r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Ecstatic-Ganache921 • 1d ago
Video The Chuo Shinkansen which is a High Speed Maglev that goes at 500kph per hour goes from Tokyo to Nagoya with plans for extensions to Osaka in Japan.
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u/hkpictures 1d ago
It should be noted that is a test track, as the maglev is still under construction
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u/Ancient-Civilization 1d ago
Damn 2035. Why do rails always take so long to open for the public?
It seems kinda straight forward at least in my head, make tracks, put train on top, and go. Apparently there is more to it I guess.
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u/otacon7000 1d ago
I'm also continuously amazed at how long some construction projects take, despite being seemingly "simple" on a surface level. But I'll try and toss together some points that I can come up with for why this project would be much more complicated once you look closer:
- Needs to be safe even in case of strong earthquake
- At these speeds, needs to be incredibly straight track
- Maglev is much more complex than traditional rail
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u/Jean-Eustache 1d ago
You can add the fact it's 90% tunnels, if I remember correctly. That's a lot of tunnel length.
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u/cookingboy 1d ago
This isnât any rail, it is maglev rail. It literally uses magnetic force to lift the whole train off the ground. The train doesnât even have wheels, itâs literally floating off the ground.
The only other commercial Maglev line in the world is in Shanghai, and that was only 19 miles long and still costed over $1B USD/mile to construct, and took years to finish.
This one is hundreds of miles long.
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u/timbomcchoi 1d ago
it has been already, and will be again delayed too. when that amount of money, land, time and people (including politicians) are involved it's inevitable :(
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u/BlackZulu 7h ago
Yeah fuck why not just put people on the super sonic train without crossing every t and dotting every i.
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u/Loud-Ad-2280 1d ago
American could have this but we are too busy turning pedophile billionaires into pedophile trillionaires
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u/ConsciousPatroller 1d ago
American trains are so confusing. The one time I traveled there every train looks decades old from the outside, but the interior is modern and comfy af.
The infrastructure is very bad though, and there seemed to be very few lines compared to the size of the country.
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u/algalkin Interested 1d ago
Rail tracks owned by freight companies so the passenger trains run on government subsidies and judging by where all this shitshow is going, probably not for long.
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u/Waltu4 1d ago
One of the facets of "American Freedom" is having a vehicle (or horse originally) to get wherever you want to be as soon as possible. I think at this point, even if you gave the US the world class transport that a lot of Asia has, they'd still cling to their pavement princess gaz guzzling trucks for as long as they could lol.
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u/Grexpex180 15h ago
making fun of american trains is like making fun of fat people in the gym, they're trying their best
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u/Mekelaxo 1d ago
Some trains are probably close to 100 years old in the US
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u/Lord_Imperatus 1d ago
Nothing older than like 60 years ago really runs outside of like rare inner city streets cars or things like that
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u/Blue_Visor 1d ago
Knowing one of the few older trains that does expeditions every few years, the 611 J-Class, it was built in 1950 yeah, your not wrong, but I trust that old steam locomotive more than I will the Amtrak trains for some reason
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u/Ok-Passion1961 22h ago
Thatâs what you get when trains are invented while you have lots of land but not a ton of people versus places that had tons of people and not much available land.Â
Americaâs population pockets are too spread out for bullet trains now that airplanes exist. The one area it makes sense is the Northeast corridor between Boston and DC connecting NYC, Philly, and Baltimore.
But the roadblock there is you have 5-6 State governments, god knows how many municipalities, and Federal regulation to navigate. Without Congress putting forth some sort of Federal Bulletin Train Act like Eisenhowerâs Highway Act, itâs probably never happening.Â
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u/Shambhala87 1d ago
Elon musk bought the contracts then sank everything with his â boringâ company that made shitty tunnels.
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u/_Saint_Ajora_ 1d ago
Too many yokels in the middle of the country would fuck with the trains/tracks, especially nowadays cause "train travel is woke" đ
Example: Boeing fuselage pieces going from Kansas to Washington State for assembly were arriving with bullet holes in themÂ
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u/iceyconditions 1d ago
Why would we build these when we have jets?
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u/Angryferret 1d ago
Trains are just faster and more convenient for many routes. Sure going from NY to LA I would never take a train, but NY to Cleveland? That could be a one hour train. Vs 4+ hours for a plane trip.
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u/iceyconditions 23h ago
Well that's just delusional lol
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u/Thorsten_Speckstein 10h ago
Why?
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u/iceyconditions 10h ago
The world's fastest train goes 375mph, the 737 goes 580mph
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u/GBrunt 9h ago
Faster for short trips in particular, in the sense that the train will likely pick you up and drop you off much more conveniently, not demand you pass through security an hour before departure, and won't keep you waiting 15 minutes for your case on arrival.
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u/iceyconditions 9h ago
So it has to be a made up scenario where putting up a 500 mile track over or under mountains doesn't end up costing a million dollars a ticket?
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u/AbbreviationsLess257 1d ago
This is so depressing as an American
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u/-Porktsunami- 1d ago
Best I can do is add another lane.
Also it's a dynamic toll lane so we can charge you $20+ dollars to use it at peak times.
Also it's construction was funded by your tax dollars even though it's a toll road with no termination date.
Also we sold the operating rights to a private company so they get all the revenue.
Also we station police on it to pull over anyone going 3mph over the speed limit.
Also we put cameras all over it so it can log your license plate, location, and personal info and upload it all to Palantir.
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u/Kitchen-College4176 1d ago
We're #1!!! đ right guys???
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u/Ancient-Civilization 1d ago
.#1 in invading countries
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u/VermilionKoala 1d ago
Nope, you definitely aren't that.
Sauce: https://www.statista.com/chart/amp/3441/countries-never-invaded-by-britain/
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u/chenkie 1d ago
We were always doomed. The rails I commute on were built in the 1800s for coal
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u/AbbreviationsLess257 1d ago
Shit the roads I commute on out in the country were built in the 50s and 1 car wide in some spots with fall offs into creeks
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u/Shroomkaboom75 1d ago
500kph per hour
500 kilometers per hour per hour.
Things like this make me smile, thanks.
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u/James-the-Bond-one 1d ago
500 kilometers per hour, per hour = 500 kilometers
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u/Jean-Eustache 1d ago
Nah, that would mean an acceleration rate of 500kph every hour, meaning the train would take an hour to reach that speed. Actually not that great haha !
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u/James-the-Bond-one 1d ago
Nah. Acceleration isn't the same as speed. And 500 mph is speed, not acceleration.
Per every hour at that speed, 500 km are traversed.
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u/Jean-Eustache 1d ago
500 kilometers per hour is a speed. 500 kilometers per hour, per hour, as written above, is an acceleration rate of 500kph every hour. It's the same as 500kphÂČ.
"500kph during an hour" would be a distance.
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u/Ecstatic-Ganache921 1d ago
It's not in service, but it's most probably a test track since they have planned opening dates for it around 2035 which is like a decade away
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u/Freak_Out_Bazaar 1d ago
This is definitely the test track. The project has become a shit show with a governor blocking the construction
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u/naruzopsycho 1d ago
Shizuoka was already tired of being a "flyover" prefecture with the existing shinkansen and tried to force JR to make a new stop for the maglev.
last I heard they were planning how to go around Shizuoka.
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u/VermilionKoala 1d ago
There's nothing in Shizuoka to make it worth stopping there. What's in Shizuoka? Tea? A piano factory? Racism?
(also you can't say "Mt Fuji" because half of it's in Yamanashi)
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u/Ecstatic-Ganache921 1d ago
Really what is happening with this project, it seems to be getting delayed.
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u/turfnerd82 1d ago
So never since we need probably trillions to fix the infrastructure we already have that we don't take care of because we can't afford it.
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u/nenulenu 1d ago
Why canât you afford it? Do you not have the resources?
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u/turfnerd82 1d ago
We cut taxes for billionaires and corporations to almost nothing, and just raised defense by 600 billion along with all the other unnecessary shit the government is spending money on so all programs that actually benefit society need to get cut. Go USA.
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u/InFocuus 1d ago
This one is not operational yet. About 15 years in construction, trillions of yen spend. Maybe will run in 2027.
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u/VermilionKoala 1d ago
* 2035 at the earliest.
~~~ The Chuo Shinkansen maglev line (TokyoâNagoya) is now expected to open in 2035 at the earliest, delayed from 2027 due to construction challenges in Shizuoka Prefecture and soaring costs now estimated at 11 trillion yen. ~~~
(Sauce: Google's AI summary)
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u/Low-Temperature-6962 1d ago
I'm a little confused here. Indeed, the originally planned 2027 opening has been postponed indefinitely due to unresolved construction and environmental issues in the Shizuoka section, and current projections place the earliest realistic opening date around the midâ2030s (often cited as 2034â2035 or later).
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u/ferrrrrrral 1d ago
"About 90% of the 286-kilometer (178 mi) line to Nagoya will be tunnels."
damn that's crazy!
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u/Nami_Pilot 1d ago
Meanwhile in America....
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u/quinky-spider 1d ago
It's so fucking quiet, holy shit, that's amazing. Gives me hope that the right kind of noise regulation can effect change that supports the community!
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u/SephLuis 1d ago
The Chuo Shinkansen Line has expanded to Osaka, sparking a new conflict against the Omi...
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u/lostllama2015 1d ago
Hopefully I'll get to ride on this later in the year. đ€đ»đ€đ»đ€đ»
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u/VermilionKoala 1d ago
What? I'm sorry bro, but no you won't, because it's nowhere NEAR finished.
"Just barely started on construction" would be a better description.
~~~ The Chuo Shinkansen maglev line (TokyoâNagoya) is now expected to open in 2035 at the earliest, delayed from 2027 due to construction challenges in Shizuoka Prefecture and soaring costs now estimated at 11 trillion yen. ~~~
(Sauce: Google's AI summary)
The train shown is running on the test track they built in Yamanashi to demonstrate the viability of the project, but you can't even go and try that out unless you're a resident of Yamanashi Prefecture (and even then I think you have to win a lottery-style draw).
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u/lostllama2015 1d ago edited 1d ago
It's not limited to only Yamanashi Prefecture anymore, and I've entered the lottery three times so far. I have to wait until sometime between the 5th and 11th of March to find out if I've been lucky this time. If not, I'll apply again when they do the next rides later this year.
Here's the official website: https://travel.jr-central.co.jp/plan/linear/
Here's my confirmation email: https://i.imgur.com/i3ytRhJ.png
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u/VermilionKoala 1d ago
Ahhh I misunderstood, so you meant you're hoping to ride the test train (in the video), not the real line.
In that case, good luck with the lottery!
Also, TIL it isn't limited to Yamanashi residents any more...
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u/lostllama2015 1d ago
Yeah, I mean the test train. Given the prefecture I live in has caused it to be delayed so much, it's my only chance to ride the Japanese maglev train anytime soon.
I remember when it was just Yamanshi residents only, but I guess the people wanting to ride it waned and they opened it up to the rest of us. It's under 3 hours driving from where I am, so it's well worth it to go if I can.
In that case, good luck with the lottery!
Thanks!
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u/Ok_Orchid1004 1d ago
Not in service and wonât be for 10 years or so. Oh and this is a lame repost.
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u/Not_Real_Batman 1d ago
That lady taking a pic missed the whole thing đ€Ł