China's new train is the fastest in the world, traveling at an average speed of 217 miles per hour. Passengers making the 663 mile trek from central China to south China will see their trip time cut from six hours to just two hours and 45 minutes--roughly the time it takes to get from, say, Coney Island to the Bronx on the MTA in NYC.
The trains are being developed by Bombardier and Siemens, and are part of China's $300 billion investment in a nationwide passenger-rail network (which includes the purchase of 80 super-fast trains). The resulting ticket prices will be nearly five times the cost of seats on slower trains, and economists have expressed concern that China will not be able to recover the costs of the project.
Still, we can't help but be reminded of how slow train travel is in the U.S. China's new train has maximum speeds of 245 mph. And while significantly lower, competitors' speeds--France, Germany, and Japan all hover around 150 mph—are still considerably higher than the average train speed in the U.S., at just 70 mph.
A train with those speeds would take passengers in the U.S. from New York to Chicago in just three and a half hours, Inhabitat points out--that trip currently takes 19 hours, according to Amtrak. An 82% decrease in travel time? Sign us up.
COMMENTARY: That's one fast and cool train. Come on USA, with our technology, I know we can beat that.
Courtesy of an article dated December 29, 2009 appearing in Fast Company
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