China tests 300 mph train.

[jimmy olsen]

That's crazy. I've been on the KTX and it hit 295 kmph while I was on it and that was fast.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45789448/ns/world_news-asia_pacific/#.TviDpNVKR5c

BEIJING — China launched a super-rapid test train over the weekend which is capable of travelling 310-miles per hour (500 kilometers per hour), state media said on Monday, as the country moves ahead with its railway ambitions despite serious problems on its high-speed network.

The train, made by a subsidiary of CSR Corp Ltd , China's largest train maker, is designed to resemble an ancient Chinese sword, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

It "will provide useful reference for current high-speed railway operations", it quoted train expert Shen Zhiyun as saying.

Read more from China in Behind the Wall

But future Chinese trains will not necessarily run at such high speeds, CSR chairman Zhao Xiaogang told the Beijing Morning News.

"We aims to ensure the safety of trains operation," he said.

China's railway industry has had a tough year, highlighted by a collision between two high-speed trains in July which killed at least 40 people. Construction of new high-speed trains in China has since been a near halt.

In February, the railways minister, Liu Zhijun, a key figure behind the boom in the sector, was dismissed over corruption charges that have not yet been tried in court.

[Zanza]

The French TGV went faster than that in record runs. But it is pointless as it isn't economical at all to operate a train at that speed.

[Josquius]

Stolen technology no doubt

[Razgovory]

Stolen technology no doubt

Oh, God!  They've stolen the secret of RAILROAD!

[dps]

Stolen technology no doubt

Oh, God!  They've stolen the secret of RAILROAD!

One of the few technologies that they haven't stolen is Democracy.

[Eddie Teach]

Stolen technology no doubt

Oh, God!  They've stolen the secret of RAILROAD!

It will allow them to move armies from Guangzhou to North Korea in one turn. 

[Richard Hakluyt]

Without the secret of BRAKES I feel that they will yet be buggered 

[Admiral Yi]

One of the few technologies that they haven't stolen is Democracy.

Another is the secret of GOOD HAIRCUT.

[Warspite]

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

[mongers]

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

Yes these people should be forced onto flights, which in no way have any sort of state subsidy or benefit. 

[Ender]

Stolen technology no doubt

Oh, God!  They've stolen the secret of RAILROAD!

One of the few technologies that they haven't stolen is Democracy.

Nah, its the social policies. They went with Tradition, Commerce and Order, and you cannot select policies from the Order and Freedom policy trees at the same time.

[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.

[lustindarkness]

Next, they will build the Totally Important Magnetic Space Elevator.

[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.

[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.