Westinghouse was the developer and leader in maglev technology for high speed trains years ago. They sold it to China for reasons I don’t remember.
Er, are there any customers who want to travel and can afford to buy tickets? If so, is the fare they are paying sufficient to cover the capital outlay?
I would trust a Chinese “fast train” about as much as the Vancouver luge track.
Yeah, Willie - pimping trains again. Last I checked, China was on the edge of a massive bubble from government overspending on infrastructure and development. Yet you look to them for inspiration for this country? And you do realize that Obama and the Democrats love to pimp trains as well? Trains that cannot function without subsidies?
China has 5000 miles of track with 42 trains. That’s 119 miles of track per train.
China has a much denser population with 358 people per square mile. The USA has 95 people per square mile. Plus their population is not used to owning cars. Trains don’t make as much sense for us.
The North east has commuter trains, and a denser population. The trains just aren’t high speed. But most of the country doesn’t have even slow speed commuter trains because it’s not commercially viable. Nobody wants to take trains or buses.
The Chicoms don’t have labor unions to deal with.
The best solution for America, is to build nuclear plants so that energy is cheap and plentiful.
Imagine the boon to the economy if electric prices dropped in half.
And if oil costs go too high, we would be in a position to convert to hydrogen or battery power.
I also think we should automate driving. We are getting closer. With GPS, collision avoidance systems, DARPA, etc.
I think we should upgrade GPS until it’s accurate enough to maintain a car in a lane. But automated driving shouldn’t rely on GPS except for routing. It needs to rely on visual examination of the road.
Imagine if most cars were driven by computers that had a very very low accident rate. Just the savings in time and gas from traffic tie ups from the reduction in wrecks would be a huge savings. Not to mention traffic tickets, accidents, auto body repairs, auto insurance, accident related medical care, ambulance chasing lawyers, etc. Plus youth and elderly who cannot drive would be freed.
Why not? They can't fool anyone into thinking they need more empty cities, so why not empty trains?
Also check out how fast trains operate in Europe and Asia; they do NOT slow down when going through towns, crossing roads, or bypassing stations. Compare that to AMTRAK where slowing down for each crossing or town in required. Going from Shanghai to Nanjing takes about 2 hours via train; going from Seattle to Portland, OR takes 5. They're the same distance. The reason is the at-grade crossings (US has many; China has few and doesn't slow down for those that still exist) and speed through bypassed towns and stations.