
'World's fastest bullet train' starts test runs in Japan - melling
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Companies/World-s-fastest-bullet-train-starts-test-runs-in-Japan
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melling
Much of the world is adopting high-speed rail. The US does not seem to be
capable of effectively building HSR:

[https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/07/why-is-there-no-high-
speed-r...](https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/07/why-is-there-no-high-speed-rail-
in-the-us.html)

China has 19,000 miles of rail. This sort of infrastructure will pay future
dividends.

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HillaryBriss
when it comes to public infrastructure, the US does not seem to be capable of
effectively building _anything._ the best we can do nowadays is build very
slowly and expensively.

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frosted-flakes
I don't know about that. The United States has an excellent highway system
that pretty much negates the need for high speed rail (or sabotages it, which
is also a valid viewpoint).

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fma
I doubt we'd be able to reproduce that feat. My state took 5 years to widen 8
miles of state road in a loosely populated area near me. They didn't need to
bulldoze any houses or anything...it was literally add another road in
parallel so it converts from 2 lane to 4 lane, and put a new bridge for the
new direction.

I bought my house when it looked almost done, but there was another year to go
for final touchup, certification or some junk.

On the flip side, when the I-85 bridge collapses in Atlanta (I live in
Atlanta..in the burbs) that was redone ASAP.

If the government wants it done, it can be done. I just feel the appetite for
infrastructure isn't really there like the past.

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frosted-flakes
True. There's a great story about the I-580 ramp collapse in San Francisco
that was rebuilt in just a few weeks in 2007 that also demonstrates that it
_can_ be done if there's the will. I posted it to HN a few weeks ago, but it
didn't get any votes. I've reposted it here:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19887849](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19887849)

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ccamrobertson
Odd what constitutes a “bullet train”; the maglev train in Shanghai hits
430kph and has been operating for quite some time (albeit over a short
distance).

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level3
I think the term "bullet train" often refers only to trains that run on
standard gauge tracks, so maglev trains would naturally be excluded.

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masonic
(video)

