The future – one week only

It is interesting to reflect that just 52 years ago, something called the “bullet train” started a revolution in rail travel at 200km/hr. One of these first generation trains can now be found in the rail museum in Omiya.

But that is not the future.

The future can be found in the NHK (Japanese program) and the following link:

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/vod/japanrailway/20160408.html

Note that this link will expire on 20 April; don’t let the future pass you by.

The game changing technology described will see Nagoya to Tokyo (286km) timetabled travel time reduced to 40 minutes by 2027. This will bring a whole new meaning to the concept of commuting to work from an “outer suburb”.

Imagine what that technology could do to Australia. 286 km (as it turns out) is just the distance between Sydney and Canberra by road. Melbourne to Sydney could be timetabled to less than the critical 2 hours which makes it an attractive day trip.

One test section (part of the final alignment) is already operational to paying passengers. To quote one of these passengers: “After experiencing 500km/hr, 320km/hr felt slow in a way.” Quite so.