Maglev train plan outlined by JR Tokai

[keitaro]

perhaps led displays with some interesting doco could be done. plug in the head phones an stare away or 50 mins

[cteno4]

They could do those movies with pictures on the tunnel walls they were trying in some of the subway tunnels. Or just have LCD screens for the windows of what the trip would look like on the surface! Could choose where in the world you wanted to be traveling in your window.

 

Jeff

[Mudkip Orange]

I was on the NYC subway once and they had a lighted display ad for shark week, a bunch of still images mounted to the wall and lit up so when you passed them at speed it generated a sort of flipbook effect and the shark lunged at the train.

 

Pretty cool.

[cteno4]

Yep there are the still image ones and there was one experimental LCD screen one that gave better effects.

 

Jeff

[westfalen]

I was on the NYC subway once and they had a lighted display ad for shark week, a bunch of still images mounted to the wall and lit up so when you passed them at speed it generated a sort of flipbook effect and the shark lunged at the train.

 

Pretty cool.

There were similar images on the wall of the Seikan Tunnel the first time I passed through it in 1990.

 

From my observations over the years most Japanese train passengers go to sleep the second they sit down anyway, and the ones at the windows pull the blinds down.

[Densha]

Have you guys seen this video yet? I shows a maglev shunting loco. Pretty awesome right?

 

[cteno4]

cool, wonder if the shunting loco is maglev or basically a truck running on tires on the guideway. looked like engine heat coming off of it.

 

jeff

[Densha]

I wonder what those blue boxes are, probably engine stuff or maybe also monitoring stuff?

[shiawase raichou]

Tourists will soon be invited to take a spin along a 42km stretch of track, attaining "500 kph for 90 seconds."

 

Not my thing -- and I'm unconvinced that super-costly maglev will work on the route proposed -- but I can see that Japan could profit from exporting the technology.

 

 

(from Asahi Shimbun) NAGOYA--Fifty years after the start of Shinkansen service, construction of the next-generation train line using magnetic levitation technology is expected to begin in October, along with a chance for the public to experience riding at 500 kph.

Central Japan Railway Co. plans to start construction of the Chuo Shinkansen Line in October, pending approval from the transport ministry, sources said.

The maglev line will serve as a bypass for the Tokaido Shinkansen Line, which opened in October 1964 between Tokyo and Osaka, in the event of a major earthquake. In the first phase, the line would connect Tokyo and Nagoya in a minimum of 40 minutes starting in 2027, compared to the current 100 minutes.

Together with the start of construction, JR Tokai will introduce a paid test-ride program in Yamanashi Prefecture, which offers a maximum speed of 500 kph for 90 seconds, the sources said.

A previous free program attracted 146,000 people during the nine years through 2007.

In the new program, visitors will ride on the more spacious and comfortable L0 series prototype on a 42.8-kilometer test line, more than double the previous 18.4-km track.

JR Tokai hopes to demonstrate the safety and speed of the maglev service, particularly to foreign visitors, during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The company also plans to hold the inaugural meeting of an association on international high-speed rail, a group of four railway operators, in October, the sources said.

JR Tokai, East Japan Railway Co., West Japan Railway Co. and Kyushu Railway Co. plan to establish Japanese high-speed rail standards as international ones and expand exports of Shinkansen and maglev technologies.

[yakumo381]

Given the growing power crisis in Japan, due to mainly to their nuclear reactors being shutdown and which is not going to be resolved by importing more and more expensive CNG,LPG and oil, how long before JR Tokai realise they are building the world's largest "white elephant"? The UK had the original lead in maglev development back in the '60s and '70s before the first fuel crisis and gave up then when it was realised just how inefficient and inflexible it is, so what has changed?

[Kabutoni]

The UK had the original lead in maglev development back in the '60s and '70s before the first fuel crisis and gave up then when it was realised just how inefficient and inflexible it is, so what has changed?

 

The lobbyists sure haven't xD

[bikkuri bahn]

What is JR Tokai to do other than develop the Chuo Shinkansen?  The Tokaido Shinkansen is at capacity.  It can't be quad tracked or have faster trains.

[kvp]

This maglev is in the making for decades now. If there is a need, then there is a legitimate business case. If there is no need, then they can still accept government funding and then try to sell the technology to china or somewhere else. The really big question is if there is a need, then what technology should be used for the chuo or similar line. Considering the new slower speed, lower capacity lines they are building now, there isn't a really big need for high capacity or high speed there. If the tokaido is really running around 100%, then there might be a need for a 2nd Tokyo - Osaka line. Now what technology should they use? If the problem is capacity, then conventional rails with double decker trains or a line with shorter blocks (or a rolling block system). If the problem is speed, then maglev is a good option. Considering the double deckers are being removed from service and the tokaido shinkansen being upgraded to digital atc, there might be some spare capacity in it. Otherwise making a 300+ km/h conventional shinkansen line between Tokyo and Osaka with larger curves and a bit farther away from settlements might be much cheaper to construct and operate. Of course if the government is funding the whole thing, including any operational losses, then who cares.