> A single stop adds much more than five minutes to total transit time. [EDIT: Apparently this doesn't apply to maglev. This could be a game changer for HSR in the American political landscape.]

That is false even for non mag-lev. Do the math as I did: at .7 m/s/s (which is what shinkansen does) it takes less than 90 seconds to get to 300 km/h. That leaves far more time than is needed at the station (1 minute is plenty if the train is designed right). You don't count stop time at all because it averages out with the acceleration.

Maglev trains can start and stop much, much faster than regular trains.

Conventional trains' acceleration profiles are already limited by passenger comfort rather than engineering difficulties. Being able to start and stop much faster isn't helpful if it's already outside maximum operating guidelines.

I was under the impression this wasn't the case. Passenger planes accelerate at around 3.5m/s/s. That's 100km/h every six seconds.

And when planes take off, all the passengers and crew are seated in seats with fastened belts, all luggage is stowed, and tray tables are closed.

By contrast, when a train departs a station, there are frequently passengers who are still roaming the aisle with their luggage. And I might have a cup of coffee or something sitting on the table in front of me (or behind me, from the perspective of the train's direction of acceleration).

Of course, you shouldn't have people roam in the aisle if you want to accelerate faster. If you're seriously considering rail as an alternative to airtravel, and at 600km/h you are, then having people stow their luggage and sit down is not a serious issue.

For the sake of comparison - a Toyota Corolla will do 100km/h/6s. You don't need to fully stow your cargo, you just need not to have drinks on the table. Even standing you would be fine, though there is some danger you'd trip.

Beyond that, buses see accelerations on the order of ~0.2G often, and that's with people standing up, in an unpredictable fashion.

The root context of this discussion is basically whether or not it makes sense to add in intermediary stops on a rail line. If you're insisting that people have to be seated and have no drinks out for every intermediate stop, that rather sharply raises the discomfort level of stops. Another unpredictable element of train acceleration is the need to slow down to negotiate a curve, which isn't necessarily the case only in the immediate vicinity of a station.

FWIW, the numbers I generally see bandied about for acceleration on (decent) trains is about 1 m/s^2.

The "intermediate stop" being mentioned was Philadelphia. I don't think asking people to be seated for 45 seconds before and after each stop adds that much discomfort.

0.1g is the acceptable lateral acceleration when standing up without bracing. (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40864-015-0012-y)

If you get caught standing up, even 3.5 m/s/s is not dangerous. It is uncomfortable, but in a high speed train you are expected to be sitting down.

Also you wouldn't need to put drinks away. As I said, that's the acceleration of a Toyota Corolla. You would need the drinks to be covered though.

The limiting factor in longitudinal acceleration in trains is that we expect people to be standing up for the whole trip. This isn't the case in a high speed train.

As for curves - the solution is not to go through any sharp curves unless you are already close to a stop and would have to slow down anyways.

There's not much point accelerating faster if it means waiting longer so everyone can find a seat.

Perhaps this would be interesting to you, "Passenger Stability Within Moving Railway Vehicles: Limits on Maximum Longitudinal Acceleration".

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40864-015-0012-y

I have actually read the study and linked to it in another comment.

You don't need to wait for everyone to be seated. You're not going to fall over at 0.2G or 0.3G, it will just be uncomfortable. But you should plan for everyone to be able to find a seat.

> Maglev trains can start and stop much, much faster than regular trains

Ah, wasn't aware of that. Thank you.