China tests 300 mph train.

[mongers]

I think the track guides it pretty well,

Not all the time, that's the problem.

Don't forget the early days of rail were littered with train crashes, the Chinese are just going through the same learning process but with a larger train set and faster trains. 

iirc much of the improvement in safety and death rates on British railways can be attributed to lower average speeds of network timetabled trains and how much time they spend stationary.   

[garbon]

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.

Dragging out a joke too long is fun.

[garbon]

Trains are the future.
With rising fuel costs we're going to see a big move back towards trains. Could be interesting for settlement patterns, towns away from the railways shrinking whilst civilization hugs the lines.

You keep forecasting that but where's the proof?

[Razgovory]

Trains are the future.
With rising fuel costs we're going to see a big move back towards trains. Could be interesting for settlement patterns, towns away from the railways shrinking whilst civilization hugs the lines.

You keep forecasting that but where's the proof?

Maybe time loops back on itself and after a sufficient length of time it'll be 1830 again.

[Caliga]

Yes.

The only areas that seem suitable to me for high speed trains in the USA are the area between Boston and DC (maybe Richmond and Norfolk) and Texas (Houston, Dallas/Ft. Worth, San Antonio, Austin, perhaps Oklahoma City). Of course Texas won't have much public transport, so you would end up without a car in your destination.

The area between Boston and DC already has high-speed trains (the Acela Amtrak line).  The problem is that Amtrak is such a piece of shit it can barely keep those things running properly, due both to poor rail maintenance and poor engine maintenance.... or at least that was true five years ago.  Now that I don't live up there I don't pay attention to Amtrak and its troubles.

Why do you think Texas would be a good high-speed corridor?  Texans love their cars as much or more than any other Americans.  I don't see high speed rail catching on in the south (either southeast or southwest) for a very long time, though IIRC there is a serious proposal for a line between Atlanta and Chattanooga.

[KRonn]

Also, doesn't Amtrak share the tracks with other rail traffic, and has to pull over for freight? That obviously slows Amtrak way down, hampers the service.

[Caliga]

Also, doesn't Amtrak share the tracks with other rail traffic, and has to pull over for freight? That obviously slows Amtrak way down, hampers the service.

I'm not sure that's true anymore on the Amtrak northeast corridor lines... but it is (was?) true for the MBTA, yeah.

[MadBurgerMaker]

Why do you think Texas would be a good high-speed corridor?  Texans love their cars as much or more than any other Americans.

They've been talking about a high speed rail system that links those Texas cities for years, but it hasn't really gone anywhere that I'm aware of.  Light rail in San Antonio is similar.  They've tried a couple of times, and the proposals actually seem quite reasonable to me, but voters are lame and stupid and don't want to add another .1% (or whatever) to their sales tax, so...no.  AFAIK, neither one has really been about DEY TOOK ARE CARS!1! but instead taxes and probably gays.

Valmy knows more about it, I'm sure.  I stopped paying attention a long time ago because it doesn't seem like it'll ever happen, so fuck it

[Ed Anger]

The last governor in Ohio wanted to build a rail network here. For Ted Strickland, the idea wasn't bad. But Teddy boy's inherent suck doomed the project.

Maybe if the Shale oil pays off we might get one.

[garbon]

Yes.

The only areas that seem suitable to me for high speed trains in the USA are the area between Boston and DC (maybe Richmond and Norfolk) and Texas (Houston, Dallas/Ft. Worth, San Antonio, Austin, perhaps Oklahoma City). Of course Texas won't have much public transport, so you would end up without a car in your destination.

The area between Boston and DC already has high-speed trains (the Acela Amtrak line).  The problem is that Amtrak is such a piece of shit it can barely keep those things running properly, due both to poor rail maintenance and poor engine maintenance.... or at least that was true five years ago.  Now that I don't live up there I don't pay attention to Amtrak and its troubles.

Why do you think Texas would be a good high-speed corridor?  Texans love their cars as much or more than any other Americans.  I don't see high speed rail catching on in the south (either southeast or southwest) for a very long time, though IIRC there is a serious proposal for a line between Atlanta and Chattanooga.

I took the Acela from NYC to DC and back. Broke down both times.

[Josquius]

Trains are the future.
With rising fuel costs we're going to see a big move back towards trains. Could be interesting for settlement patterns, towns away from the railways shrinking whilst civilization hugs the lines.

You keep forecasting that but where's the proof?

Railways quite recently were seen as old hat and generally neglected. This last decade though has seen massive investment.
That and the actual fact of oil reserves not going to last forever.

[Zanza]

Why do you think Texas would be a good high-speed corridor?

There are a couple of big cities that probably have a lot of traffic between them. The distances between them are high enough for a fast train, but not so high that an airplane is the only serious choice.

[Zanza]

Trains are the future.
With rising fuel costs we're going to see a big move back towards trains. Could be interesting for settlement patterns, towns away from the railways shrinking whilst civilization hugs the lines.

You keep forecasting that but where's the proof?

You can definitely see that here with regional trains. Those towns that are connected via regional trains to bigger metro areas will see higher property prices and people moving there.

[Sheilbh]

Railways quite recently were seen as old hat and generally neglected. This last decade though has seen massive investment.
That and the actual fact of oil reserves not going to last forever.

I'd add that it's always been true for commuter towns - in terms of settlement patterns.

There's been a revival in the UK, for sure.  Globally trains could do well if the inflation in aviation fuel keeps increasing at its current rate.

[DGuller]

I took the Acela from NYC to DC and back. Broke down both times.

It was an emotional experience for me too, though not to that degree.