5 ms·

> "Passenger planes with speed beyond Mach four" and "superconductive magnetic levitation railways at 500 km/h" probably seemed like reasonable extrapolations o

> "Passenger planes with speed beyond Mach four" and "superconductive magnetic levitation railways at 500 km/h" probably seemed like reasonable extrapolations of current trends at the time. I'm a bit upset we can't have this today.

tibbon 1y ago
We're finally testing supersonic planes again... 22 years after the Concorde stopped.
kansface 1y ago
I was going to comment that air fair is comparatively cheaper since 1995, but its only ~15% in the US (and increasing).
bluGill 1y ago
Knowing the energy costs (read CO2) that both would require I'm not very upset.
- melling 1y ago
  Run the electric trains on green energy. It’s 2025. I was told 10 years ago renewables were ready and cheaper than fossil fuels. What’s taking so long? In the meantime, those really inefficient gas guzzling cars still rule.
inglor_cz 1y ago
500 kph is too much, but 250+ kph high speed trains surely proliferated nicely since then, at least in the Old World. Even Uzbekistan and Morocco now operate high speed trains, and a high speed connection of the Baltics into the rest of Europe is being built. (It is a bit weird that the New World as a whole is so bearish on HSR. For example, a Trans-Canadian high speed rail would connect all the major metropolises in a single line, as most of the Canadian population lives close to the US border. At the very least, a Toronto - Ottawa - Montréal - Québec line would make a lot of sense. Further west the terrain might just be too unforgiving.)
- byearthithatius 1y ago
  China almost got 500 KPH. They were running >400 KPH up until 2021. "The Shanghai maglev is the world's first commercial high-speed maglev ... Prior to May 2021 the cruising speed was 431 km/h ..."
  - pc86 1y ago
    What changed in the last 4 years?
    - byearthithatius 1y ago
      A German maglev accident made industry experts reconsider safety buffers from what I got reading about it.
      - LargoLasskhyfv 1y ago
        That accident happened long ago, on a testing track, due to bad signalling/communications, leading to maintenance equipment still on the tracks, and the maglev running into that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lathen_train_collision https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lathen_train_collision The slowing of this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_maglev_train https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_maglev_train is caused more by economical factors like ridership and electricity costs.
- badc0ffee 1y ago
  The terrain is sort of difficult in the Canadian Shield, but it gets easy in the prairies, and then very difficult as you head west into the Rockies. I think the bigger problem going north and west of the Quebec City/Toronto corridor is the sparse population. With a single line, you would also need to choose between serving Edmonton (like the CN mainline) or Calgary (like the CP mainline). VIA rail currently skips Calgary even though it's the bigger/faster growing city. Really, you need at least 3 lines because you also have to go both north and south of Lake Huron. And that's not even getting into Atlantic Canada.
byearthithatius 1y ago
"The Shanghai maglev is the world's first commercial high-speed maglev and has a maximum cruising speed of 300 km/h (186 mph). Prior to May 2021 the cruising speed was 431 km/h (268 mph)..." That is right around 500 KM/H. I think we are technologically capable of this if a government really _wanted_.
- m4rtink 1y ago
  The Chuo Shinkansen is currently being built for a 505 km/h maximum speed & does use supercomducting magnets for that: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C5%AB%C5%8D_Shinkansen https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C5%AB%C5%8D_Shinkansen
  - byearthithatius 1y ago
    Oh NICE! See we basically did it:) Good job, humans.
    - melling 1y ago
      “Planned opening 2034 or later.”
bestouff 1y ago
Regular (French) trains could already do >500km/h back then : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TGV_world_speed_record https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TGV_world_speed_record
- melling 1y ago
  Not really. They are test trains and don’t carry passengers. Fastest passenger trains are 320km/hr

tibbon 1y ago

We're finally testing supersonic planes again... 22 years after the Concorde stopped.

kansface 1y ago

I was going to comment that air fair is comparatively cheaper since 1995, but its only ~15% in the US (and increasing).

bluGill 1y ago

Knowing the energy costs (read CO2) that both would require I'm not very upset.

melling 1y ago
Run the electric trains on green energy. It’s 2025. I was told 10 years ago renewables were ready and cheaper than fossil fuels. What’s taking so long? In the meantime, those really inefficient gas guzzling cars still rule.

inglor_cz 1y ago

500 kph is too much, but 250+ kph high speed trains surely proliferated nicely since then, at least in the Old World. Even Uzbekistan and Morocco now operate high speed trains, and a high speed connection of the Baltics into the rest of Europe is being built. (It is a bit weird that the New World as a whole is so bearish on HSR. For example, a Trans-Canadian high speed rail would connect all the major metropolises in a single line, as most of the Canadian population lives close to the US border. At the very least, a Toronto - Ottawa - Montréal - Québec line would make a lot of sense. Further west the terrain might just be too unforgiving.)

byearthithatius 1y ago
China almost got 500 KPH. They were running >400 KPH up until 2021. "The Shanghai maglev is the world's first commercial high-speed maglev ... Prior to May 2021 the cruising speed was 431 km/h ..."
- pc86 1y ago
  What changed in the last 4 years?
  - byearthithatius 1y ago
    A German maglev accident made industry experts reconsider safety buffers from what I got reading about it.
    - LargoLasskhyfv 1y ago
      That accident happened long ago, on a testing track, due to bad signalling/communications, leading to maintenance equipment still on the tracks, and the maglev running into that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lathen_train_collision https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lathen_train_collision The slowing of this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_maglev_train https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_maglev_train is caused more by economical factors like ridership and electricity costs.
badc0ffee 1y ago
The terrain is sort of difficult in the Canadian Shield, but it gets easy in the prairies, and then very difficult as you head west into the Rockies. I think the bigger problem going north and west of the Quebec City/Toronto corridor is the sparse population. With a single line, you would also need to choose between serving Edmonton (like the CN mainline) or Calgary (like the CP mainline). VIA rail currently skips Calgary even though it's the bigger/faster growing city. Really, you need at least 3 lines because you also have to go both north and south of Lake Huron. And that's not even getting into Atlantic Canada.

byearthithatius 1y ago

"The Shanghai maglev is the world's first commercial high-speed maglev and has a maximum cruising speed of 300 km/h (186 mph). Prior to May 2021 the cruising speed was 431 km/h (268 mph)..." That is right around 500 KM/H. I think we are technologically capable of this if a government really _wanted_.

m4rtink 1y ago
The Chuo Shinkansen is currently being built for a 505 km/h maximum speed & does use supercomducting magnets for that: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C5%AB%C5%8D_Shinkansen https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C5%AB%C5%8D_Shinkansen
- byearthithatius 1y ago
  Oh NICE! See we basically did it:) Good job, humans.
  - melling 1y ago
    “Planned opening 2034 or later.”

bestouff 1y ago

Regular (French) trains could already do >500km/h back then : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TGV_world_speed_record https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TGV_world_speed_record

melling 1y ago
Not really. They are test trains and don’t carry passengers. Fastest passenger trains are 320km/hr