China has launched what is being called the world’s fastest rail line, a high-speed train that can reach speeds of 245 miles per hour (394 kilometers) over long distances, and will cut the 601-mile commute from Wuhan, in central China, to Guangzhou, on the southeastern coast, from 10.5 hours to less than three hours.

The “WuGuang” line trains, a variation of Japan’s Shinkansen and Germany’s InterCity Express, have reached speeds that far surpass France’s TGV, which had been the world’s fastest train, with an average speed of 169 miles per hour.

Rail experts say it’s an early step in a 2-trillion-yuan ($293 billion) government-funded initiative to connect all of China’s major cities with high-speed rail by 2020.

An east-west line connecting Xi’an to Zhengzhou could begin operation later this month, and construction has begun on a project that could expand the Beijing-Tianjin line southward to Shanghai by 2012.

“Over the next five years there’ll be more high-speed rail added in China than the rest of the world combined,” said Keith Dierkx, director of IBM’s Global Rail Innovation Center in Beijing. Dierkx said rail demand in China will more than triple to five billion passengers annually by 2020.

Article appearing courtesy of Yale Environment 360

[photo credit: China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock]

Related posts:

• Florida Will Build Nation’s First High-Speed Rail Corridor
• High Speed Rail at 90 mph?! ARRA & the Northeast Corridor
• Russia and the World Looks Towards High Speed Rail
• Japan Prepares to Go Beyond High Speed With Maglev Trains
• High Speed Rail – 12 Corridors to be Stimulated

The first stop on the international showcase of high speed rail that I am writing for CleanTechies, will be in Germany. As much as I try to avoid writing in first-person narrative, this topic is quite close to my heart as Germany (where I lived for most of 2002-2003) is where my eyes were opened to how great public transportation can be and how it’s presence or absence severely affects quality of life.

The calamitous state of transportation in the US became apparent when I returned to my old Pennsylvanian home. Being thrust back into the car-dependent nightmare is still the source of much of my angst to this day.

Deutsch: Durch Erfahrung wird man klug.
English: Through experience man becomes clever.

It is my highest possible recommendation to go to Deutschland and zip around on their stellar 300 km/hour ICE (InterCity Express) trains. Take in the sights while enjoying a cold Franziskaner and dream of the day when you can travel with such ease in the good old US of A (be sure to save up beforehand because our dollar is pretty worthless over there). Amenities abound with roomy reclining seats, air-conditioning, wi-fi access, a full bistro and a television if you want to spring for first class. Long distance ICE trains can move you about the country at great speeds and seamlessly connect you to the transportation networks of cities. For example, the ICE feeds into Berlin’s ultramodern main train station and can get a traveler to anywhere in the capital via subway (U-Bahn), elevated train (S-Bahn) or by bus. Lehrter Bahnhof is a model of integrated transport.

Why do Germans get to have cool stuff like these sleek trains and other useful knick-knacks like health care and free higher education while millions of Americans do not have access to public transportation, go uninsured and face a mountain of debt if they chose to get a higher education? It boils down to one word: Solidarity

Solidarity is a German core value whereas in America the concept does not exist. This is not a matter of opinion. It is an obvious fact when you compare any number of aspects of German and American society when it comes to the rich and the rest. Public transportation is simply the most obvious case, but many other very important societal issues follow the same path.

The previous paragraph is where conservatives of the Glenn Beck/Rush Limbaugh crowd (which number in the millions) gets irate when it is pointed out that their ethos is not to care about anyone else but themselves. You hate freedom if you think it is sensible to tax the über-wealthy to build infrastructure that would benefit the rabble that make less than $1,000,000 a year. Irrelevant that taxing the ludicrously rich will improve mobility, create jobs, eliminate car-related overhead for lower-income individuals, reduce pollution, increase productivity by reducing time lost in traffic and reduce dependence on foreign oil.

That is the difference. Not money nor technological expertise, but a simple societal value allows German citizens to have access to world-class public transportation and leaves Americans with pathetic, nearly non-existent mass transit. It is time Americans realized that we need to work together on some level regardless of socio-economic background. Great American thinker/genius John Nash (an American) thought so.

Have the lessons of A Beautiful Mind already been forgotten? Adam Smith needs revision:

“The best result will come from everyone in the group doing what’s best for himself… and the group!”

[photo credit: Deutsche Bahn AG]

Related posts:

• New Chinese Rail Line Said to be Fastest High-Speed Train
• High Speed Rail at 90 mph?! ARRA & the Northeast Corridor
• Train in Vain: Epilogue on High-Speed Rail Series
• High Speed Rail in France: Le TGV — C’est Cool.
• Florida Will Build Nation’s First High-Speed Rail Corridor

A new series of posts on this blog will feature the state of US high speed rail, covering the condition and plans for realizing the new American passenger rail network. A good place to start is with the fastest passenger train currently in service – the Northeast Corridor.

Most of this line is serviced by Amtrak’s Acela express which has the potential to reach 150 mph, but rarely does due to technological limitations concerning the track and the overhead electrical system used to power the train. The average speed of the Acela is a mere 86 mph.

This line has America’s highest ridership and serves the densely populated area from Washington D.C. all the way up to Boston. Along the route lie Baltimore, Philadelphia, Newark, New York City, Providence and number of other urban areas. The Acela has been in service for nearly nine years and experienced increased ridership in 2008 when gas prices spiked.  Although the Acela train on the Northeast Corridor is Amtrak’s flagship passenger train, when compared to the high speed trains of other countries, it does not measure up to its European and Asian counterparts.

First and foremost, the Acela does not even qualify to be a high speed train under the definition by the International Union of Railways which states: “services which regularly operate at or above 250 km/h (155 mph) on new track, or 200 km/h (124 mph) on existing track. The Acela can obtain a speed of 150 mph, but only briefly. The majority of the seven hour trip from Washington D.C. to Boston is less than ninety miles per hour.

Amenities are very important to passengers, especially business travelers who need to utilize their time on the journey by working. While a German businessman has the capability to connect to high speed internet on a German high speed InterCity Express Train (ICE), an American does not have that business necessity on the Acela yet. Comfort and quality on the train need to be improved to attract more ridership, be it more comfortable seats that include more personal space or better food in the dining car. The Acela needs to improve both inside and out.

The solution is clear: investment. $8 billion allocated for high speed rail in the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act was the first money ever allocated for high speed rail in the US. A good first step but well short of the amount needed to seriously make a difference in the state of American passenger rail.

Amtrak President/CEO Joseph Boardman has stated for Acela to match up with its international opposites, an investment of $5 billion is needed to shore up the line between Washington D.C. and New York City. In an interview with NBC news, railroad consultant Joseph Vranich stated that most of the stimulus money should be invested in the Northeast Corridor to prove to the American people that high speed rail can be successful.

The Northeast Corridor is the best the country has to offer, but it still has a lot of improvements to make and a long way to go to reach its full potential.

This is the 2nd of a 13-part series on high speed rail in the USA. Read previous articles: High Speed Rail – 12 Corridors to be Stimulated

Related posts:

• US High Speed Rail: The Empire Corridor — Uplift For NYC Mass Transit
• Hypocritical Southern Politicians Fighting High Speed Rail & ARRA Money
• High Speed Rail Dreams For The Keystone Corridor
• High Speed Rail Line Gets Federal Funding: Los Angeles to Las Vegas
• (Anti-)High Speed Rail: Republicans & the Gulf Coast Corridor