Posted on 12/28/2009 12:20:35 PM PST by OldDeckHand
In the week that Britain's high speed rail link closed down because the wrong sort of snow interfered with the engine's electronics, China unveiled the world's fastest train service on one of the coldest days of the year.
Days after thousands of passengers were left stranded when Eurostar services were cancelled, China's new system connects the modern cities of Guangzhou and Wuhan at an average speed of 217mph - and it took just four years to build.
The super-high-speed train reduces the 664-mile journey to just a three-hour ride and cuts the previous journey time by more than seven-and-a-half hours, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Work on the project began in 2005 as part of plans to expand a high-speed network aimed at eventually linking Guangzhou, a business hub in southern China near Hong Kong, with the capital Beijing, Xinhua added.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Actually, I have been there already, and even traveled on a train while there. As I recall, the “restroom” on the train I took, going from Shanghai to Hangzhou, consisted of a small room at the front of the car, with a sink on the wall, and a hole cut in the floor serving as the “facilities”. The tracks were laid the same way the Soviets allegedly laid theirs, with the ends of the rails lined up, so the bogeys crossed the rail joints at the same time on both sides (Clack-Clack, instead of clickety-clickety). The system was filthy, slow, and uncomfortable. I don’t want to even think of what the more rural trains are like.
Granted, my visit was nearly 10 years ago, even prior to the maglev in Pudong, but I also rode the “subway” in Shanghai, and it was pretty much as bad, looking like a “real” city had built a metro line, and Shanghai had either bought and moved the whole thing lock, stock, and barrel, or had found it lying by the side of the road (figuratively speaking), and had half-assed it together to try to get it running again. It was nearly empty, littered with trash, the stations were poorly maintained, and the few stops I was able to estimate the position of were stuck in odd, undeveloped (or neglected) areas of the city.
Yeah, we couldn’t finish environmental impact studies in four years.
If we tried to build a transcontinental, high speed rail line, the Chinese & Japanese would be using Star Trek style transporters before we ran the first train.
And the 9/11 site IS STILL A HOLE IN THE GROUND
Up here in the People’s Republic of Vermont we have been trying to get a ring road built around Chittenden County for more than 30 years. A road. One fricken road.
245? Not bad for people with a lot of time on their hands. How fast does a 787 travel?
> It is amazing how quickly things may be built when you
> don’t have to worry about appeasing the environmentalist
> and union workers.(Fixed)\
And property owners. Eminent Domain takes so long.
The phrase heard around the Big Dig project was “don’t kill the job”, which meant don’t get the job done right the first time. Or even the second.
What a remarkable feat of engineering!!!
I wish we could build something like that. But unfortunately we lack the engineers/specialists due to an educational system that’s geared towards creating unproductive serfs.
The paperwork (esp. environmental impact statements) will take longer than four years...
If you add in the time you wait for the TSA nonsense it’s probably faster to take the train.
Faster and cheaper as well, since these trains run on electricity(which can be generated locally) rather than imported petroleum based jet fuel.
>>Never under estimate the power of a cheap labor force...<<
That and not having to wait around for shipments of parts from China because you only ship them within your country which happens to be China where everything in the world is made anyways.
Eight years later, that's still a hole in the ground.
You can’t fly in that amount of time given security and tarmac delays.
I would like to hear though an honest analysis of cost per passenger mile.
I believe it to be unlikely that any commercial structure is erected during the next 8 years - at least available for occupancy within the next 8 years - which is EXACTLY what OBL wanted.
No Enviros.
No Unions.
No endless benefits.
No Workmen’s Comp Insurance.
No 111 different kinds of seismic engineers.
No holidays.
No minimum Federal wage tied to similar Union contracts.
No minimum age of workers.
No Maximum age of workers.
We all can come up with more.
The big damn is already having problems. You know the one that displaced a few million people”””
That dam is at the confluence of 3 large rivers.
IF it lets go, then NObama can talk about “Man-Made Disasters”.
Wonder how far the water will go?
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