RE: China unveils world's fastest bullet train: 262 mph
Virtually all the advanced countries have and are building and expanding High Speed Rail. It is simply the fastest most efficient and reasonably comfortable transportation. It annihilates cars, busses and trucks for efficiency and comfort. It even beats airlines (for up to 1000 miles) when you factor in the long delays for the security, waits for boarding/take off/landings and travel to and from busy airports not to mention many airports request you arrive 2 hours before departure. The main reason the USA does not have H.S.R. like the rest of the advanced countries is the big oil countries would lose money. They would lose thousands of cars piling up at red lights burning gas, brakes, tires etc. Think of the gas used by a few thousand cars going just 100 miles. Although it is not high speed rail but railroad companies like CSX can move a train almost 100 miles on a gallon of fuel. HSR has different engines/propulsion but the comparison is obvious. In the USA huge corporations buy politicians into office and they work to protect and boost the corporations profits. Exxon Mobil will make a profit of about $100 million a day this year. High seed rail would cut into those profits. While the people in other countries ride a bike or walk to the train station and get on the high speed rail and the read the paper, email and relax on their way to work. They arrive relaxed and refsreshed ready to start their work day. Americans hurry and try to grab a quick sandwich and coffee jump in their car, race through the traffic, pile up at red lights, smelling car exhaust and toxic brake dust, swerving in and out passing other cars, looking at their watches every few minutes sweating it out trying to figure out if they will be late for work again. They arrive for their work day all stressed, caughing from the toxic fumes and dust, eyes watering with coffee spilled on their shirts. The USA spends close to a billion dollars a day on senseless wars on the other side of the world yet in the richest counrty in the world half the people walk around parroting "We can't afford High Speed Rail". Pretty amazing isn't it?
