www.dadeinfo.com

Engineers in China are developing a high-speed train that could potentially reach speeds of over 600mph and that run solely on electricity. The train design could revolutionize work commute and travel. At such speeds, for example, the train could get from New York to LA in under an hour. A worker in Athens could get to Atlanta in about six minutes.

The train is designed from existing Maglev rail technology. You might already be familiar with this: these are the trains that levitate on magnetic tracks to eliminate rail friction. These trains are already in use in Japan, China, Germany, and other places. The difference in this new design, however, is that it would operate in a vacuum — or possibly significantly de-pressurized — tunnel.

The current drawback to the existing maglev trains is that air drag becomes a significant problem at high speeds. The energy costs of acceleration experiences diminishing returns as it gets faster — that is, at high speeds it takes a significantly more energy to move the train just a little bit faster. By operating in a vacuum or de-pressurized tunnel, however, drag on the train would be eliminated or drastically reduced, improving the efficiency of the train by wide margins.

The train would not run on gas or petroleum, but rather run on a linear induction motor which uses alternating electrical currents to propel the train. While in China this is still not really much better than running straight on petro-products (yeah the train produces “no emissions”, but the electricity that propels it comes from coal-fired power plants), clean energy could be used just the same to produce its propulsion. What this means? An extremely high-speed, high-efficiency mode of mass transportation that produces no pollution.

It will be interesting to see how this technology takes off in the next few years. I’m waiting for high-speed rail to come to Georgia!

Check out this video of an existing maglev train that transports people from Shanghai to China’s busiest airport in just minutes:

Does the turn "Lost Ball in high weeds" apply here and also to Maglev... When he passed you did he have a driver or was he behind the wheel???

Up to 4 million projected to take high-speed rail link yearly

By:
Adam Crisp
By:
Andy Johns (Contact)
A high-speed rail link between Atlanta and Chattanooga could draw between 2.6 and 4 million passengers annually when it finally gets under way in 2020, according to the Georgia Department of Transportation.

The number is important because some political leaders are saying the pricey rail links, which are proposed across the country, should be built in densely populated urban centers that can pack as many passengers as possible onto the multibillion-dollar investments.

Georgia DOT officials say the ridership estimate is based on figures gathered by regional planning organizations along the proposed 110-mile train path.

The estimate could potentially be lower than the actual number of riders, said Alan Ware, the DOT project manager.

"It's like anything -- if you build a new road, people always say, 'Why do we need that new road?' and then that one time they use it, they say, 'Wow, that made everything a whole lot easier,'" Ware said. "All of a sudden it becomes real popular."

Ridership figures are based on how many people would ride any leg of the route in a given day, Ware said.

The train has proposed stops at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, downtown, Kennesaw, Cartersville, Dalton, Lovell Field in Chattanooga and downtown Chattanooga.

North Carolina and Florida have rail proposals of their own.

By 2020, North Carolina predicts 1.7 million riders on its portion of an 80-mph line linking Charlotte, Raleigh, Richmond, Va., and Washington, D.C.

Florida is working on an 84-mile line between Orlando and Tampa that is predicted to carry 2.4 million riders. Illinois and Missouri are looking at a high-speed line between Chicago and St. Louis and they project 1.4 million to 2.5 million riders annually.

SPEED AND COST

The Georgia DOT's estimated $6 billion to $9 billion cost is significantly higher than some of the other lines.
The Chattanooga-Atlanta line would travel at least 180 miles an hour at cruising speed. The extra expense for faster speeds would make the others look "pokey," said Joe Ferguson, who has spearheaded the rail line for the Enterprise Center in Chattanooga.

"If you do it right and you give them the speed and the comfort and the reliability, people are going to ride it," Ferguson said.

He said another cost would be rights of way or tunnels in downtown Atlanta, but he said some estimates say the line would cost between $5 billion and $6 billion.
The Florida DOT says trains will travel at least 168 mph and expects the project to cost $2.7 billion, and Illinois officials' estimate is more than $4 billion.

"Remember, we don't have mountains," said Richard Harnish, executive director of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association.

Patrick Simmons, director of rail for North Carolina, downplayed any competition.

"I'm just happy the folks are getting the numbers out there for people to look at," he said. "A rising tide lifts all boats. We need viable transportation alternatives in America."

LAWMAKERS WARY

Such cost projections make lawmakers flinch.

Last week, U.S. Rep. Tom Graves, R-Georgia, said the Atlanta-Chattanooga link was on the back burner until the federal government reins in spending.

Florida Rep. John Mica, the new Republican chairman of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, has said high-speed rail should first be built in the population-dense Northeast.

"I am a strong advocate of high-speed rail, but it has to be where it makes sense," Mica told The Associated Press after the November elections.

New Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, a Republican, said the state needs to improve its transportation network, but it should rethink how it funds such projects.

"We must think innovatively to find alternative funding sources," Deal said in his first State of the State address. "In particular, because Georgia is an attractive destination for investment with a strong balance sheet and good demographics, public-private partnerships hold incredible potential."

Already, Georgia has funneled $14 million to study the Atlanta-Chattanooga rail link.

This month, the Georgia DOT is supposed to forward draft proposals for the project to DOT leaders as well as the federal highway and railroad administrations.