Grabbrass Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 (edited) On 1/12/2019 at 9:12 PM, janice6 said: I remember seeing videos of people hired to just push passengers into the cars so the door can close. I believe they referred to them as "packers". True but that's only happened a few times when there was a strike and fewer trains were running. The train in the OP is a monorail, not an everyday commuter train. At first I thought it might be the one that runs from downtown Tokyo out to Odaiba and back, but the terrain doesn't look right. In any case, that's a closed system, not part of the greater conventional train lines that run all over the country. It'd be a (relatively) simple thing to maintain strict control over track switches on a closed line like that. I lived in Japan for two years, go back for a couple weeks every 2-3 years, and watch a couple hours of Japanese TV every day. Ask me anything lol. Edited January 15, 2019 by Grabbrass 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moeman Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 1 hour ago, Grabbrass said: True but that's only happened a few times when there was a strike and fewer trains were running. The train in the OP is a monorail, not an everyday commuter train. At first I thought it might be the one that runs from downtown Tokyo out to Odaiba and back, but the terrain doesn't look right. In any case, that's a closed system, not part of the greater conventional train lines that run all over the country. It'd be a (relatively) simple thing to maintain strict control over track switches on a closed line like that. I lived in Japan for two years, go back for a couple weeks every 2-3 years, and watch a couple hours of Japanese TV every day. Ask me anything lol. Are Walt’s soiled underwear worth $20? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grabbrass Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 4 minutes ago, Moeman said: Are Walt’s soiled underwear worth $20? Sure but when you throw in the $2500 round-trip ticket, the airport hassles, the tourist rail pass, and hotel accommodations in Tokyo, it's a hard pass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walt Longmire Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 1 hour ago, Moeman said: Are Walt’s soiled underwear worth $20? Send me cash. I'll mail them off in a flat rate envelope. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cali-Glock Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 20 hours ago, Moeman said: How come we don’t have fast trains like the bulllet trains of Japan and Europe? Haven’t you heard? We are building a bullet train in California. Many billions of dollars in so far and the rails run from one remote central-Cal farm field to another remote central-Cal farm field. When it is finished it will pretend to be as fast and efficient as a typical 1970s European or Japanese train. The good news is Diane Fienstein’s husband has pocketed close to a billion dollars (exagerating here - but probably not by much) on building the train thus far and they have barely begun. By the time the California ‘bullet train’ is finished Elon Musk will have started his Mars colony and done the whole thing for 1/100th the cost. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C_Hallbert Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 Haven’t you heard? We are building a bullet train in California. Many billions of dollars in so far and the rails run from one remote central-Cal farm field to another remote central-Cal farm field. When it is finished it will pretend to be as fast and efficient as a typical 1970s European or Japanese train. The good news is Diane Fienstein’s husband has pocketed close to a billion dollars (exagerating here - but probably not by much) on building the train thus far and they have barely begun. By the time the California ‘bullet train’ is finished Elon Musk will have started his Mars colony and done the whole thing for 1/100th the cost. It is hoped ‘Moral Citizens Kommittee’ of Kalifornia come to senses and protest any suggestion for using threatening term ‘Bullet’ in reference to TRAIN! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moeman Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 1 hour ago, Cali-Glock said: Haven’t you heard? We are building a bullet train in California. Many billions of dollars in so far and the rails run from one remote central-Cal farm field to another remote central-Cal farm field. When it is finished it will pretend to be as fast and efficient as a typical 1970s European or Japanese train. The good news is Diane Fienstein’s husband has pocketed close to a billion dollars (exagerating here - but probably not by much) on building the train thus far and they have barely begun. By the time the California ‘bullet train’ is finished Elon Musk will have started his Mars colony and done the whole thing for 1/100th the cost. Didn’t 10’s billions of people tell you trillions of time to stop the hyperbole? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pipedreams Posted January 16, 2019 Author Share Posted January 16, 2019 California high-speed rail cost may approach $100 billion ... Cost For California High Speed Rail Soars To $77 Billion ... High speed, high cost: Bullet train price tag reaches $77.3 ... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glocks4Freedom Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 21 hours ago, Moeman said: More unions there than here... True. Also, less diversity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hauptmann6 Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 On 1/14/2019 at 5:24 PM, Moeman said: How come we don’t have fast trains like the bulllet trains of Japan and Europe? The ENTIRE UK has the same land area as Michigan. Heck, Texas is larger than France. Our cities are way more spread out. Air travel works here where it wouldn't in more dense areas like Europe and Japan. Japan is the size of California for comparison. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moeman Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 3 minutes ago, Hauptmann6 said: The ENTIRE UK has the same land area as Michigan. Heck, Texas is larger than France. Our cities are way more spread out. Air travel works here where it wouldn't in more dense areas like Europe and Japan. Japan is the size of California for comparison. All the more reason... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hauptmann6 Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 21 minutes ago, Moeman said: All the more reason... The US is just too big. Way cheaper/faster to fly around with our distances for the most part. Even if we had coast to coast bullet trains, very few would take it as it's too slow. Even 150 MPH with multiple stops would take much much longer than flying. Under a certain distance trains would be faster. Say from Detroit to Chicago. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moeman Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 8 minutes ago, Hauptmann6 said: The US is just too big. Way cheaper/faster to fly around with our distances for the most part. Even if we had coast to coast bullet trains, very few would take it as it's too slow. Even 150 MPH with multiple stops would take much much longer than flying. Under a certain distance trains would be faster. Say from Detroit to Chicago. Who said coast to coast is in play.... take away the TSA and jump in and .... Here are the world's fastest high-speed trains in commercial service, ranked by speed: Shanghai Maglev: 267 mph. ... Fuxing Hao CR400AF/BF: 249 mph. ... Shinkansen H5 and E5: 224 mph. ... The Italo and Frecciarossa: 220 mph. ... Renfe AVE: 217 mph. ... Haramain Western Railway: 217 mph. ... DeutscheBahn ICE: 205 mph. ... Korail KTX: 205 mph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hauptmann6 Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 767 - 530mph cruising. And goes as the crow flies. Too expensive to put the tracks in coast to coast and too all the major cities. You can't run them on normal railways. Yes bullet trains would be awesome, but from a practical standpoint in the US. They are a niche thing. Up and down the US east coast there's the population density to support it, and maybe California. Otherwise no. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PNWguy Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 On 1/15/2019 at 8:35 PM, Hauptmann6 said: The US is just too big. Way cheaper/faster to fly around with our distances for the most part. Even if we had coast to coast bullet trains, very few would take it as it's too slow. Even 150 MPH with multiple stops would take much much longer than flying. Under a certain distance trains would be faster. Say from Detroit to Chicago. Bullet trains in Japan are very expensive to ride. I only rode the commuter trains from Tokyo to Fusso and areas in between and I usually spent around $30 a day getting to destinations less than 20 miles away. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnbt Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 "That's what happens when your children apply themselves in school and then spend another eight hours per day studying" Actually this is what happens... "Japan shrinking as birthrate falls to lowest level in history | World news ... https://www.theguardian.com/.../japan-shrinking-as-birthrate-falls-to-lowest-level-in-hist... Dec 27, 2018 - In 2018 there were 921000 births and 1.37m deaths, with government efforts failing to encourage families to have more children." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dric902 Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2017/03/11/why-doesnt-the-united-states-have-high-speed-bullet-trains-like-europe-and-asia/#49250f4fc080 Population density or lack thereof Our unique model of urban and suburban development The strength of our property rights Car culture, or America's lingering obsession with the automobile The lasting power of network effects An existing rail network is geared towards long-haul commercial freight traffic . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huaco Kid Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 6 hours ago, johnbt said: Actually this is what happens... Intelligence causes people to not breed? Causes infertility? (Actually, America kind of proves that theory) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janice6 Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 9 hours ago, johnbt said: "That's what happens when your children apply themselves in school and then spend another eight hours per day studying" Actually this is what happens... "Japan shrinking as birthrate falls to lowest level in history | World news ... https://www.theguardian.com/.../japan-shrinking-as-birthrate-falls-to-lowest-level-in-hist... Dec 27, 2018 - In 2018 there were 921000 births and 1.37m deaths, with government efforts failing to encourage families to have more children." I read that the birth rate falls as the people get more affluent and educated. Then the adults want to spend their time on what they enjoy and not children. Besides, the size of the family used to be proportional to the work that had to be done to support the family. More work, more kids to do it. Now, one or two adults can support themselves nicely. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul53 Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 On 1/14/2019 at 5:24 PM, Moeman said: How come we don’t have fast trains like the bulllet trains of Japan and Europe? Because the Japanese trains are only 3 feet tall. We'd need full scale! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janice6 Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 (edited) Except for the coasts, the USA population is too dispersed. That's why it's so hard to replace cars with public transportation. USA Population density per square mile: 84. Japan Population density per square mile: 339 https://www.infoplease.com/world/population-statistics/population-density-square-mile-countries Edited January 17, 2019 by janice6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moshe Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 True, space is at a premium: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janice6 Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 1 hour ago, Moshe said: True, space is at a premium: Very close to the truth. There was a business renting slots almost like that to overnight businessmen in the major cities. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PNWguy Posted January 18, 2019 Share Posted January 18, 2019 29 minutes ago, janice6 said: Very close to the truth. There was a business renting slots almost like that to overnight businessmen in the major cities. The effort put in maximizing efficiency of space and utility in Japan is amazing. I was in a Japanese version of Home Depot and they were selling ovens and other appliances. The ovens were tiny and you could barely fit a couple of hot pockets in one, and certainly not a "normal" sized American pizza. Maybe a Totinos... My daughter explained that most Japanese eat out and rarely cook at home. Hence, most kitchens and appliances were tiny... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hauptmann6 Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 On 1/17/2019 at 2:23 AM, PNWguy said: Bullet trains in Japan are very expensive to ride. I only rode the commuter trains from Tokyo to Fusso and areas in between and I usually spent around $30 a day getting to destinations less than 20 miles away. Yes they are. IIRC 20 years ago a round trip from Tokyo to Kyoto was somthing like 350. I had a JR pass so I didn't actually pay. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now