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I know... it's ridiculous. How many people do you know that take the train from Edinburgh to London? Flights are just too cheap. However, prices are going up for planes... Oil isn't going to become MORE available. Airports aren't going to get CHEAPER to fly into and out of. RyanAir and...

I think Japan intentionally separated commuter from intercity. Shinkansen could then be built to a higher standard along its own guideway. Partly for safety and partly for efficiency. They do have a few commuter Shinkansens, but they are on dedicated ROWs. Japan has plenty of rail...

Apparently, The Fastech 360 was designed to travel at a max "operational" speed of 405km/h if I'm not mistaken. However, probably only for parts of a journey, or when making up for time... it's nominal operational speed is 360km/h but will be limited to 320km/h due to braking distance and...

I've ridden the 700 series Nozomi. Smoothest ride I've ever been on. You could whisper over the noise it made. The more i look at the Fastech 360, the more it looks like the nicest trainset yet (the Stream-Line design, not the Arrow) Also, the more I think about it, the more Mag-lev...

You're correct. HSR is probably near it's top speed, because of wear on the parts and limitations on noise pollution. Saying that though, Mag-lev makes sense only in terms of distance. It's a very efficient form of transportation when it is running. Mag-lev is well suited to countries like...

Augh... I hate impoerial measurements. UK has all the fundamentals that would make it a perfect for HSR. A long thin country of almost 60million people mostly clustered in cities with average distance between cities less than a 1 hour journey away (@ 300km/h) A cool image of population density...

I preferred the 400 series. However, currently, The 700T Series is my favorite. The ICE3's are too busy for me. I prefer simple smooth lines. Probably why I tend to like Asian rolling stock more than European.

Yeah, the E4 series is not my favorite. You know, I find that Japanese trains look less like trains and more like space-ships. Then again, who are we to judge what another culture finds to be beautiful, eh?

I'd be inclined to agree. Between Glasgow and Edinburgh High speed Mag-lev doesn't make ANY sense. 15 minute travel times perhaps, but the time it takes getting to and from the mag-lev is what is going to take most of the time. It would have fewer stops, so the population catchment area...

I believe it's to test the different aerodynamic designs to see which one works better in practice. I wouldn't be surprised if both sides have different teams of aerodynamic engineers in competition with each other. Yes, that and the fact that Japan is a country built on Volcanoes and fault...

I believe it would have no problem recouping its operating costs. Shanghai charges $6 for a ride and recoups its operational costs. Apparently a LOT cheaper than HSR.

Actually, it's much better than you would think. 99.9% of Japanese people bathe daily, thoroughly. So, there is no stench often associated with that many people. (Except late at night if the train's full of drunks) When a train stops, those close to the doors people get off the train to...

Those trains are actually pretty cool. I love the cockpit on the front. I don't know why people think they're ugly, they just aren't designed in a conservative fashion. This isn't exactly a pretty set of trains:

Operationally, it was... however it will NEVER recoup the cost of building it over its lifespan. Without Government funding, these initiatives can't succeed.