesn't exactly provide much of an ROI for the real economy IMO...sorry I don't follow your refutation whatosoever.

[M_Marked]

Yeah, as long as Amtrak is sharing/renting tracks, it will never be more then what it is.

If half of those new highways had trains built into them, that'd be a grat way to start a new era of rail.

that's not entirely true. while it will never be true HSR, it certainly could be a lot more than what it is (indeed, as noted, trains used to run faster AND share tracks). that said, for HSR, you do need tracks that are straight and dedicated to high speed operation (though I think the CHUNNEL handles freight at night). the reason the pitt run is so slow is that it's geared towards freight and lacks capacity. there's no reason Amtrak can't share track and run the route faster but it would require money (and there may even be room for some dedicated track since there's row for four tracks). europe didn't build these things overnight like china (which is the other point, they can just decide to do these things because it's not a democracy) and people do effectively argue that Europe has ignored rail's ability to move goods. nonetheless, its frustrating that so little of the so called stimulus bill was real infrastructure investment that will improve our lives and productive capacity over many years, since we will be paying for it for many years. same with the wars of course, including the drug war.

[Caunnysup]

How is the new China service considered the world's fastest? I thought the French (and even a Japanese train) had faster service.

Frech TGV, being tested-- topped out at 574.8 kmph-- that is 357.18 mph, more than 100mph faster than the Chinese train. Could that be right?!

YouTube - FRENCH TRAIN TGV 2nd FASTEST TRAIN IN THE WORLD 574.8 KMPH


The Japanese maglev bullet train:

YouTube - Fastest Train in the World - This aint the French one!!!

That one tops out at 581 kmph.


I guess the difference is more about the "cruising" speed? "Commercial speed" which includes station stops and total travel time between start and end points? Average speed? Not simply top speed? Or are the French and Japanese fast trains not in regular passenger service yet?


Meanwhile, India's fastest trains merely top out at about 141kmph, or about 87.6 mph, just about the same as many fast U.S. trains.

[ViagraPriceBuying]

Meanwhile, India's fastest trains merely top out at about 141kmph, or about 87.6 mph, just about the same as many fast U.S. trains.

Yeah but Indian trains also hold more passengers thus weighing down the train and I'm not sure they would appreciate the increased speeds anyway given the unconventional manner in which they ride those same said trains.....

[M_Marked]

phillyaggie-the french tested, they are not running a train commercially at that speed. Indeed, I think the Chinese are using TGV technology. This is merely the fastest train service in operation. The important thing isn't top speed but average speed which translates better into trip time which is what customers buy into.

[Fiipolera]

don't forget foreign wars and the worlds largest military budget. What do you expect from a country that spends so much and gets so little from education

The problem with education is the students actually have to care about education.

[Fiipolera]

Well if we were a communist country, we too could bypass our local and state officials, move people to "better living conditions", and we too could have a 245mph train built from NY to L.A.

How about the people get off their arses, go to school, get jobs and move themselves to better living conditions?

I guess that would require work and most Dems don't like to work.

[Caunnysup]

doom-- that's a funny pic indeed.

here's a fast train coming at you, in India:

YouTube - Bhopal Shatabdi at 150 km/h

a couple trying their luck, crossing the tracks (pretty nonchalantly!) just as the fast train approaches...nearly got killed:

YouTube - Never ever cross shatabi express

No folks on top or sides of trains in those vids

But if you ever want to see India's vastness, you can't really beat train travel...it's fun and adventure right there on your way to a destination! lol

Here, a Konkan Railway engine hauls 23 passenger cars at a good speed past a Mumbai (Bombay) suburban station...looks pretty clean and nice even for as dirty a place as Mumbai Railways...but more to the point, that's 23 freakin coaches full of passengers going on a long distance journey of 450+ miles, crossing 2000+ bridges and 90+ tunnels!:

YouTube - Indian Railways...Konkan Kanya with WDP4

Even the British gave up on building the Konkan Railway in all their time in India.


There's more to trains in India than just speed... there are "toy trains" riding up steep hills to vacation spots; there are heritage trains that provide first-class on-board service and treating you as a maharaja; there are still-workable steam engines, harking back 100+ years of providing passenger service; there are local/suburban trains, and now even metros in cities like Delhi and Calcutta.

All this is to say that the vast Indian Railways, even if antiquated in some aspects, still gets the job done, moving more than 6 billion people across almost 40,000 miles of passenger service...and doing so at a price that your average Indian family can afford.