Japan maglev train breaks world speed record hitting 374mph

At a time where the UK government is poised to waste billions on old rail tech Japan shows it has its eye on the future with real high speed railway.

The train beat the 590km/h speed it had set last week in another test.
Maglev trains use electrically charged magnets to lift and move carriages above the rail tracks.
Central Japan Railway (JR Central), which owns the trains, wants to introduce the service between Tokyo and the central city of Nagoya by 2027.
The 280km journey would take only about 40 minutes, less than half the current time.
www.bbc.co.uk...

a reply to: gortex

that's haul ass'in for a mega ton piece of machinery!

a reply to: gortex

Been to Japan

And all I can say is British rail is a complete waste of #. Who ever is in charge need lining up and shot.

a reply to: gortex

Just how do cars and people get out of the way of such a thing? Or are the rails all raised above street level (which I assume they'd have to be). If you get teens or idiots climbing up on these rails for fun, they would have very little time to get away, if any.

originally posted by: Aleister
If you get teens or idiots climbing up on these rails for fun, they would have very little time to get away, if any.

So that?

That is natural selection for you.

A few less idiots and dumb useless teens in the world.

originally posted by: crazyewok

originally posted by: Aleister
If you get teens or idiots climbing up on these rails for fun, they would have very little time to get away, if any.

So that?

That is natural selection for you.

A few less idiots and dumb useless teens in the world.

But what effect would somthing like a human body getting in the way of a train going that speed have on the train?

Ever been on a motor cycle going 70mph and had a Bee hit the visor on the helmet? Its feels like a rock.

The US should be embarrassed. The US transportation system is archaic. In fact, here in Philly, our rail transportation still uses 100+ year old electrical grids in some areas. We sure as hell arenot putting any money towards jobs or education.

originally posted by: Biigs


But what effect would somthing like a human body getting in the way of a train going that speed have on the train?

Ever been on a motor cycle going 70mph and had a Bee hit the visor on the helmet? Its feels like a rock.

Asks the Japanese?

They seem to do fine.


Us Brits need to stop being pussys and making excuses and actually make a half decent rail system.

For #s sake people! We invented the train!

originally posted by: Aleister
Just how do cars and people get out of the way of such a thing?

It is a grade separated Right of Way.

originally posted by: UnBreakable

The US should be embarrassed. The US transportation system is archaic.

A large portion of that has to do with the fact we bombed many European and the Japanese systems into the stone age which allowed them to rebuild and upgrade the lines without as much trouble as the United States would have if they wanted to do the same thing. Plus, the country is much larger and would require even more resources to have a similar system.

a reply to: crazyewok

Wow! calm down!!!


Trains that go twice as fast in the UK? Im all for that!!! Some work on the timing japan style would be just a good, im just asking if theres been research done on accidents on maglev trains - because id like to get to edinburgh from london bang on time twice as fast but not if a suicidal individual can take out everyone on the train and a small town in the process

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: UnBreakable

The US should be embarrassed. The US transportation system is archaic.

A large portion of that has to do with the fact we bombed many European and the Japanese systems into the stone age which allowed them to rebuild and upgrade the lines without as much trouble as the United States would have if they wanted to do the same thing. Plus, the country is much larger and would require even more resources to have a similar system.

I'm not expecting the whole country to upgrade. Just start with say, the busiest portion, the few hundred mile corridor between NY and DC. They're still running the Acela which rarely goes faster than 125 mph. In fact, the national speed limit for Amtrak is 79 mph due to our obsolete infrastructure. I see what you're saying, but it's still a disgrace.

originally posted by: UnBreakable
I'm not expecting the whole country to upgrade. Just start with say, the busiest portion, the few hundred mile corridor between NY and DC. They're still running the Acela which rarely goes faster than 125 mph. In fact, the national speed limit for Amtrak is 79 mph due to our obsolete infrastructure. I see what you're saying, but it's still a disgrace.

The fastest portion is between New York City and Philadelphia since it is mostly straight and flat with speeds around 150 miles an hour. The rest has a good degree of curvature and would require a totally dedicated high speed Right of Way. Whose property do we want to take for that and how much do we want to spend on the system?

a reply to: Aleister

They say when the main line is built there will a lot of tunnels for it to travel which is the most costly and I guess time consuming part of the plan.
I hope whichever government gets to into power here in a few weeks takes note of this technology that Japan wants to export and put the overpriced and simply redundant HS2 rail expansion on hold for a few yeas until we can get better high speed rail travel ...although I doubt that will happen , it's too sensible.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: UnBreakable
I'm not expecting the whole country to upgrade. Just start with say, the busiest portion, the few hundred mile corridor between NY and DC. They're still running the Acela which rarely goes faster than 125 mph. In fact, the national speed limit for Amtrak is 79 mph due to our obsolete infrastructure. I see what you're saying, but it's still a disgrace.

The fastest portion is between New York City and Philadelphia since it is mostly straight and flat with speeds around 150 miles an hour. The rest has a good degree of curvature and would require a totally dedicated high speed Right of Way. Whose property do we want to take for that and how much do we want to spend on the system?

Uh, why would you have to take property? Just upgrade and reconfigure current system. There might be some inconvenience on the line for a few years, as they do one set of tracks at a time. But would it be any more inconvenient than when Amtrak experiences electrical problems numerous times a year that shuts down the line? As they keep putting band-aids and duct tape on an old system which needs to be updated to the current century, it's going to catch up to them one of these days. As to how to pay for it, lets take some of those billions that we give away in foreign aid to countries who hate us and don't appreciate us, let's keep it right here. Just imagine, if we had those hundreds of billions back that we wasted nation building in Iraq that's a sh!thole again. But it appears you like our 20th century mode of transportation.

well under ground would be good right? no weather, cows people bugs bees trees lakes etc.

a reply to: Biigs

Bit of both I think , if you're traveling on a super fast train you'd want to see trees , cows and field zipping by super fast for at least part of the journey so you can appreciate how super fast you're going and make the most of the front facing camera you'll get to watch on the monitor ... at least I would.

a reply to: UnBreakable

Because of the vast amount of curvature on the Right of Way. It is not conducive to highspeed operations and require a large acquisition of land to remedy. When many of these lines were built in the 1800's they followed water courses which, by their nature, are not straight.

originally posted by: gortex
a reply to: Biigs

Bit of both I think , if you're traveling on a super fast train you'd want to see trees , cows and field zipping by super fast for at least part of the journey so you can appreciate how super fast you're going and make the most of the front facing camera you'll get to watch on the monitor ... at least I would.

thats a fairly good point, however i dont really remeber the last time i got a train and did look out the window more than 10% of the whole time.

Though another point for the tube style, you could suck air out in from of the train so the train has less air friction, so it could go even faster!!!!

a reply to: crazyewok

It was proposed (Ultraspeed) but like everything else worthwhile...it was canned for good in 2007.

The crazy thing is that the proposed cost was less than £30 billion, while it's replacement (HS2) was initially quoted at over £50 billion.