Japan's MagLev Gets Go Ahead 159
ThinkPad760 writes "The Japanese government has finally given approval to build the long awaited MagLev train linking Tokyo and Osaka via Nagoya. But don't hold your breath. Construction will start in 2014. The Tokyo Nagoya section will be completed in 2027 with the final section to Osaka complete by 2045. I was hoping my wife could buy me a ticket as my retirement present, but looks like I have a wait a couple of years after that."
Re:Just for comparison.... (Score:4, Insightful)
As an eternal optimist, I think we (the U.S. public) aren't being loud enough. We need to take this disorganized grumbling about higher gas prices and start asking for efficient, interstate mass transport, like maglev (or the theoretical vactrain). It can be done, but Congress won't authorize it unless we don't let them weasel out of the problem. Maybe all it will take is a single letter from every constituent to their representative, flooding their offices.
Re:2027? 2045? (Score:5, Insightful)
Exactly why? (Score:5, Insightful)
Why would they have to raise our taxes? Invade one less third world shithole per presidency, and the budget wouldn't be balanced, we'd have a fucking surplus that could see us with goddamned maglev trains to the goddamned doorstep.
But of course, THAT'S SOCIALISM. And we don't stand for none of that there socialism here in 'murrica.
Re:Just for comparison.... (Score:5, Insightful)
These things are ridiculously expensive and virtually never pay for themselves -- ever.
The problem with this mindset is that it only measures ticket sales. If you make travel between cities incredibly fast then you open up all kinds of new business opportunities and larger efficiencies.
There is certainly a need to balance cost/benefit but too often we only balance direct costs vs direct benefit while ignoring the larger returns that result.
Picture for a moment Broadband internet. If a couple of universities needed to move large files then it wouldn't make sense to lay fiber optic lines across the country--you could just overnight fedex them. But once you do lay fiber to everybody suddenly you can teleconference, you can have movies delivered to the home, you can create an entire entertainment sector where people play MMOs etc etc...
When I was in highschool I had to plead with my parents to get internet. And then a second phone line. And then broadband. Now thanks to what I mostly learned on the internet I have a high paying job. It was a great investment that they made--but not one necessarily that looked like it should pay itself off. I mostly wanted high-speed admittedly to play games. As a gaming connection it was a complete money loser. But it opened up my world and from that I found unintended consequences.
Conservatives tend to be the ones who always bemoan the unintended consequences of market intervention. But for some reason everyone seems to believe that there can only be negative unintended consequences.
Re:yay! (Score:4, Insightful)
As opposed to being groped or scanned, and then stuck in a 1 foot by 1 foot seat on an aluminum can that can fall out of the sky? Or be stuck going about 5x slower than said tin can in a car? o.o
I don't know of any transportation method in the world other than maglev that can get you from the downtown area of one city, 300 miles away, to the down town area of another city in 70 minutes. Much less one that could acomplish that while not requiring security scans or invasive groping, and a scan of your luggage, or heck, any luggage weight limits whatsoever.
Re:Just for comparison.... (Score:3, Insightful)
A lot of people don't realize how expensive trains are. I took an hour-and-a-half trip in Spain recently, and it cost 50 Euros. Are people really willing to pay that? The trip from SF to LA will cost two or three times that. What is there to entice a person to ride the train instead of fly or drive? Flying in Europe is often cheaper than taking the train. And if you have more than one person going (talking about the US again), driving is just more economical, and not necessarily slower.
Until you've used a good train system, it is really hard to understand why it is better. Afterwards, it's obvious.
For example, in Japan (and Europe) fast trains are better than commercial flights because there is no messing around getting to and from distant airports, no long checkin queues, no excess luggage charges, no long security queues, no requirement for invasive searches/imaging, much more legroom, more comfortable seating, a smoother ride, you can use your phone/electronics the entire trip, no waiting for checked luggage to appear at the end (or maybe not), and they are much more punctual and much less affected by inclement weather. For a city to city trip, I would prefer a fast train for any trip less than around 4-5 hours.
A fast train may even cost a bit more than a discounted flight. But I still prefer them because they are generally faster, more reliable and far more comfortable.
Furthermore, fast trains are safer (Japan's shinkansen has had zero fatalities due to derailment/collision, ever) and they can make use of non-carbon emitting power sources. They are especially far safer (and more relaxing) than driving.