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Japan to introduce yet another blisteringly fast train
Japan, a country at the forefront of train technology, crisscrossed with a crazy number of rail lines and bullet trains, has done it again. Kawasaki Heavy Industries is developing the country's fastest train. How fast is that? A speedy 217mph, a nice increase over the previous fastest, which moved at 186mph.
As a bonus, the new trains are more energy efficient and less noisy than older trains, making them better on almost all fronts. It's going to take another year and a half for the design to be finalized, after which they'll start production and sales. Man, do I wish they would bring some of these over to the states. San Fran to LA in two and a half hours, anyone?
KHI, via CrunchGear
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By quiglag at 4:41 PM ON 09/17/08
We need trains like this running throughout the US. I am sure they would be cheaper to operate then the airlines.
By Stu, Grafdom at 5:05 PM ON 09/17/08
Yeaahhh, what would we do without the Japs. They sure know how to innovate and stay ahead of the pack... high merits to them!
By murc at 7:02 PM ON 09/17/08
while is would be nice to have these nice fast trains here in the US....its waaaaay more economical for the Japs to do it, and not us.
They have a small country, we have a big country...hence why we use planes.
also, I'm not gonna jump on the train bandwagon until they do what an airliner does....go 600mph, not a puny 217.
By DJ at 7:10 AM ON 09/18/08
Comfort and avoiding traffic congestion are the keys to train travel, and for trips of 200-400 miles or so, it's way better than anything else. Here in Europe, London to Paris by Eurostar is the nearest you're likely to get to a near-silent magic carpet ride, and it's city centre-to-centre too. First time I rode Eurostar in the 1990s was also the last time I bothered to think about driving or flying the trip.