Written by
www.timesofearth.com China’s fastest train went into operation today in China, making the 125-mile trip from Shanghai to Hangzhou in 45 minutes, thanks to a cruising speed of 220 miles per hour. The silver, bullet-nosed trains, which look more like jets than rail cars, are part of a huge wave of infrastructure building that has accompanied China’s growth. “Still in the works: more nuclear power plants, a gargantuan project to pump river water from the fertile south to the arid north, and a .5 billion, 820-mile (1300-kilometer) Beijing-to-Shanghai high-speed railway that is scheduled to open in 2012,” NPR reports. Here in the United States, where the American love affair with the automobile continues, there’s been plenty of talk about creating high-speed trains but not much action. Amtrak offers a service called Acela from New York to Boston and Washington, but it’s not that much faster than its regular trains (though the cost is two-to-four times as much per ticket). Those trains can run up to 150 miles per hour, though they often travel at lesser speeds. In Florida, a Tampa-to-Orlando bullet train is being planned, and experts believe that will be the first true high-speed train to be completed. That train will travel at a speed of up to 168 miles per hour. And in California this summer, officials held a photo opp groundbreaking for what they billed as the first high-speed rail station in the United States. That station will be ready in 2017, though it’s sure to open …
Video Rating: 4 / 5
Train tour at North Stn 2008/08/23:DF4DK+passenger trains
