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You can't compare a trip just by length. The total speed of a train is limited by how many stops it needs to make, and the layout of the actual tracks. Having t

You can't compare a trip just by length. The total speed of a train is limited by how many stops it needs to make, and the layout of the actual tracks. Having to do lots of curves to avoid populated areas for example can slow a train down considerably. However if you can go through empty land for hundreds of kilometers in a straight line, you can go full throttle for most of it. One train on google maps for example has 7 stops between Beijing and Shanghai. Meanwhile Hamburg-Munich has 9 stops on a trip half the length.

melling 10y ago
It's less than half the speed in Germany. The extra stops do not account for the difference. At any rate, yes I can compare the absolute times because that's what passengers will do when making choices on how to get from A to B. If the trip in Germany was an hour faster, more people would choose the train. In the US, it's usually always faster to drive. Traffic congestion can make the train attractive in the northeast.
- bosie 10y ago
  > It's less than half the speed in Germany. The extra stops do not account for the difference. You sure about that? The non-stop train takes 4 hours from beijing to shanghai. now they stop once and it takes 4hr48 (reduced max speed from 330 to 300km/h). At the same distance, DB stops roughly 14 or 15 times. if a stop costs you 10 minutes, you save an additional 2 1/2 hours just by not stopping. Took the info from wikipedia [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing%E2%80%93Shanghai_High-Speed_Railway https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing%E2%80%93Shanghai_High-...
  - melling 10y ago
    Does every stop cost 48 minutes? I don't have the answer but simply saying it's the number of stops without evidence is not factual.
    - mschuster91 10y ago
      At least a stop at a major hub will take that time. Basically, you don't only have the time spent stopped at the station, but you also have long period of acceleration and deceleration - an ICE3 takes 3km to stop from full speed in normal conditions according to a quick google search. Also, trains usually have to move extremely slow (40 km/h) in the surrounding area of a station... and the larger the station, the more switches.

melling 10y ago

It's less than half the speed in Germany. The extra stops do not account for the difference. At any rate, yes I can compare the absolute times because that's what passengers will do when making choices on how to get from A to B. If the trip in Germany was an hour faster, more people would choose the train. In the US, it's usually always faster to drive. Traffic congestion can make the train attractive in the northeast.

bosie 10y ago
> It's less than half the speed in Germany. The extra stops do not account for the difference. You sure about that? The non-stop train takes 4 hours from beijing to shanghai. now they stop once and it takes 4hr48 (reduced max speed from 330 to 300km/h). At the same distance, DB stops roughly 14 or 15 times. if a stop costs you 10 minutes, you save an additional 2 1/2 hours just by not stopping. Took the info from wikipedia [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing%E2%80%93Shanghai_High-Speed_Railway https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing%E2%80%93Shanghai_High-...
- melling 10y ago
  Does every stop cost 48 minutes? I don't have the answer but simply saying it's the number of stops without evidence is not factual.
  - mschuster91 10y ago
    At least a stop at a major hub will take that time. Basically, you don't only have the time spent stopped at the station, but you also have long period of acceleration and deceleration - an ICE3 takes 3km to stop from full speed in normal conditions according to a quick google search. Also, trains usually have to move extremely slow (40 km/h) in the surrounding area of a station... and the larger the station, the more switches.