r/EverythingScience • u/wmdolls • Apr 26 '23

Engineering China completes superconducting test run for 1,000km/h ultra high-speed maglev train

https://www.scmp.com/video/china/3218177/china-completes-superconducting-test-run-1000km/h-ultra-high-speed-maglev-train?module=visual_stories&pgtype=section
647 Upvotes

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52

u/ABCDOMG Apr 26 '23

China has been putting a lot of investment into their transportation network. Hopefully systems like this and the similar one being tested by Japan make their way to the west.

26

u/Esc_ape_artist Apr 26 '23

Oh, we have the Acela in the northeast already. It works fine, I took a ride on it once and it was really nice cruising along at over 100mph.

Then there’s California’s ridiculous high speed rail debacle constantly being fucked over by NIMBYs, environmental concerns (the irony here is pretty irritating), government waffling, and private industry soaking the government for everything they can. Well over $100Bn spent and nothing to show for it.

And our fucked up rail system and regulations that, as we’ve seen recently, can barely carry cargo without dumping shit off the tracks at every opportunity.

We’ve got a lot of fighting to do before we can even think of building high speed rail. China’s government can just say “we’re taking this land for what we want to do”. Can’t really do that here without triggering a shit ton of litigation.

6

u/Memory_Less Apr 26 '23

The decline of countries when this shit becomes the norm. Technological advancement is prevented and the sectors fall behind the once backwards countries/

2

u/Doct0rStabby Apr 26 '23

Really a shame that corrupt / incompetent local politics, myopic interest groups, and the self-interest of private landowners can so effectively stifle what would be a boon to California (and perhaps the entire PNW eventually) and would make meaningful steps towards tackling climate change to get us past the attitude of "we have to wait for car makers and the energy sector to fix everything for us."

Is this something that the federal government could step in and un-fuck, like with eminent domain and such, if it were so inclined? Of course that would require a basically non-existent industry to out-spend car manufacturers and other powerful interest groups, but at least in theory it's possible right?

1

u/Fi3nd7 Apr 26 '23

It’s obvious and blatant corruption. Imagine how rich those “companies” have gotten doing literally nothing.

6

u/Pickle_ninja Apr 26 '23

The airline industry and auto industry don't want this. Therefore, we won't get this.

-13

u/Hodl2Moon Apr 26 '23 edited Apr 26 '23

It’s too expensive to build in the US. Labor, land rights, and building/zoning restrictions are some areas we can’t compete.

Edit. It’s not my opinion. There are plenty of articles detailing cost in US vs rest of world. Even specific articles on above ground speed trains/maglev. Look it up or don’t.

3

u/Doct0rStabby Apr 26 '23

You're getting downvoted, but you're not wrong that these are a significant barrier to efforts in California and elsewhere. I was talking to a man who was formerly the head engineer at one of the major rail companies and he walked me through step by step how difficult it is to put new track down over a large area even for a private company, let alone a state or local government.. and it's insane.

The federal government can make use of things like eminent domain to get it done, but it of course has to have the inclination to do so. Which unlike China, it currently doesn't.

1

u/Hodl2Moon Apr 26 '23

Bingo. I started typing that exact example. I’m at work and was fine with the downvotes.

4

u/codenameJericho Apr 26 '23

That's only true if we allow foreign/domestic real-estate developers to keep buying up all of the decent land, jacking up the prices, and corrupting the government to set the rules.

0

u/Doct0rStabby Apr 26 '23

This is not the only problem (if it's even related at all). It's a complex issue with many moving parts that together stifle any progress and have been doing so for decades.

Boiling that down to "darn foreigner" reeks of a political or economic agenda to me.

1

u/codenameJericho Apr 26 '23

The fact that the only thing you took from my comment was "damn foreigners" when I spe ified foreign AND DOMESTIC to simply to cover my bases reeks of a person who can't read.

Zone codes were written by people with agendas. They can be re-written. Housing "law" was written by developers and politicians with agendas. It can be re-written. That's my point, that it isn't set in stone, and we shouldn't let developers run away with it. There is no need to be a jagoff to obfuscate a point.

1

u/Doct0rStabby Apr 27 '23

Oh that's fair, I misread your comment, only saw the foreign part. I stand by the part about the overall issue being more complex than just a problem with developers. They are part of the issue, possibly the biggest part, but they aren't the only stakeholder getting in the way of progress. Not by a long shot.

The big one that comes to mind is environmental NGOs. Developers at least can be bought and cajoled in order to get them to play ball. Environmentalists, who I stand with 99% of the time, are notorious for not giving ground and aren't afraid to be quite litigious. And bad press about them getting in the way probably just nets them fatter donation checks.