1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

High speed rail in China discussion

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by cwerdna, Dec 26, 2012.

  1. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 4, 2005
    12,544
    2,122
    1
    Location:
    SF Bay Area, CA
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    I figure I'd start it off w/this article I spotted today.
    World's longest high-speed rail line opens in China - Yahoo! News
    I do recall the train collision from last year.

    It seems the Chinese have a lot to learn about safety compared to the Japanese w/their bullet trains. AFAIK, they've had virtually no fatalities since they first opened in 1964, which is amazing.

    I have ridden on Shanghai Maglev Official Website one way, to get to the airport. Unfortunately, I was on it during hours where it goes slower (Shanghai Maglev Train - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia), a max of 187 mph. I don't think I knew ahead of time and had no choice anyway. I had a flight to catch.
     
  2. tochatihu

    tochatihu Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 10, 2004
    8,973
    3,501
    0
    Location:
    Kunming Yunnan China
    Vehicle:
    2001 Prius
    Trains are all slow in SW China :) All I can add is from China Television features, this long line has a planned max of 350 km/hr and during interviews it was going about 305.
     
  3. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 4, 2005
    12,544
    2,122
    1
    Location:
    SF Bay Area, CA
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    That's still very quick. 350 kph is 217.48 mph. 305 kph is 189.5 mph.

    When I was in Japan and using the bullet trains, of the ones I was on (one of the Hikari lines, not the fastest line), when I had my GPS unit out and when I was awake, the fastest I saw my train go was 179 mph. This was back in 01.
     
  4. hyo silver

    hyo silver Awaaaaay

    Joined:
    Mar 2, 2005
    15,232
    1,562
    0
    Location:
    off into the sunset
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    The term 'bullet train' is a misnomer, coined by trigger-happy Americans. There is no country in the world that refers to its high speed trains as such.
     
  5. massparanoia

    massparanoia Active Member

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2012
    697
    467
    0
    Location:
    Virginia
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Kind of a coincidence that we used Asian slave labor to build our railroads, and now china has an endless supply of the same thing.
     
  6. massparanoia

    massparanoia Active Member

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2012
    697
    467
    0
    Location:
    Virginia
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    cwerdna likes this.
  7. ItsNotAboutTheMoney

    ItsNotAboutTheMoney EditProfOptInfoCustomUser Title

    Joined:
    Jul 18, 2009
    2,287
    460
    0
    Location:
    Maine
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    That's just the Daily Mail calling the Japanese trains "bullet trains". Quoting the Daily Mail never helps an argument. ;)

    However, according to the ever-potentially-completely-wrong Wikipedia, "bullet train" was a nickname given in 1930s Japan when the concept was originallly discussed and the name stuck and was then used in other countries to refer to Japan's trains.
     
    massparanoia and xs650 like this.
  8. FL_Prius_Driver

    FL_Prius_Driver Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 17, 2007
    4,319
    1,527
    0
    Location:
    Tampa Bay
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    I
    Bullet train may be a less than optimal name, but I can see why (shotgun) slug train never caught on.
     
  9. massparanoia

    massparanoia Active Member

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2012
    697
    467
    0
    Location:
    Virginia
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Or "depleted uranium shell" train.
     
  10. hyo silver

    hyo silver Awaaaaay

    Joined:
    Mar 2, 2005
    15,232
    1,562
    0
    Location:
    off into the sunset
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I disagree.

    Others mistakenly refer to Shinkansen as 'bullet trains', but Japan generally does not. Granted, the misnomer has been around since 1964, so correcting it now is probably a waste of time.
     
  11. SPEEDEAMON

    SPEEDEAMON Professional Car Nut

    Joined:
    Aug 31, 2008
    1,556
    606
    5
    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius
    Model:
    Five
    Indeed Shinkansen means The New Trunk Line and is still referred to that name even though it has been updated consistently. The Japanese gave the technology for the trains to China but they didn't share the computer controlled safety system which has been on time within a second each operating hour except during sever weather or emergencies like earthquakes.
     
    hyo silver likes this.
  12. tochatihu

    tochatihu Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 10, 2004
    8,973
    3,501
    0
    Location:
    Kunming Yunnan China
    Vehicle:
    2001 Prius
    MassP@5, to the best of my knowledge the Chinese building US railroads 'west of Utah' were not slaves. They were underpaid and treated as subcitizens, but the US has only ever had slaves from Africa.

    For the former, one can find small monuments to the effort (through the Sierra Nevada). For both, I would not much more recognition in the future. Realistically, what country wants to say "OK we were A-holes back then but now we are atoning". It has got to be pretty far down anybody's new-monument funding list.

    Off-topic, if you go through Independence, CA, visit the monument associated with the WW2 Japanese internment camp there. Totally worth your time.

    More on topic, it seems to me that China is now about 2/3 of the way towards their goal of high-speed rail lines. One would hope (re: Speed@11) that they are using best available safety procedures. On the long lines, I guess there are less trains moving in potential conflict than on short lines (like the Shanghai stub).

    Fastest yet pass. train was French TGV, over 570 km/hr? Sounds both fun and scary. Which is to say, fun :)
     
  13. hyo silver

    hyo silver Awaaaaay

    Joined:
    Mar 2, 2005
    15,232
    1,562
    0
    Location:
    off into the sunset
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Looks like fun to me, too. :)

    Here's a video with a good variety of views, including cab shots, overheads, and 'flybys'. Of course, they don't go quite this fast in regular service, but testing like this is what enables the TGV to achieve such consistently high speeds on schedule and be reliable.

    I think there was a more recent, slightly higher speed run by a Japanese train, but it was a maglev.
     
  14. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

    Joined:
    Feb 14, 2010
    6,035
    3,854
    0
    Location:
    Rocky Mountains
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    I've been on the TGV line and they are great. With rail you have to go big or just not do it. Nobody is going to use the rail service if there are only 3 stops. But the way China did it, seems correct. Huge investment allowing people to get where they want. Problem in the states is that they will put up a couple of lines, nobody will use it because it doesn't connect to good public transport at the ends, it will be dubbed a failure and that's it.

    In Manhattan, the subway and bus systems run so smoothly and go everywhere that people actually use them. Where I am now, there is only bus service. When I used the bus, it would take me 2 hours to get anywhere that a 20 minute drive would have taken me. You had to walk a long way to the bus stop, then take a bus to the downtown station, transfer and take a bus to where you want to go, then walk to your final destination. Obviously nobody used it for long that didn't want to. So they cut funding. Now the buses only run for a few hours a day with even fewer stops. Those that need it say it takes 3+ hours to get anywhere.
     
  15. JMD

    JMD 2012 Prius 4 Solar Roof

    Joined:
    Oct 11, 2012
    3,779
    1,282
    0
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    There has been much debate on a bullet train connecting San Diego to San Francisco with stops in between. Many say it will cost to much and never attract enough revenue to pay for itself.
     
  16. SlowTurd

    SlowTurd I LIKE PRIUS'S

    Joined:
    Aug 22, 2009
    1,156
    333
    0
    Location:
    nj
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    this thread

    [​IMG]
     
  17. AussieOwner

    AussieOwner Active Member

    Joined:
    Jul 12, 2007
    1,091
    67
    0
    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I have also ridden the Shanghai Maglev, many times, and have managed to be on it when it is running at max speed. You need to ride it during the middle of the day to experience the max speed. If you ever need to go to Shanghai, I recommend this as the cheapest and quickest way to get to/from the airport. The terminal at Long Yang Road is still a bit away from the city centre, but there is a good (controlled) taxi queue at the station.
     
    JMD likes this.