> When it’s completed, the train will travel at 186 miles per hour
If China can push 286 mph in Shanghai, which means the tech exists, then why isn't this comparable? This is not snark; I am just curious what makes the Chinese train capable of such speeds, but the US train can't.
comparing China's high speed transportation is a low bar. they absolutely do not give a crap about derailment, in fact they straight up buried it, literally
instead you should see Japan's shinkansen as a measure of standards. They built that in the sixties
It's one the highest bars in the world, safer than Euro HSR. Wenzhou was the only large accident. Safety record after has been Shinkansen tier, except on largest network in the world. Crippled speed Brightline is already a deathtrap, US HSR would be fortunate to be a fraction as safe as PRC HSR.
Was just in Japan for the first time and Shinkansen is such a treat. Quiet, fast, clean, spacious. I'd sooo much rather train than take small 1-2 hour flights.
Yes the Shinkansen is such a civilised experience! I basically travelled direct to Tokyo from Nozawaonsen straight from the slopes and it was comfortable and not stressful in a way flying could never be.
Europe has a very similar rail setup. Both France and Germany have very good high speed rail connections with their TGV and ICE. You connect into those from London, Brussels and Amsterdam via Eurostar and the German ICE.
That has absolutely nothing to do with it: these projects are mostly through rural areas. The Tokaido shinkansen line is largely underground, in tunnels through mountains. The new Chuo shinkansen maglev line currently being built is 90% underground.
What's missing in America is national unity and political will.
Typical PRC HSR is 200-220 mph but routes are getting speed upgrades. Infra wise, expensive elevated tracks designed for trains to operate at high speeds unobstructed. Seperate from ground traffic so no worrying about hitting cars and most importantly people. Brightline has highest death rate due to suicides. Someone crunched math of Brightline death per unit of track relative to PRC, if PRC HSR network wasn't elevated theyd have 30000k deaths per year. IMO more important consideration.
I’m not fussed with top speeds. Average travel speed that takes into account waiting for the next departure is a more practical measure. A high speed train that stops in every town has a lower effective speed than the top speed suggests. A high speed train with hourly departures instead of every 30 or 15 min means you wait more.
And of course high speed means higher cost. The average person is very price sensitive on transportation costs.
>Average speed: 224 km/h (139 mph) (duration: 8 minutes and 10 seconds)
The bigger issue is likely:
>According to Chinese media's report, however, due to the huge costs of operating and the lack of the passenger flow, Shanghai Maglev Transportation Company would lose 500 million to 700 million RMB every year
It is pretty impressive and they're looking at building an extension. however oddly its operation speed has been significantly reduced from 268mph to 186mph.
The basic problem is that Maglev is on average more expensive to build and operate
and cannot (unlike ordinary high speed rail trains) ever operate on ordinary (non high speed) rail track.
It's also still pretty experimental, the Shanghai one is operational and high speed, all other operational systems are either low speed or experimental test beds.
That's all of 30km of maglev track. It opened over 20 years ago, and there doesn't seem to be much interest in doing any more. By contrast, there's about _60,000km_ of 'normal' (~300km/h max) high-speed rail. It would really be pretty _weird_ for the US to try beyond-cutting-edge for its first attempt at a real high-speed rail system, and would probably end badly.
If China can push 286 mph in Shanghai, which means the tech exists, then why isn't this comparable? This is not snark; I am just curious what makes the Chinese train capable of such speeds, but the US train can't.