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Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:
Deutsche Bahn (DB) and Siemens Mobility have managed to get an ICE test train to 405 km/h (251 mph) on the Erfurt-Leipzig/Halle high-speed line.
While China, with a maglev train hitting 650 km/h (404 mph) in just seven seconds, might regard the achievement as cute, it is a milestone for Germany, where exceeding 300 km/h (186 mph) on the rail network is rare.
The UK had its own attempt at going beyond traditional rail in the 1960s and the early 1970s with the Hovertrain, but the project was cancelled in 1973.
France pushed a steel-wheeled TGV to a record 574.8 km/h (357 mph) in 2007, yet the German achievement will inject a dose of pride into the country's beleaguered network, once an icon of efficiency.
According to a report in the UK's Financial Times, Deutsche Bahn delivers "one of the least reliable services in central Europe," even when compared to the UK's rail system, which is hardly a performance benchmark.
The test ran on a high-speed line that had been in continuous operation for ten years. According to Dr Philipp Nagl, CEO of DB InfraGO AG, no adjustments were needed.
"It is confirmation that infrastructure investments are the foundation for reliable, sustainable, and efficient mobility and logistics over generations," he said.
[...] Thomas Graetz, Vice President High Speed and Intercity Trains, Siemens Mobility, said: "Our goal was to gain in-depth insights into acoustics, aerodynamics, and driving behavior at extreme speeds." Mission accomplished – though what counts as "extreme speeds" seems to vary by country.
Trains on the UK's HS2 railway (whenever it finally opens) are expected to reach speeds of 360 km/h.
An insight into the technology behind Germany's rail network came last year, with an advertisement for an IT professional willing to endure Windows 3.11.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Thursday July 03, @12:19PM (8 children)
If Google-math is correct, 0 to 400mph in 7 seconds requires 2.6gs sustained, likely 3gs or more peak to avoid jerking people injuriously.
Are the Chinese commuter train passengers also being astronaut trained?
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 5, Interesting) by c0lo on Thursday July 03, @12:50PM (1 child)
An interesting question, which led me to some interesting answers [wikipedia.org]
https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 4, Touché) by JoeMerchant on Thursday July 03, @02:27PM
Yeah, it's totally survivable, and as the Spectre agent told James Bond before spinning him up: "Even my Granny can take 3gs" - or something to that effect.
Nonetheless, most vehicle passengers experience significant discomfort when cornering forces exceed 0.4g, and I would imaging a sustained 7 second 2.6g acceleration would take a bit of getting used to, even if you are "eyeballs in" on a nice seat.
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Username on Thursday July 03, @02:06PM (2 children)
Just imagine being in a train crash at 400mph.
(Score: 4, Touché) by pkrasimirov on Thursday July 03, @03:19PM
Should be comparable to a plane crash at 400mph, minus the fuel fire.
(Score: 4, Funny) by Freeman on Thursday July 03, @03:38PM
I imagine, if they ran into a mountain or the like. The resulting accordion affect would be detrimental to the occupants of said train.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 3, Interesting) by VLM on Thursday July 03, @03:49PM (1 child)
Three interesting points.
First of all, the driver must have balls of steel, the test track is only 1 km and it must be a very impressive site to be going 650 km/h with only 500 or so meters to brake. The fine article claimed they can stop in 220 meters which I suppose is even more terrifying. I would guess this was done by remote control because a human driver would have to be pretty crazy to drive on that track.
The second note is wheel trains have a fundamental acceleration limit set by the coefficient of friction of steel on steel so its very difficult for even an unloaded bare engine to exceed 1/3 of a G, even a quarter G is pushing it. There's sand for emergency braking and emergency starting but its not a long term solution. The maglev, however, can grip the track magnetically and in theory as long as you're willing to pump more watts in, it can accelerate harder.
The third point is WRT humans and G limits they don't bother building transport airplanes to handle more than 3 G or so because fat people passengers will be dead past that point. Sure, Air Force pilots in the peak condition of their lives perfectly fit with plenty of self discipline and drive can momentarily pull quite a few G. Consider if I deadlift my body weight at the gym that's what it would feel like to walk around at 2G; I'd be tired and inconvenienced but I'd be OK, I can lift more than that but generally do not. On the other hand, consider a petite Walmart shopper at 500 pounds being subject to 3 G, their bones and joints would be getting the "1500 pound man" experience, aka they'd be dead. Another way to look at it is Google claims the average human arm weighs 13 pounds, lets call that 15 for easy math, and my regular full dumbbell bicep curl set yesterday morning was 55 pounds in each hand for 8 reps. So, theoretically if I was empty handed I could fly an airplane or type on my laptop or whatever at 55/15 = 3.6 G for at least a couple minutes. But I've been lifting since the very extremely late 80s. I suspect someone less athletic, your typical store shopper at Walmart or even Target, when subjected to 3+ G would just kind of be squooshed and halfway die in the seats. Before anyone makes fun of my 55 pound sets I intentionally don't ego lift I'm in this for the marathon not for the big numbers; I'm well aware that maybe 1% of the population is stronger than me and I'm very comfy with that. I've been doing deadlifts since the 80s without injury, I don't think there's THAT many people stronger than me who can make that claim. Anyway in summary, I could handle a 3G train but thats after 30-ish years of weight lifting all my life and I suspect about 99% of the population could not handle that, despite claims that air force pilots handle 3 and can tolerate 9.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Thursday July 03, @03:57PM
Whoa early in the morning I hate working late nights to do maint releases over a holiday, sooo sleepy
When I bicep curl a 55 pound dumbbell, its in my 15 pound arm, so the correct equation is (55+15)/15 = I can realistically function pretty well for awhile at 4.6 G not 3.6 G
Noobs at the gym always start at 5 to get the correct form for any exercise, but even the little old ladies seem to do "real sets" holding a 10, so relatively untrained retired women can function up to (10+15)/15 = 1.6 G.
I think a 10 pound on handed bicep lift is plausible for an untrained human; thats about a gallon of liquid, a thin cat, or a baby. So I think the train as operated currently can already incapacitate an average untrained Target store shopper.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by driverless on Friday July 04, @05:22AM
Maglev trains aren't commuter trains, they're specially constructed pissing-contest winners. They're been around for 1 1/4 centuries without ever getting out of the research stage.