Current Events > 'America has nothing like it' Japan tests 500km/hr maglev bulltrains

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://x.com/PicturesFoIder/status/1874196895154815316

Sounds dangerous

DisgracefulSins posted...

Sounds dangerous

Sounds like an American.

Seriously, the Shinkansen is a thing, and Europe has plenty of mass transit.

Sephiroth_C_Ryu posted...

Sounds like an American.

Seriously, the Shinkansen is a thing, and Europe has plenty of mass transit.

It's a shame because America, more than practically any other nation, would really benefit from high speed rail across the country.

Maglev's been a thing for a while and it's pretty safe.

Not really saying much, the junk they have in museums are probably better than the trains we have here.

Son_Goku_X posted...

Maglev's been a thing for a while and it's pretty safe.

I kind of want one of these:

https://youtu.be/Ky0D00iyHAA

There has been a giant maglev in China for a long time and it's safe. The Japanese one will be just as safe and probably more so.

DisgracefulSins posted...

Sounds dangerous

Still safer than Americas subways.

DisgracefulSins posted...

Sounds dangerous

simply existing in America is more dangerous than that train

I wonder how quick it would be for that thing to go nonstop from LA to NYC

wtf is your sig

312.5mph give or take. That's fast.

Zikten posted...

I wonder how quick it would be for that thing to go nonstop from LA to NYC

It's 3,936km as a straight line, that means a little under 8 hours with no stops.

008Zulu posted...

It's 3,936km as a straight line, that means a little under 8 hours with no stops.

That is one fast train. Thanks for the answer

This is awesome. It takes about 1 1/2-2 hours from my town to get to Tokyo. This will definitely cut the time, and hopefully the price too.

Too bad America will never do this because you guys were enslaved by oil companies.

The sad thing is, we have enough money in this country to prosper beyond this, but we love letting the rich get richer and hold all that shit for themselves. Our infrastructure is only going to continue to crumble.

Damn that's fast.

Shit like this could fundamentally alter the entire make-up of the US and Canada for the better but there's absolutely zero chance of it ever happening

DisgracefulSins posted...

Sounds dangerous

It is safe.
...as long as you keep it out of hands from greedy bastards that pickpocket maintenance money, like Norfolk Southern Railway...

Oh yeah well? W-we all get to drive all our own cars and sit in traffic for two hours to go to work so... SO IN YOUR FACE

B-besides, we, the best country in the history of ever, could have high speed rails if we wanted to... but we don't. We want billionaires to be richer. So uh, get your priorities in order!

Bio1590 posted...

Shit like this could fundamentally alter the entire make-up of the US and Canada for the better but there's absolutely zero chance of it ever happening

No chance in hell, instead we fund wars that actually makes the world unsafer and vulnerable

DisgracefulSins posted...

Sounds dangerous

America is so far behind on the transit tech they literally can't fathom the others now.

The main concern I'd have is for wildlife being hit. Unless they are always up on high rails then I guess only low flying birds are at risk. But I'm just imagining what a train that fast would do to an animal

Zikten posted...

The main concern I'd have is for wildlife being hit. Unless they are always up on high rails then I guess only low flying birds are at risk. But I'm just imagining what a train that fast would do to an animal

A train moving 60 mph is gonna kill them just the same.

DisgracefulSins posted...

Sounds dangerous

Keep a gun on you and you'll be safe!

TostitosTheHero posted...

Keep a gun on you and you'll be safe!

What if we build guns into the train?

but you simply cannot react fast enough, should there be any reason to stop.

I remember when Obama tried to give Florida money for a fast train and Florida was like lol nope

DisgracefulSins posted...

Sounds dangerous

Literally more people have died today in the USA in traffic accidents than have EVER died on the Shinkansen.

If it was built after the 1970s or actually improves people's life there's a solid chance that, yes, the US has nothing like it.

DisgracefulSins posted...

Sounds dangerous

How many people would it have to kill to catch up to the death toll of cars?

I thought they'd had these for like 20 years now.

_____Cait posted...

Too bad America will never do this because you guys were enslaved by oil companies.

That's only one reason, and probably the least important one. The biggest reason is embezzlement. If you gave X state a quintillion dollars for transportation reform, 999 quadrillion 999 trillion 999 billion of it would disappear. Somebody would die in prison but that wouldn't bring the money back. There's just no point.

DisgracefulSins posted...

Sounds dangerous

It would probably be dangerous in America after either the government agency or company that made it stops properly funding maintenance/workers for the train, just like all of our other infrastructure.

In Japan? They seem to take such care of their public transit that I would have pretty good faith it's running safely.

Man I'd love that, the last time I was in Japan riding the shinkansen back to Tokyo from Osaka I could feel we were moving pretty good - faster than when I went down - checked it and we were doing 283km/h. 500 would be sweet. I wish we had some here, a couple running down the east coast would be great.

We don't have the right of way or property rights to build high-speed trains where they're needed between cities. And if we wanted to build a transcontinental one where there are less concerns about building through the entire East Coast metropolis, nobody wants it.

We're a country designed for planes, cars, and regional rail. There are plenty of jewels like the Long Island railroad and brightline.

I don't know the language but I know the expression. Holy shit! I rode the Korail in Korea and they were fantastic. Loved being able to get around on public transportation.

I wish the US had a functional mass transit for traversing vast distances.

DisgracefulSins posted...

Sounds dangerous

The Japanese Shinkansen has been in operation since 60 years and has carried over 10 billion passengers in that time. The number of fatalities due to collisions or train derailments is zero.

Starks posted...

We don't have the right of way or property rights to build high-speed trains where they're needed between cities. And if we wanted to build a transcontinental one where there are less concerns about building through the entire East Coast metropolis, nobody wants it.

Of course we could remedy all of those situations...we just *don't*.

mystic_belmont posted...

I wish the US had a functional mass transit for traversing vast distances.

There's nothing stopping you from hopping on a coast to coast Amtrak train for a few days if you don't feel like flying.

You're saving at most 20 bucks.

mystic_belmont posted...

I wish the US had a functional mass transit for traversing vast distances.

There's no two points in Japan that could be considered a vast distance. A coast to coast US train of this speed would take way too many resources for the value to keep it safely maintained.

>"Sounds dangerous"
>Would strap oneself into a metal tube going even faster 30,000 ft above the ground without a second thought.

JustaSandwich posted...

How many people would it have to kill to catch up to the death toll of cars?

Americans would find a way, were stupid

mystic_belmont posted...

I wish the US had a functional mass transit for traversing vast distances.

I'd take functioning mass transit locally tbh. I go across town at least a thousand times as often as across the country.

people saying there's obviously no way we can build high speed rail across the whole country are I think missing the point

we can't even build high speed rail across population-dense transport heavy small distances within the country

It would take us at least 100 years to build it from start to completion.

kirbymuncher posted...

people saying there's obviously no way we can build high speed rail across the whole country are I think missing the point

we can't even build high speed rail across population-dense transport heavy small distances within the country

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/3/3d848771.jpg

A lot of passenger rail expansions at the moment are coming from repurposed freight lines. But these aren't going to be high speed. Even getting Acela or Brightline speeds is a challenge without starting over in many sections. Acela doesn't really get up to speed south of NYC anyway.

ReturnOfDevsman posted...

I'd take functioning mass transit locally tbh. I go across town at least a thousand times as often as across the country.

That really should be our nationwide priority but NIMBY-ism kills that, even though there's ample documented evidence that investing in mass transit spurs economic development and improves quality of life, not to mention is much better for the environment compared to cars. It's sad.

kirbymuncher posted...

people saying there's obviously no way we can build high speed rail across the whole country are I think missing the point

we can't even build high speed rail across population-dense transport heavy small distances within the country

That there aren't high-speed trains which connect dense population corridors like the Northeast is sad

Starks posted...

A lot of passenger rail expansions at the moment are coming from repurposed freight lines. But these aren't going to be high speed. Even getting Acela or Brightline speeds is a challenge without starting over in many sections. Acela doesn't really get up to speed south of NYC anyway.

The majority of high-speed rail around the world is built on dedicated high-speed tracks that are completely separate from the rest of the country's railways. That's really what we *should* have...but we'll never have it.