China's train maker CRRC recently unveiled the high-speed train at a railway industry trade fair, in Berlin, Germany. According to the manufacturing company, the train is developed with indigenous technology developed by China. It said that the train prototype has already conducted a successful test run in Chengdu province of China.
Regarding the TGV, the great thing about them from what I understand is that they can switch basically seamlessly between track types. So if you already have a well built out rail system, you can build a HSR gradually, then reroute onto existing lines at low speed as the high speed segments are completed.
I mean… That’s literally the strongest benefit of conventional rail, and it’s a massive benefit that makes this centuries old technology almost impossible to overthrow. The fact that as long as the gauge is correct, any train can run on any track is what makes rail so powerful and why non-rail trains are called “gadgetbahns”, aka “pointless” outside of the most niche and specific situations. The great thing about rail is that your only limitation is that you’re bound by either your train top speed or your track top speed, whichever is lower, and no patents or licensing that locks your transportation network into a single company.
This is why I have my doubts that maglev will actually be able to replace high speed rail for long distance transit in our lifetimes. It probably will replace rail eventually, but it might take a small eternity.
Yeah, all too often with these technological marvels it’s tempting to ignore how to get them adopted in the real world. You can have the fastest train, but if it’s too difficult to build then adoption will be hard. And as with so many other things, standardization is a giant leap forward. I think with something like Maglev we’ll need to see some pretty significant standardization before it sees much adoption.
I’m a little reminded of how my own city has rail transit. There is the Portland Streetcar and the MAX light rail. The streetcar primarily travels with other traffic, while the MAX is primarily on its own right-of-way. They both use standard gauge and the same cantilever setup, so if the Streetcar needs to move along the MAX network it just switches lines and away it goes. It also means the equipment can be delivered directly via intercity rail without complicated setups.
I mean… That’s literally the strongest benefit of conventional rail, and it’s a massive benefit that makes this centuries old technology almost impossible to overthrow. The fact that as long as the gauge is correct, any train can run on any track is what makes rail so powerful and why non-rail trains are called “gadgetbahns”, aka “pointless” outside of the most niche and specific situations. The great thing about rail is that your only limitation is that you’re bound by either your train top speed or your track top speed, whichever is lower, and no patents or licensing that locks your transportation network into a single company.
This is why I have my doubts that maglev will actually be able to replace high speed rail for long distance transit in our lifetimes. It probably will replace rail eventually, but it might take a small eternity.
Yeah, all too often with these technological marvels it’s tempting to ignore how to get them adopted in the real world. You can have the fastest train, but if it’s too difficult to build then adoption will be hard. And as with so many other things, standardization is a giant leap forward. I think with something like Maglev we’ll need to see some pretty significant standardization before it sees much adoption.
I’m a little reminded of how my own city has rail transit. There is the Portland Streetcar and the MAX light rail. The streetcar primarily travels with other traffic, while the MAX is primarily on its own right-of-way. They both use standard gauge and the same cantilever setup, so if the Streetcar needs to move along the MAX network it just switches lines and away it goes. It also means the equipment can be delivered directly via intercity rail without complicated setups.