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Comment by 1024core | Hacker News Reader

> When it’s completed, the train will travel at 186 miles per hour

If China can push 286 mph in Shanghai, which means the tech exists, then why isn't this comparable? This is not snark; I am just curious what makes the Chinese train capable of such speeds, but the US train can't.

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comparing China's high speed transportation is a low bar. they absolutely do not give a crap about derailment, in fact they straight up buried it, literally

instead you should see Japan's shinkansen as a measure of standards. They built that in the sixties

>low bar

It's one the highest bars in the world, safer than Euro HSR. Wenzhou was the only large accident. Safety record after has been Shinkansen tier, except on largest network in the world. Crippled speed Brightline is already a deathtrap, US HSR would be fortunate to be a fraction as safe as PRC HSR.

Was just in Japan for the first time and Shinkansen is such a treat. Quiet, fast, clean, spacious. I'd sooo much rather train than take small 1-2 hour flights.

Yes the Shinkansen is such a civilised experience! I basically travelled direct to Tokyo from Nozawaonsen straight from the slopes and it was comfortable and not stressful in a way flying could never be.

why doesn't anybody else build this? north america in comparison is stuck in the 19th century when it comes to rail transportation. its bizarre.

Europe has a very similar rail setup. Both France and Germany have very good high speed rail connections with their TGV and ICE. You connect into those from London, Brussels and Amsterdam via Eurostar and the German ICE.

> why doesn't anybody else build this?

I mean, most of Europe has, China has, it's not really a case of "nobody else" doing it.

Having your country destroyed by bombs makes it a lot easier to do greenfield infrastructure projects

That has absolutely nothing to do with it: these projects are mostly through rural areas. The Tokaido shinkansen line is largely underground, in tunnels through mountains. The new Chuo shinkansen maglev line currently being built is 90% underground.

What's missing in America is national unity and political will.

> If China can push 286 mph in Shanghai

Are you talking about the Maglev train connecting Longyang Road Station on the Shanghai Subway Line 2, to Pudong International Airport?

If so, it is only 30km (19mi) long…

Typical PRC HSR is 200-220 mph but routes are getting speed upgrades. Infra wise, expensive elevated tracks designed for trains to operate at high speeds unobstructed. Seperate from ground traffic so no worrying about hitting cars and most importantly people. Brightline has highest death rate due to suicides. Someone crunched math of Brightline death per unit of track relative to PRC, if PRC HSR network wasn't elevated theyd have 30000k deaths per year. IMO more important consideration.

30 million deaths, or 30 thousand?

30 thousand!

I’m not fussed with top speeds. Average travel speed that takes into account waiting for the next departure is a more practical measure. A high speed train that stops in every town has a lower effective speed than the top speed suggests. A high speed train with hourly departures instead of every 30 or 15 min means you wait more.

And of course high speed means higher cost. The average person is very price sensitive on transportation costs.

According to the Wikipedia article about the train, it's now the same speed Brightline is targetting:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_maglev_train

>After May 2021:

>Cruising speed: 300 km/h (186 mph)

>Average speed: 224 km/h (139 mph) (duration: 8 minutes and 10 seconds)

The bigger issue is likely:

>According to Chinese media's report, however, due to the huge costs of operating and the lack of the passenger flow, Shanghai Maglev Transportation Company would lose 500 million to 700 million RMB every year

Are you thinking of the Shanghai maglev?

It is pretty impressive and they're looking at building an extension. however oddly its operation speed has been significantly reduced from 268mph to 186mph.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_maglev_train

The basic problem is that Maglev is on average more expensive to build and operate and cannot (unlike ordinary high speed rail trains) ever operate on ordinary (non high speed) rail track.

It's also still pretty experimental, the Shanghai one is operational and high speed, all other operational systems are either low speed or experimental test beds.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maglev

Regular high speed rail is a fairly routine thing and all the parts are well understood.

They're using the I-15 median which can be a little curvy and hilly, so they're probably considering passenger comfort: https://www.flattestroute.com/Las-Vegas-to-Los-Angeles

That's all of 30km of maglev track. It opened over 20 years ago, and there doesn't seem to be much interest in doing any more. By contrast, there's about _60,000km_ of 'normal' (~300km/h max) high-speed rail. It would really be pretty _weird_ for the US to try beyond-cutting-edge for its first attempt at a real high-speed rail system, and would probably end badly.

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