The Return of Rail

[dpeilow]

N700A Shinkansen trains enter service | International Railway Journal

The first N700A was unveiled last August and all 13 trains from the initial batch will be delivered by next March, replacing series 700 sets on Tokyo – Osaka services. JR Central says energy consumption is 19% lower on the N700A than on the series 700, which was introduced in 1999.

A 19% reduction is very impressive on what was already one of the world's most efficient high speed trains.

 

[anticitizen13.7]

Does anyone else here use commuter rail? I've effectively been using an electric powertrain to get to work for most of the past 10 years.

I still need a car though, because there are many places I need to go that I can't safely reach without an automobile.

 

[sp4rk]

dpeilow

Thanks for posting that. Was not keeping up. Makes me "sick", living in the USA most of the time but also working in Europe, that the USA (at least in the Midwest) will likely never develop proper high speed rail.
I've taken Eurostar, TGV etc. many times and they are wonderful compared to the rubbish here.
But for now, my S will have to do for "electric" transport.
Perhaps, on my next trip to the UK we can meet.

 

[dpeilow]

Love to, just let me know.

I'll be back on Eurostar and TGV tomorrow. Love doing 200 mph propelled by electricity

 

[Raffy.Roma]

Love to, just let me know.

I'll be back on Eurostar and TGV tomorrow. Love doing 200 mph propelled by electricity

I often travel by Eurostar. In Italy it is called Freccia Rossa. Maximum speed is 300 km/h for safety reasons. It could reach 360 km/h but the railway doesn't allow the train to travel at this speed.

 

[dpeilow]

Yet . Do you know the Freccia Rossa 1000 will have a top speed of 400 km/h (250 mph) and "cruising speed" of 360 km/h?

I've been on the current Freccia Rossa. Really nice, even in second class. I'd like to check out the NTV competition next time I am down your way.

 

[Raffy.Roma]

Yet . Do you know the Freccia Rossa 1000 will have a top speed of 400 km/h (250 mph) and "cruising speed" of 360 km/h?

I've been on the current Freccia Rossa. Really nice, even in second class. I'd like to check out the NTV competition next time I am down your way.

I didn't know this. For me most important thing is efficiency. I hope that Freccia Rossa 1000 will have a better efficiency.
Sorry what is the NTV competition?

 

[dpeilow]

The Freccia Rossa 1000 is going to be derived from the Bombardier Zefiro 380, which is a pretty efficient train (designed for China).

NTV is the new company started to compete with FS. They are using the French Alstom AGV - again, state of the art. There is some link between NTV and Ferrari.


So you guys have a race going on in Italy now.

 

[Raffy.Roma]

Yes I knew it. You are right, there is a link between NTV and Ferrari. In fact Mr. Montezemolo is President both of Ferrari and of NTV.

I wish that one day Ferrari will produce electric cars ;-)

- - - Updated - - -

I often go to Milan by train but I never took Italo (NTV) because it doesn't stop to Milano Centrale where I need to go. So I always took Freccia Rossa. I have seen the new Freccia Rossa. It looks nice. When will it start travelling in Italy?

 

[dpeilow]

Reports say 2013, so hopefully it is still on time.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

200-mph red bullet trains thrill rail-mad Japan | Crave - CNET

The new E6 Series Super Komachi has a sleek design and a top speed of nearly 200 mph. Operators hope it will help the quake-ravaged north.

Now, that's a nose!

 

[Raffy.Roma]

The Freccia Rossa 1000 is going to be derived from the Bombardier Zefiro 380, which is a pretty efficient train (designed for China).

Today I read on the newspaper about Freccia Rossa 1000. It should start to work in Italy in 2015. When it will start to work the travel time from Rome to Milan should reduce from 3 hours to 2 hours 15 minutes.
I often travel from Rome to Milan with Freccia Rossa. So welcome Freccia Rossa 1000

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

Still holding out hope that one day, there'll indeed be high-speed rail between SF and LA and other such corridors. The politics and the lobbying by airlines be damned!

Having ridden on the TGV in France, the Shinkansen in Japan, Cisalpino in Italy, AVE in Spain and other, slower trains in New Zealand and England, there's just no better way to travel between cities on the same continent.

Some memories:

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

Series E7 bullet train - Japan's Series E7 bullet train honors aesthetics (pictures) - CNET

A beautiful looking Shinkansen:

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

A piece on China's high-speed rail and "going west" with it:

BBC News - All aboard: Chinas railway dream

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

Japan’s Shinkansen: Revolutionary design at 50

BBC - Culture - Japan's Shinkansen: Revolutionary design at 50

Looking forward to this (unless the faster Hyperloop becomes a reality by then):

The Shinkansen network continues to grow. The latest generation of bullet trains, currently confined to the south islands of Honshu and Kyushu, will run onto the north island of Hokkaido through a tunnel under the sea in 2016, going on to reach Sapporo by 2035. By then, however, the first section of the new Chuo Shinkansen that will eventually shoot from Tokyo to Osaka should be open. This is the Maglev – magnetic levitation – railway that will see trains, hovering above their tracks, propelled between Tokyo and Osaka in little more than an hour. That’s at 500km/h (311mph), or more than twice the speed of the original bullet trains.