The French V150 railroad just broke the world speed record for
conventional railroad trains. I just realized that if railroad trains
could routinely travel at that speed in the lower 48 states, nonstop
trains would be effectively as fast as airplanes are today. This is
because of the hub and spoke air transportation system and because
there are so many delays getting to the airport and waiting after you
get on board. Check it out:
V150 railroad locomotive with two cars:
357.2 mph = 575 km/h
25,000 HP engine = 18 MW
Boeing 747
Cruise speed: 565 mph = 910 km/h
Engines at cruise speed: 60 MW (I think)
Distance and time to New York, NY to San Francisco, CA
By road: 2,905 mi, V150 8:08 travel time
By air: 2,582 mi, Delta airlines (no direct direct flight): 7:49
travel time with one stop
Distance and time to New York, NY to Atlanta, GA
By road: 883 miles, V150 2:28 travel time
By air: 749 miles, Delta airlines: 2:15 travel time nonstop
I, for one, would much prefer to take a train for 8 hours to get to
the west coast, rather than schlep around in airports.
- Jed
