Japan to approve plans for new super-train

[Bonobo]

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/japan-to-approve-plans-for-new-supertrain-2275308.html

The government is to approve a plan by Central Japan Railway Co. to construct a line for a magnetically levitated train
between its two largest cities, Tokyo and Osaka, suggests a recently released report. Japan will be the first nation to
build a major, high-speed maglev route and hopes to be able to export the technology once it has been perfected.

Japan is famously the developer of the bullet train system, which can trace its genesis as far back as 1964 but is still
regarded as one of the best high-speed mass transit systems in the world, but wants to get in ahead of the
competition for the next generation of trains.

The maglev is designed to have a top speed of 500 kph and will travel the 438 km between the nation's business hubs
in a mere 67 minutes, an impressive 51 minutes faster than the most advanced bullet trains of today. And by starting
from central Tokyo and depositing passengers in the heart of Osaka, the developers say it will be more convenient than
flying between the two cities because of the time needed to get to the airports at each end of the journey.

JR Tokai points out that bullet train technology will be 60 years old by 2025 - although it is constantly being enhanced and
improved upon - while maglev technology is less polluting than flights that presently link the cities.

[Warren DeMontague]

1. Cool!

:thumbsup:

[Paradoxical]

2. A 500 kph, 200 ton missile roving along the ground. Seems like a recipe for disaster.

Granted, maybe I'm just being paranoid. But it sounds like any object that gets in the way could cause a hell of a nightmare.

[TheWraith]

4. Yes, you're being paranoid.

Freight trains in the US may move slower, but they carry a LOT more weight, making their total energy equal or possibly greater. And yes, sometimes there are train accidents or derailments. But relative to miles traveled, they are pretty rare, and in large part only happen because of conditions which could be eliminated in a specific high speed rail system, i.e. pedestrian or vehicle crossings.

[Hannah Bell]

3. meanwhile, the US is still in the 19th century.

[BrightKnight]

5. I would be thrilled if Dallas light rail went to the airport and near my home. n/t

Taking a train from the Dallas Arts District to the Fort Worth Arts District would be beyond my wildest dreams. I am much more interested in basic infrastructure.

Taking a bullet train from Dallas to Austin would be fantastic but it is not nearly as important to me.