Fast track to the future

I was just in Europe for two weeks. Beyond knowing what city my hotels were, I deliberately left my itinerary blank. Then I bought a train pass. Every morning, I would leave my hotel in Brussels or Berlin, not knowing if I would be in Paris that morning, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Versailles, or Cologne. Some trains were faster. The TGV and Eurostar trains are really fast. So were the Thalys trains. The German ICE trains were not quite as fast, but at least as fast as Acela trains. I traveled to eight cities in four countries doing that.

Boy, we are so far behind. It looks like many industrialized nations are moving ahead to high-speed trains. Our continued stubborn adherence to a nineteen century technology known as the internal combustion engine is a recipe for failure.

I live in Guangzhou! I might have to take a ride on it soon!

The whiskey thing is funny... i hear ya China is gonna build it for us. Isn't this kinda idea in the Obama plan? i'm all for it i need a job!

WOW! That’s cool and convenient but dangerous. If ANYTHING got on the tracks the result would be devastating, but if they found a fool-proof way to make sure the tracks stayed clear like a plastic bubble (like in bubble boy, lol) I'd go on it in a heartbeat.

Anyone else find it crazy that the U.S. still has the most track in the world and its the least efficient system?

They create a train that goes through the ocean and they'll beat planes to death.

Neat. and that also made me think I hope China doesn't ask the U.S for their money back! I don't think they will, ever really. And that's due to how much business we do with them. Thye have to be aware that now, if they asked for a few BILLION dollars from us, that'd distrore us as a country right now.

When the railroads were first built the project was overseen by congress. Contractors were paid by the mile so that the most direct routes were overlooked. The U.S. rail system has always been subsidized by the government making it impossible to become efficient. We can do better.

So we can't get elevated tracks, maglines, or trains in the midwest that run faster than 110mph. Could we at least work on making what we do have a bit more efficient?

Maybe Amtrak could start by eliminating stops in small towns. I have no idea why a train from St. Louis to Chicago would need to stop in Joliet, Pontiac, Lincoln, Carlinville, and Alton, Illinois.

When it comes to communal transit, taking a train between the CHI and STL is by far slower than airplane and bus. It's time to catch up Amtrak. Take a lesson from China.

Hi magic6435,

This is an extract from Wikipedia ... "When electricity generation losses are included this becomes 200 watt-hours per passenger-mile, almost 4 times less than the Amtrak estimate. This is in agreement with the independent transportation researcher David Lawyer who finds that trains are approximately 3 times more energy-effective than planes".

I can step on a train in Paris and be in London in two and a bit hours ... that's door to door ... no transport to airport ... no waiting at airport etc. It's the way to go ... imagine if the US spends it's military budget on this kind of stuff ... plus education, health etc !

maybe the Chinese will come build it for US and we can buy little red riding books to thank them for taking us on a ride out of the dark-ages

I wonder what the fuel usage is compared to a normal jumbo jet that holds between 400 - 500 passengers, this thing carries 1,200. Granted i hate flying so i would love one of these to get back in forth between Detroit and NewYork in like 2 hours or Boston. sigggh one day the US will start investing in railways once again.

China is the future, sorry USA, but you're too in love with your automobiles.