China's high-speed train breaks world record

[Ajit Basrur]

According to Times of India, Chinese passenger train hit a record speed of 486kph on Friday during a test run of a yet-to-be opened link between Beijing and Shanghai.

[Jennifer Kirley]

In Reply to Parent Post by jccarlos

This is really an indication that their technology is now emerging against other countries like Japan, America, and different countries from Europe. China wants to prove that they are the No.1 economy in the world!

That's the apparent intent, but Technology Review reports the design came from Europe and Japan.

[try2makeit]

What amazes me is that it took them only 5 years to get to this point. And this is with building brand new rail ways. Granted they already have a great train system in place. but still building everything brand new?

And in the meantime the US is still sitting back, waiting for some miracle on having a economic recovery, whilst in the meantime we are funding the war machine, bailed out Wall street and the Insurance Industry (which is back to the good ole times) and the Big 3 who have bettered themselves somewhat and the housing market is still in the dumps. American people are still being robbed by high gas prices, cost of groceries, Airlines that fee you to death and I could go on and on.

3 years ago, over sudden all kinds of little re-paving and laying side walks projects popped up around here with the nice little orange signs saying " This is part of the recovery project". 2 months later it was all done. What a joke! If we actually would have taken half of the bailout money and the money fronted for those projects and started on a high speed railway project, we could possibly have the same results as China today. Created jobs, and keep creating jobs, showing the Airlines that we can start moving around the US by train and avoid delays, high ticket prices, poor service and the TSA.

So sorry for my rant. But when I read things like that, it just makes me sick to think that we are once again behind other countries and we could have done a whole lot of good with a project like that.

[Boingo-boingo]

In Reply to Parent Post by try2makeit

What amazes me is that it took them only 5 years to get to this point. And this is with building brand new rail ways. Granted they already have a great train system in place. but still building everything brand new?

I hope you guys are following the news.....

From the BBC: http://www.economist.com/blogs/banya...ed-train-crash

CHINA'S high-speed railway network, once a source of great pride for the Communist Party, has turned into an embarrassment. A collision between two trains on July 23rd near the coastal city of Wenzhou not only killed at least 35 people but also unleashed a torrent of online criticism of the network and the railway bureaucracy.

The prompt dismissal of three senior railway officials is unlikely to diminish public outrage at the accident, which came hard on the heels of several malfunctions in a new high-speed rail link between Beijing and Shanghai. The 1,318km (820-mile) line was launched with much fanfare at the end of June to coincide with official celebrations of the party’s 90th birthday. Even the rare sight of a Chinese official bowing in apology at a press conference about the crash appears to have done little to placate critics. Online demands abound that the railway minister, Sheng Guangzu, lose his job too. Mr Sheng was appointed only in February following allegations that his predecessor Liu Zhijun (a high-speed rail fanatic) was involved in corruption.

The internet has proved a powerful amplifier of public scepticism in China, especially since Twitter-like services began to take off a couple of years ago. In this case, it has provided real-time, uncensored insights into a disaster that the authorities would doubtless have preferred to be covered in bare-bones style by trusted party organs. ChinaGeeks, an internet-monitoring website, has translated some of the comments that have been posted online by Chinese users. As China Media Project, another website, notes, even the official press has been quoting the observations of microbloggers.

The party has been stumbling in its response. The railway ministry took hours to issue its apology. Mr Sheng, the minister, gave a terse interview (in Chinese) to state television on his way to the scene, saying nothing about human error. The sacking of three top officials of the Shanghai rail bureau, which is responsible for the area where the collision occurred, was no more than a routine party response to major accidents. It took similar action in 2008 after the last big railway disaster. The Global Times, a Beijing newspaper, said in an English-language commentary that the latest accident had delivered “a strong shock to China’s social psychology” and raised doubts about the country’s railway construction plans. These call for a huge expansion of the high-speed network in the next few years.

The political shockwaves of this incident will probably reverberate longer than those of the rail disaster in 2008, even if the death toll remains lower (more than 70 died in the previous accident). China’s high-speed rail plans have been highly controversial. Some Chinese complain that the new services are effectively forcing up the price of rail travel by reducing the number of, cheaper, slower-speed trains. State-owned airlines also worry about competition (though concerns about rail safety might work in their favour). China Media Project has translated extracts from what it says are leaked directives to the official media banning discussion of the accident’s implications for the construction of high-speed rail. It is unlikely this will silence the debate.

[Ajit Basrur]

Yes, thats a tragic incident.