MAGLEV MAGIC
Greetings Friends;
Before I devolve into the wonders of Japan, I’d like to briefly relay our last experience in China on the fantastic Shanghai Maglev Train on the way to the airport. It was a sort of must do for a transport junkie like myself. It is the fastest passenger train in the world and covers 20 km in about 8 minutes.
MAGLEV TRAIN COMING INTO THE STATION
There are just two stations and it looks like something out of Futurama, including the incredible banked turns at near full speed.
THE “VIEW” AS WE APPROACH TOP SPEED!!”
The amazing thing is that it takes 3 minutes to get up to speed and another 3 to slow down so you`re only at top speed of 431 kph (267 mph) for 2 minutes, but man, I tell you, if they could put such a thing between SF and LA, well, I might even look forward to going to LA.
YUP, 431 KPH!
You can watch the cars on the freeway as the train passes and they appear to be standing still (despite the Chinese penchant for speeds of 150 kph on the freeways!) It really is quite a rush, despite the fact it appears to have been mostly a waste of money in a country that could really use some more basic infrastructure and environmental improvements. And really no one needs to get to the airport in 8 minutes. 30 minutes would have been just fine. But man, it is SO FAST!!!!
Tags: China, Maglev, Travel, Tag Index
rich.coffin