He’s full of shit about the Chuo Shinkansen. That’s gotta be one of the best places on the planet to build high speed maglev, from one of the world’s best rail companies with a well deserved superb reputation for punctuality, safety, and quality.
Not often I disagree with Adam Something about anything, but I think he’ll be proven wrong about the Chuo Shinkansen.
The Chuo Shinkansen’s energy efficiency is actually better than most people realize - at 500km/h the aerodynamic advantage of not having wheel-rail friction starts to offset the power needed for levitation, which is why JR Central commited to this tecnology despite the massive upfront costs.
Isn’t the Chuo Shinkansen expected to have less capacity than the regular Shinkansen lines? I think the point that they’d be better off digging their tunnel and then running normal trains in it still stands. You’d still get a speed increase just by virtue of having a tunnel underground that takes a straighter path between cities.
As a side note (and I’m not counting this as an argument against the Chuo Shinkansen since it’s my speculation): Japan’s maglev technology uses large amounts of liquid helium and liquid nitrogen in the trains. I’m sure they’ve thought about this already, but there’s a massive safety hazard if the cryogenic liquid leaks out because it will instantly turn to gas, displace all the oxygen in the enclosed tunnel, and pose a suffocation risk. They probably have some insanely complicated and expensive system to keep the inside of the cabin oxygenated if that does happen, which could have been avoided with normal trains.
728 passengers per train on L0 trains vs 1323 on N700 trains, yeah it’s lower capacity but it’s a brand new line that’s adding that much capacity, not subtracting from existing capacity. And they’re already building it, and have been giving passengers rides on the test track for years.
Why would they be better off abandoning proven technology with construction well underway, costs very securely under control, and clear and strong demand, just because some foreigners balk at the cost and timeline? Like, this is Japan, they don’t fuck around with this kind of stuff without damn good reason.
Also worth keeping in mind this speed puts the route in competition with air travel, in terms of cost and energy efficiency, so not only could it relieve some pressure from the Tokaido shinkansen but also regional airports.
He’s full of shit about the Chuo Shinkansen. That’s gotta be one of the best places on the planet to build high speed maglev, from one of the world’s best rail companies with a well deserved superb reputation for punctuality, safety, and quality.
Not often I disagree with Adam Something about anything, but I think he’ll be proven wrong about the Chuo Shinkansen.
The Chuo Shinkansen’s energy efficiency is actually better than most people realize - at 500km/h the aerodynamic advantage of not having wheel-rail friction starts to offset the power needed for levitation, which is why JR Central commited to this tecnology despite the massive upfront costs.
He also is for removing anonymity in the Internet. Which so far is his worst take
Isn’t the Chuo Shinkansen expected to have less capacity than the regular Shinkansen lines? I think the point that they’d be better off digging their tunnel and then running normal trains in it still stands. You’d still get a speed increase just by virtue of having a tunnel underground that takes a straighter path between cities.
As a side note (and I’m not counting this as an argument against the Chuo Shinkansen since it’s my speculation): Japan’s maglev technology uses large amounts of liquid helium and liquid nitrogen in the trains. I’m sure they’ve thought about this already, but there’s a massive safety hazard if the cryogenic liquid leaks out because it will instantly turn to gas, displace all the oxygen in the enclosed tunnel, and pose a suffocation risk. They probably have some insanely complicated and expensive system to keep the inside of the cabin oxygenated if that does happen, which could have been avoided with normal trains.
728 passengers per train on L0 trains vs 1323 on N700 trains, yeah it’s lower capacity but it’s a brand new line that’s adding that much capacity, not subtracting from existing capacity. And they’re already building it, and have been giving passengers rides on the test track for years.
Why would they be better off abandoning proven technology with construction well underway, costs very securely under control, and clear and strong demand, just because some foreigners balk at the cost and timeline? Like, this is Japan, they don’t fuck around with this kind of stuff without damn good reason.
Also worth keeping in mind this speed puts the route in competition with air travel, in terms of cost and energy efficiency, so not only could it relieve some pressure from the Tokaido shinkansen but also regional airports.