Japanese railway operator to license maglev tech to US for free

Re:Japanese railway operator to license maglev tech to US fo... by ThePhysicist on Saturday April 12, 2014 @02:01PM (#7578576)

That's kind of hard to believe with the Montreal region having more than 4.5 million inhabitants and NY more than 10 million, surely some of them would like to take the train between the two cities once in a while.

I understand though that in the US planes and automobiles are considered viable alternatives to trains, especially considering the average distances between cities here, which tend to be much larger than in Europe.

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Re:Japanese railway operator to license maglev tech to US fo... by Shivetya on Saturday April 12, 2014 @05:08PM (#7579210)

high speed trains go between cities the wealthy want them to go between. They may want/need to work in one but prefer another to live in.

High speed trains don't solve the problem the average worker has and never will. They do not spend nearly the time traveling the "jet set" does. The type of trains they can benefit from, both light and heavy rail, are localized and definitely not sexy.

Besides, as technology ramps up the need to travel for business goes down, let alone automated automobiles, electrically powered, and solar charged, will about end the need for trains except for cargo. US uses trains more than most countries for moving cargo.

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Re:Japanese railway operator to license maglev tech to US fo... by ThePhysicist on Sunday April 13, 2014 @01:28PM (#7581995)

I really have to disagree when you say that high-speed trains are for the "jet set": There are countless people that need to commute between different cities for professional or private reasons, and most of them are from the middle-class and would definitely value and be ready to pay for speedy transportation. I agree that such a system would not be for the "average worker" though (whoever that is these days).

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