1,000 KPH Super High-Speed Train for China

There has been quite a bit in the news this year regarding high-speed trains, from Obama announcing billions of dollars in funding for high-speed rail to a U.S. Mayors report showing that high-speed rail will bring billions of dollars in new business and thousands of jobs to cities to proposed luxury trains traveling 225 mph in the UK.

But all high-speed trains are not the same. While the U.S. has some planned to go around 100 mph, the fastest trains in Europe currently go around 150-200 mph, and China launched a train this year that reportedly goes 236 mph. Furthermore, Japan uses maglev technology to get trains up to approximately 300 mph.

But all of these are like Disney World trains compared to what China is coming out with next. It is planning to have a train going up to 620 mph (1000 kph) up and running in 3 year's time.

The train will combine the revolutionary maglev technology that Japan uses with vacuum-sealed tubes that will eliminate the air friction that "slows them down."

Of course, there's a cost that comes with this fancy, super-speedy new technology. That cost would be an extra $300 million per kilometer of track more than already very expensive maglev trains cost.

Nonetheless, China is not toying with the idea. Rather, it is moving forward on this and planning to get these trains in operation before another World Cup comes around.

There is at least one safety concern that immediately comes to mind for me, and probably for many others as well. What if the train breaks in one of these vacuum-sealed tubes? Will people suffocate or is there some sort of emergency safety mechanism in place to prevent that. I would hope the latter.

What do you think of this idea, which is soon to be a reality? Awesome? Scary? Hard to believe until you see it?

I think it is pretty sweet, but would be nervous to go for a ride. And I think this, combined with "3D fast buses" that straddle the road, is going to make China look like it is from the future or from another planet soon.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia