China tests 300 mph train.

[Ideologue]

I'd tend to think 300mph trains (or Maglec) would be more capable of competing with air travel, though obviously the start-up infrastructure costs, with no way to forsee demand, makes it a sketchy proposition.

The problem with trains is that they can't go 300 miles per hour for very long.  They have to slow down in towns and make stops.

Yeah, which is why they would only be useful for inter-city routes (major city stops only, i.e. Seattle-Portland-San Francisco-Los Angeles-San Diego), not for local commuters.

Even better would be a service where you drive your car onto such a train, and fling it, and you, at 300mph between major cities...lose the need to rent a local car.

Holy shit, that's actually a great idea.

[Josquius]

I'd tend to think 300mph trains (or Maglec) would be more capable of competing with air travel, though obviously the start-up infrastructure costs, with no way to forsee demand, makes it a sketchy proposition.

The problem with trains is that they can't go 300 miles per hour for very long.  They have to slow down in towns and make stops.

For conventional trains thats a PITA yeah.
For the maglev apparently though that's not such an issue, it has amazing acceleration.

[DGuller]

Holy shit, that's actually a great idea.

I had that idea for a long time.  Seriously, the biggest impediment to Americans using trains for distances that can be covered by cars is that you still need a car after disembarking from the destination station.  Few of our cities are designed to be navigated on foot.

[Ideologue]

Well, fine, you can have credit, but it really is literally the best transportation-related idea I've ever heard.  Let's build that motherfucker.  What's the cost?  A trillion?  Let's go!

[Tonitrus]

Holy shit, that's actually a great idea.

I had that idea for a long time.  Seriously, the biggest impediment to Americans using trains for distances that can be covered by cars is that you still need a car after disembarking from the destination station.  Few of our cities are designed to be navigated on foot.

Amtrak actually has that service in one place, you can load a car onto a train in Virginia and take it to Florida.  But of course it's Amtrak, so it could probably be better than the current overnight trip.

[Razgovory]

I'd tend to think 300mph trains (or Maglec) would be more capable of competing with air travel, though obviously the start-up infrastructure costs, with no way to forsee demand, makes it a sketchy proposition.

The problem with trains is that they can't go 300 miles per hour for very long.  They have to slow down in towns and make stops.

Yeah, which is why they would only be useful for inter-city routes (major city stops only, i.e. Seattle-Portland-San Francisco-Los Angeles-San Diego), not for local commuters.

Even better would be a service where you drive your car onto such a train, and fling it, and you, at 300mph between major cities...lose the need to rent a local car.

But as said, infrastructure and paranoid fear of terrorists around every corner make such things impossible these days.

Problem is that you are still going to have the track go through small towns all along the way.  You will have to slow down while in those towns, unless you want to deal with lots and lots of accidents every year.

[Capetan Mihali]

Problem is that you are still going to have the track go through small towns all along the way.  You will have to slow down while in those towns, unless you want to deal with lots and lots of accidents every year.

Raz, they buy their tickets, they know what they're getting into.  I say, let 'em crash.

[Tonitrus]

I'd tend to think 300mph trains (or Maglec) would be more capable of competing with air travel, though obviously the start-up infrastructure costs, with no way to forsee demand, makes it a sketchy proposition.

The problem with trains is that they can't go 300 miles per hour for very long.  They have to slow down in towns and make stops.

Yeah, which is why they would only be useful for inter-city routes (major city stops only, i.e. Seattle-Portland-San Francisco-Los Angeles-San Diego), not for local commuters.

Even better would be a service where you drive your car onto such a train, and fling it, and you, at 300mph between major cities...lose the need to rent a local car.

But as said, infrastructure and paranoid fear of terrorists around every corner make such things impossible these days.

Problem is that you are still going to have the track go through small towns all along the way.  You will have to slow down while in those towns, unless you want to deal with lots and lots of accidents every year.

As implied, such a system would need its own dedicated track without right-of-way inhibitions.

[Razgovory]

That would be kinda difficult.  It's still going to cross a lot of roads and stuff.  Perhaps it's different in Europe or Asia, but doesn't seem practical in the US.  Even if the train has right of way, you are going to get a lot of bad publicity if you keep running over cars and children.  You'll have to fight for every inch of track laid as the locals won't want a train that moves that fast in the area.

Don't get me wrong, I like rail transportation, but I think that having trains that move that fast are more publicity stunt then practical policy.

[Sheilbh]

By creating unprofitable, state-backed railway routes, China is certainly in good first-world company.

They're a social service. 

God I want to nationalise the railways

[Zanza]

Well, fine, you can have credit, but it really is literally the best transportation-related idea I've ever heard.  Let's build that motherfucker.  What's the cost?  A trillion?  Let's go!

We have trains like that in Germany. You can drive your car onto the train in the evening, have dinner in the restaurant, go to a sleeping compartment and in the morning you'll wake up in southern France, Austria or Italy.

[Valdemar]

Well, fine, you can have credit, but it really is literally the best transportation-related idea I've ever heard.  Let's build that motherfucker.  What's the cost?  A trillion?  Let's go!

We have trains like that in Germany. You can drive your car onto the train in the evening, have dinner in the restaurant, go to a sleeping compartment and in the morning you'll wake up in southern France, Austria or Italy.

Indeed, used it alot with my parents when I was a kid

Hamburg Altona -> Verona, Biaritz, Avignon, Leurach (Basel)

V

[Zanza]

You don't really need ultra high-speed trains for this kind of travel by the way as the competition is the speed of cars, which will rarely exceed about 60 mph (with pauses, traffic etc.). If the train can go with 100-120 mph, that's already quite an advantage speed-wise.

People travelling by air can't bring as much stuff and will have to rent a car, so that appeals to a different kind of customer.

[Duque de Bragança]

Well, fine, you can have credit, but it really is literally the best transportation-related idea I've ever heard.  Let's build that motherfucker.  What's the cost?  A trillion?  Let's go!

We have trains like that in Germany. You can drive your car onto the train in the evening, have dinner in the restaurant, go to a sleeping compartment and in the morning you'll wake up in southern France, Austria or Italy.

Indeed, used it alot with my parents when I was a kid

Hamburg Altona -> Verona, Biaritz, Avignon, Leurach (Basel)

V

Yep, funny to see cars cruising in the middle of the station on the way to the platforms.

As for the right-of-way, real high-speed tracks  (TGV lines, ICE Lines the three of them that is) avoid any road crossing.

[DGuller]

That would be kinda difficult.  It's still going to cross a lot of roads and stuff.  Perhaps it's different in Europe or Asia, but doesn't seem practical in the US.  Even if the train has right of way, you are going to get a lot of bad publicity if you keep running over cars and children.  You'll have to fight for every inch of track laid as the locals won't want a train that moves that fast in the area.

Don't get me wrong, I like rail transportation, but I think that having trains that move that fast are more publicity stunt then practical policy.

I'm pretty sure all traffic crossings have to be removed for high speed trains.  If a train keeps running into cars and children, the train's aerodynamic shape is going to be all messed up, and lead to vastly increased energy consumption.