The Briefing Room
General Category => Economy/Business => Topic started by: Suppressed on May 13, 2018, 01:18:06 am
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I rode China’s superfast bullet train that could go from New York to Chicago in 4.5 hours — and it shows how far behind the US really is
Harrison Jacobs, Business Insider US
May 11, 2018
https://www.businessinsider.sg/china-bullet-train-speed-map-photos-tour-2018-5/ (https://www.businessinsider.sg/china-bullet-train-speed-map-photos-tour-2018-5/)
China’s bullet train is a startling example of how far behind US infrastructure has become.
- China has the largest high-speed railway in the world, with 15,500 miles of track and most major cities covered by the network.
- I recently took China’s fastest “G†train from Beijing to the northwestern city of Xi’an, which cuts an 11-hour journey – roughly the distance between New York and Chicago – to 4.5 hours.
- I found the experience delightful, with relatively cheap tickets, painless security, comfortable seats, air-conditioned cabins, and plenty of legroom.
- It left me thinking about how far behind US infrastructure has become, when most comparable journeys still require expensive and tiring air travel.
Traveling to China can often feel like visiting the future. The cities stretch out for what seems like forever, while new skyscrapers, bridges, and futuristically designed landmarks spring up every year.
Nowhere is this feeling more apparent than when you encounter China’s high-speed railway network. At 15,500 miles (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-43406560), the country’s “bullet train†is the world’s largest.
And it’s getting larger.
[...]
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SO WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO? Remodel all train tracks across the country and triple the national debt?!
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My brother was in Shanghai some years ago and he talked about how efficient its public transportation system is. I don't think he rode this super-fast train though.
In this country, I don't see much interest in public transit. Despite the best efforts of the enviro-whackos to push for communal transportation, most people still prefer to drive their own cars. They would rather have better roads and bridges than a high-speed train, but we have poured billions into what is ostensibly supposed to be infrastructure improvements -- yet most of us have seen little, if any improvement.
Remember Obama and his shovel-ready jobs? Where did all that money go? I know it didn't come to Pennsylvania. PA consistently ranks as the worst, or one of the worst, states in the nation for roads and bridges. I don't know about anyone else here, but I'm not interested in squandering more of my tax dollars in the name of "infrastructure" until and unless there is a system in place to audit where the money goes.
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I'm wonderin' how much of the Chinese high-speed rail construction was funded from profits made by the Chinese off of us?
Having said that, these new high speed lines are just that -- entirely NEW railroads purpose-built for high speed passenger trains. Probably little or no freight traffic moves over them at all.
Different story here in the USA.
Even the Northeast Corridor still handles freight (far less than it once did, but it's still there).
And the Corridor tracks were laid out 100+ years ago, when 100mph was considered a "high speed" train. The Acela gets up to 150mph in a few stretches in rural Rhode Island (such as between Kingston and the East Greenwich area), but they barely get going that fast when they have to slow back down for curvier track.
You're never going to run trains at greater than 70-90mph over existing freight railroad rights-of-way. Not going to happen. Even if it was possible, these lines no longer have the capacity to keep the slower freight trains out of the way of the faster ones. There are single-tracked lines with "controlled sidings" (but there's still the problem of getting the freights into the sidings to clear the passenger trains). Even double-tracked lines have often become so clogged with freight traffic that passenger trains must often cross back-and-forth from one track to another to get around them.
The impossibly-high costs of construction for California's high-speed rail project provide an idea of the amount of money required. Not going to happen in a time when ever-expanding social welfare payments eat up all the tax revenues... and more.
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Oh. Some Leftist creep named Harrison Jacobs got a hard on because the Communists built a train. I don't need a train to get around because I live in a free country where I can hop on a plane or hop in a reliable, safe car (unlike the Chinamen where I need to earn social credits to get around) and go wherever the hell I want.
Take your bullet train Harry and shove it up your lazy ass you fag hipster. I do want it and neither do a large portion of Americans.
(http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/565bbae46da811796e100713-265/harrison-jacobs.jpg)
"I don't know anything, but I pretend I do. I'm a Millennial."
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Why would anyone leave New York City just to go to Chicago?
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Why would anyone leave New York City just to go to Chicago?
To experience the difference the local terroir makes in the sewer stench?
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Don;t know where this crap about America's infrastructure is not keeping up comes from.
Bullet trains are solely designed to get people from one big city to another big city.
The USA is not about just big cities. It is about freedom, and an open road with your own car is a lot more pleasing to more people in this country than an urban life and crowded trains you are dependent upon. When was the last time you were affected by a strike driving your car compared to bus or train travel?
to get an idea of what it would be like, look no further that airport travel, where scheduling of a trip is the priority, delays are inevitable, and of course the harassment of security lines.
no thanks, I'll pass.
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My brother was in Shanghai some years ago and he talked about how efficient its public transportation system is. I don't think he rode this super-fast train though.
In this country, I don't see much interest in public transit. Despite the best efforts of the enviro-whackos to push for communal transportation, most people still prefer to drive their own cars. They would rather have better roads and bridges than a high-speed train, but we have poured billions into what is ostensibly supposed to be infrastructure improvements -- yet most of us have seen little, if any improvement.
Remember Obama and his shovel-ready jobs? Where did all that money go? I know it didn't come to Pennsylvania. PA consistently ranks as the worst, or one of the worst, states in the nation for roads and bridges. I don't know about anyone else here, but I'm not interested in squandering more of my tax dollars in the name of "infrastructure" until and unless there is a system in place to audit where the money goes.
My understanding is the money was block-granted to the States, and most of that went to shoring up the state worker pensions accounts. I could be misremembering.
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Building a state-of-the art Mach1 bullet train is a lot easier if you're building over water buffalo paths and rice paddies between a few megalopolises, rather than trying to do it over existing routes connecting with cities every 25-50 miles along the way. Our advanced transportation system is actually a hindrance to building a bullet train.
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Building a state-of-the art Mach1 bullet train is a lot easier if you're building over water buffalo paths and rice paddies between a few megalopolises, rather than trying to do it over existing routes connecting with cities every 25-50 miles along the way. Our advanced transportation system is actually a hindrance to building a bullet train.
That's a good point.
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I bet a jumbo jet is way faster. Now air travel does suck, but not purely because of the technology.
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In this country people own property and have rights to it. It takes money or a court to get access.
China not so much.
It costs a lot in the USA to pass through private peoples properties to add new routes for mass transit.
Again, China not so much.
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Oh. Some Leftist creep named Harrison Jacobs got a hard on because the Communists built a train. I don't need a train to get around because I live in a free country where I can hop on a plane or hop in a reliable, safe car
Or a Tesla if you don't mind waiting a couple years. It's one heck of a ride, with an even more memorable ending.
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Oh. Some Leftist creep named Harrison Jacobs got a hard on because the Communists built a train. I don't need a train to get around because I live in a free country where I can hop on a plane or hop in a reliable, safe car (unlike the Chinamen where I need to earn social credits to get around) and go wherever the hell I want.
Take your bullet train Harry and shove it up your lazy ass you fag hipster. I do want it and neither do a large portion of Americans.
(http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/565bbae46da811796e100713-265/harrison-jacobs.jpg)
"I don't know anything, but I pretend I do. I'm a Millennial."
I"M ON TO YOU!
....and in this case, I mean this as a compliment.
You are spot on here.
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Pass. I just don't see high speed rail working in this country since more people here in this country is more spread out. Plus with self driving cars about to show up in 10 years why bother with high speed choo choo.
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Pass. I just don't see high speed rail working in this country since more people here in this country is more spread out. Plus with self driving cars about to show up in 10 years why bother with high speed choo choo.
China has 160 cities with over a million people whereas the USA has only 10.
Further, the USA has 263 million registered cars, whereas China with a far greater population has 244 million.
Means a lot more people need mass transit in China than the US, and a lot of people are concentrated in large cities.
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Or a Tesla if you don't mind waiting a couple years. It's one heck of a ride, with an even more memorable ending.
I hear that is just a flash in the pan.
(https://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/blogs/future_tense/2013/10/03/tesla_fire_video_nhtsa_can_t_investigate_model_s_battery_fire_due_to_shutdown/1380814893.jpg.CROP.promo-mediumlarge.jpg)
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Building a state-of-the art Mach1 bullet train is a lot easier if you're building over water buffalo paths and rice paddies between a few megalopolises, rather than trying to do it over existing routes connecting with cities every 25-50 miles along the way. Our advanced transportation system is actually a hindrance to building a bullet train.
Besides, that's what planes are for. And our flight system, considering how many flights occur in this country compared to the rest of the world is top-notch.
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(http://www.robsright.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/2010-0205-vision-chris.jpg)
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China has 160 cities with over a million people whereas the USA has only 10.
Further, the USA has 263 million registered cars, whereas China with a far greater population has 244 million.
Means a lot more people need mass transit in China than the US, and a lot of people are concentrated in large cities.
While I don't disagree with your point in general, I think that 10 number is rather misleading.
My address is in Tampa. I get my water from the City of Tampa. If you drove all three miles from the Tampa airport to my house, you'd never notice that you left the city limits (there was a sign marking the border going the other way at one point). But, I don't live in Tampa. Of the 4 million or so people in the Tampa/St Pete area, less than 400,000 technically live in the Tampa city limits.
Then there's Jacksonville, the largest city in FL (though still less than 1 million). When I drive up that way I pass the city limits sign before I pass the county limit sign. And I'm still about 40 minutes out of town.
So, I guess it depends on how you measure.
Oh, and trains still suck, at least around here.
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While I don't disagree with your point in general, I think that 10 number is rather misleading.
My address is in Tampa. I get my water from the City of Tampa. If you drove all three miles from the Tampa airport to my house, you'd never notice that you left the city limits (there was a sign marking the border going the other way at one point). But, I don't live in Tampa. Of the 4 million or so people in the Tampa/St Pete area, less than 400,000 technically live in the Tampa city limits.
Then there's Jacksonville, the largest city in FL (though still less than 1 million). When I drive up that way I pass the city limits sign before I pass the county limit sign. And I'm still about 40 minutes out of town.
So, I guess it depends on how you measure.
Oh, and trains still suck, at least around here.
I agree, as I believe the reference must have been numbers within city limits only. Quite different than metropolitan areas.
As an example, Texas is supposed to have three cities over one million, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.
If one includes metropolitan areas, both Austin and Fort Worth would be included as well.