[Bas]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A') French high-speed train (TGV) has smashed the world record for a train on conventional rails by a big margin, reaching 574.8km/h (356mph).
The previous TGV record was 515km/h (320mph), set in 1990.

The record attempt by a modified TGV took place on a track between Paris and the eastern city of Strasbourg.

The absolute train speed record was set by a Japanese magnetic levitation train - Maglev - in 2003. It reached a top speed of 581km/h (361mph).

The TGV set the new record at 1314 (1114GMT) on Tuesday. It was a modified version called V150, with larger wheels than usual and two engines driving three double-decker cars.

The BBC's Emma Jane Kirby said the three train drivers were seen grinning on French TV after they realised they had broken the record.

[Plantagenet]

The TGV high speed train network in France is incredible.

The trains are electric....the electrical energy that runs the train system comes from France's network of nuclear power plants.

[Plantagenet]

Trains with these kinds of speeds would be great for the U.S., with our vast distances between cities.

The US could do worse then to duplicate the French rail system and the nuclear power plant system that provides energy for it....we'd get high speed rail, less Greenhouse gas production, and less use of oil all at once.

[emersonbiggins]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', 'T')rains with these kinds of speeds would be great for the U.S., with our vast distances between cities.

The US could do worse then to duplicate the French rail system and the nuclear power plant system that provides energy for it....we'd get high speed rail, less Greenhouse gas production, and less use of oil all at once.

[Bas]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', 'T')rains with these kinds of speeds would be great for the U.S., with our vast distances between cities.

The US could do worse then to duplicate the French rail system and the nuclear power plant system that provides energy for it....we'd get high speed rail, less Greenhouse gas production, and less use of oil all at once.

[JPL]

The French TGV is great, but having used the local rail network for some years I need to point out that it only works for certain routes (

The TGV lines only go to & from Paris so you often have to go TO the capital and then back out again to complete the journey.

Also, the majority of rail lines in France are NOT TGV (for-instance, my nearest one is about 125 km away at Le Mans). So you often have to go onto Paris on a slower, nearer line, before you have the chance to zip out again at high speed (grin).

Right now, they are still expanding the TGV's, but the track is incredibly expensive to build and also involves slicing a lot of good French farm-land in half... So it's not all great...

JPL

[thor]

Yep, this high speed train is PO certified!

[Starvid]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('EnergyUnlimited', 'E')lectric powerlines are above a train and metal "gizmo" is sliding along powerline wire to provide power to 2-4MW electic motor in the train.

[FishAreBest]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JPL', 'F')ar better, IMHO, if you want air travel (and arial war, I guess) in a post-petrolium world, would to start building helium-filled Zeppelins again.

[matt21811]

Helium is in fact cheap.
I calculated that it would take about $400,000 to fill the Hindenburg. Its only about $2 per cubic metre.
It's also abundant enought that we could fill thousands Hindenburg sized airships with the amount that is wasted in childrens balloons each month.

[FishAreBest]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('matt21811', 'H')elium is in fact cheap. Its only about $2 per cubic metre.

[matt21811]

Airships don't seem much of a fuel saver to me anyway. The Hindenburg could move 100 people 10,000kms for about 50 tons of fuel. A 747 can move 400 people the same distance for 150 tons of fuel.

It is conceivable that with light weight materials and fuel efficient engines avaliable today that we could design a Hindenburg that could accomodate 400 people but even then you would only cut down consuption to a 3rd of a 747.

I also checked world helium production and it is about 110 million cubic meters per year which is only enough to fill 550 Hindenburgs a year. A useful frame of reference is the fact the only 1500 747's have ever been made since it was created in 1968, 40 years ago.

[cube]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JPL', 'T')he French TGV is great, but having used the local rail network for some years I need to point out that it only works for certain routes (

The TGV lines only go to & from Paris so you often have to go TO the capital and then back out again to complete the journey.
...

[JPL]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cube', '
')
This is what the French TGV will look like in the future!
The maximum speed will be 57.48km/h

[Kingcoal]

That’s a great picture of a pre-steam Omnibus. There are rails in the dust, you can't see them. What an incredibly efficient and elegant form of transit.

[oilfreeandhappy]

I'm not near as pessimistic about rail travel. I think we'll see more and more of it as energy costs rise. I believe that electric power will always be around, with the variable being the source(s) of electric power for each nation. Energy storage will be the key to counteract intermittent renewables.

That ICE system in Germany looks real nice.

[cube]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('oilfreeandhappy', '.')..
That ICE system in Germany looks real nice.