5 ms·

China passenger train hits 300 mph, breaks record

19 points by mmphosis 16y ago

schan 16y ago
This reminds me that California has approved construction of a section of high speed rail too. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-high-speed-route-20101203,0,2569735.story?page=1 http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-high-speed-route-201... Hard to evaluate the cost/benefit of high speed rail since the costs are obvious while the benefits are delayed and not as obvious. It would be really cool to get from SF to LA in 2-3 hours though.
- ghshephard 16y ago
  SFO -> QLA takes 2 Hours, curb to curb, and costs $50 with pretty much every airline that flies the route. It costs me more for the taxi to get from Redwood City to SFO, than it does for the flight to Los Angeles. It is neither the cost, nor the time that attracts me (neither of which are likely to be that much better on a train), but the possibility of using that 4-5 hours a day productively on a reasonably civilized train ride instead of the horrible experience one gets in the Cattle-Like experience every morning in the airport.
  - loewenskind 16y ago
    I would value not having to fly very highly. At least until some idiot decides we need a security theater for trains as well.
dailo10 16y ago
"The line is due to open in 2012 and will halve the current travel time between the capital Beijing and Shanghai to five hours." In the meantime, CA is spending billions to build a 54-mile high speed rail segment from Madera to Corcoran - aka the "train to nowhere".
- schan 16y ago
  There is too much friction to build high speed rail in the US due to the democratic process. You have to get everybody along the way to agree which is pretty much impossible as you get to populated areas. In a place with a centralized government system like China, the nice thing is that things get built very quickly, but it sucks for the people who are affected negatively along the way.
  - muhfuhkuh 16y ago
    Eminent Domain displaces people in the US all the time. When a developer wants a pretty lake by the highway to build a condo complex, guess where the trailer park that was next to the lake goes? Kelo v. City of New London for just one example.
    - natrius 16y ago
      Kelo-style eminent domain is uncommon. The idea is that the land is taken for the benefit of the public, and usually that benefit is direct, like a new highway. In Kelo, the public benefit was the jobs and tax revenue from new private development, which is why it went to the Supreme Court.
      - splat 16y ago
        How do you define uncommon? Here are just a few cases of Kelo-style eminent domain: http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/current/2010/04/11/from-the-editors-lost-in-manhattanville/ http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/current/2010/04/11/from-the-e... http://reason.com/archives/2009/10/13/private-developers-have-no-rig http://reason.com/archives/2009/10/13/private-developers-hav... http://boortz.com/nuze/alabaster.html http://boortz.com/nuze/alabaster.html http://www.castlecoalition.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=261 http://www.castlecoalition.org/index.php?option=com_content&... http://www.ij.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=961&Itemid=165 http://www.ij.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view... http://reason.com/archives/2003/02/01/wrecking-property-rights http://reason.com/archives/2003/02/01/wrecking-property-righ...
    - 16y ago
albahk 16y ago
"Chinese passenger train" or "Passenger train in China". China passenger train sounds wrong although I cannot explain why.
RiderOfGiraffes 16y ago
Same story from Yahoo: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1968712 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1968712 No comments or upvotes on that item, but it is a different source.
MarkMc 16y ago
Grand infrastructure projects like this often signal the height of a construction bubble that will pop sooner or later.

19 points by mmphosis 16y ago

schan 16y ago

This reminds me that California has approved construction of a section of high speed rail too. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-high-speed-route-20101203,0,2569735.story?page=1 http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-high-speed-route-201... Hard to evaluate the cost/benefit of high speed rail since the costs are obvious while the benefits are delayed and not as obvious. It would be really cool to get from SF to LA in 2-3 hours though.

ghshephard 16y ago
SFO -> QLA takes 2 Hours, curb to curb, and costs $50 with pretty much every airline that flies the route. It costs me more for the taxi to get from Redwood City to SFO, than it does for the flight to Los Angeles. It is neither the cost, nor the time that attracts me (neither of which are likely to be that much better on a train), but the possibility of using that 4-5 hours a day productively on a reasonably civilized train ride instead of the horrible experience one gets in the Cattle-Like experience every morning in the airport.
- loewenskind 16y ago
  I would value not having to fly very highly. At least until some idiot decides we need a security theater for trains as well.

dailo10 16y ago

"The line is due to open in 2012 and will halve the current travel time between the capital Beijing and Shanghai to five hours." In the meantime, CA is spending billions to build a 54-mile high speed rail segment from Madera to Corcoran - aka the "train to nowhere".

schan 16y ago
There is too much friction to build high speed rail in the US due to the democratic process. You have to get everybody along the way to agree which is pretty much impossible as you get to populated areas. In a place with a centralized government system like China, the nice thing is that things get built very quickly, but it sucks for the people who are affected negatively along the way.
- muhfuhkuh 16y ago
  Eminent Domain displaces people in the US all the time. When a developer wants a pretty lake by the highway to build a condo complex, guess where the trailer park that was next to the lake goes? Kelo v. City of New London for just one example.
  - natrius 16y ago
    Kelo-style eminent domain is uncommon. The idea is that the land is taken for the benefit of the public, and usually that benefit is direct, like a new highway. In Kelo, the public benefit was the jobs and tax revenue from new private development, which is why it went to the Supreme Court.
    - splat 16y ago
      How do you define uncommon? Here are just a few cases of Kelo-style eminent domain: http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/current/2010/04/11/from-the-editors-lost-in-manhattanville/ http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/current/2010/04/11/from-the-e... http://reason.com/archives/2009/10/13/private-developers-have-no-rig http://reason.com/archives/2009/10/13/private-developers-hav... http://boortz.com/nuze/alabaster.html http://boortz.com/nuze/alabaster.html http://www.castlecoalition.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=261 http://www.castlecoalition.org/index.php?option=com_content&... http://www.ij.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=961&Itemid=165 http://www.ij.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view... http://reason.com/archives/2003/02/01/wrecking-property-rights http://reason.com/archives/2003/02/01/wrecking-property-righ...
  - 16y ago

albahk 16y ago

"Chinese passenger train" or "Passenger train in China". China passenger train sounds wrong although I cannot explain why.

RiderOfGiraffes 16y ago

Same story from Yahoo: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1968712 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1968712 No comments or upvotes on that item, but it is a different source.

MarkMc 16y ago

Grand infrastructure projects like this often signal the height of a construction bubble that will pop sooner or later.