SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
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: 3, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Thursday July 03, @03:28PM (5 children)
>I could swear this was display-limited, because it steadily kept climbing and suddenly stopped at 299
Most phones these days can install a GPS based speedometer app in a matter of seconds...
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by DannyB on Thursday July 03, @03:35PM (1 child)
Years ago, I used to routinely use a GPS app when flying. I could see the speed of the aircraft as it taxied to the runway. I could see the speed increase during the takeoff run, and I could see that we always left the ground at 153 mph -- exactly as the pilot would sometimes announce prior to takeoff.
On one flight I could observe that we were going just a wee bit over 600 mph. I think making up for lost time due to brief takeoff delay.
The server will be down for replacement of vacuum tubes, belts, worn parts and lubrication of gears and bearings.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by VLM on Thursday July 03, @04:12PM
Tail winds. On a pretty regular basis when GPS was "new and cool" there were infinite reports in the news of transatlantic planes well exceeding 800 MPH. I don't recall ever seeing an article in normie media or in aviation magazines ever reporting over 900 MPH (at least for subsonic passenger planes). Over 800 is not unusual but noteworthy.
Its still flying subsonic relative to the air whooshing east at WAY far over 100 MPH, faster than F1 race car speeds are not unheard of.
Note the speed of sound depends on air pressure so its not terribly relevant that the speed of sound is 767 mph on the ground. If you need a mnemonic for the speed of sound there's a pretty famous aircraft model "767" which coincidentally is the speed of sound in freedom units at standard atmosphere (on the ground and nothing weird). Speed of sound is "like a hundred mph slower" at 35K feet cruising very handwavy.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Rich on Thursday July 03, @05:28PM (2 children)
I had that as an afterthought, but one doesn't really consider it when thinking about what to do when ending up in Nuremberg at 11, while being expected in Munich at 10.
By the way, on the return journey to Frankfurt, there was a diversion where the Bahn suggested everyone getting stranded in Mannheim. As pleasant. I figured out that the diversion would go through Frankfurt Airport which has local public rail connection, so that leg could be completed with only an hour of delay, too.
I also didn't mention I froze stiff at 4am during winter on the first leg on a train switch, because the bloody ICE already was late. It's that experience that makes me think that a threat of public naked impalement by Romanian experts is the right motivation for the lard asses in management, and the offer for them to save grace from that with the wakizashi already is a really generous concession and only made to infuse a little Japanese (rail) culture.
It's all a matter of organization. I don't mind if the train takes longer because they have to fix the run down infrastructure (as was the case with the Mannheim-Frankfurt connection at that time) or they have important freight trains rolling on shared rail - but they've got to organize their schedule around that and then stick to it.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday July 03, @06:12PM (1 child)
I had quite the adventure getting from Nuremberg to Rotenberg ob der Tauber back in '89. I suspect that's still not a journey to make if you're in a hurry, or even on a schedule.
> I froze stiff at 4am during winter on the first leg on a train switch
Now you're reminding me of the all-nighter I spent in Berlin the following summer because the trains to Potsdam (where my room was) had stopped running - they were nice enough to keep the Metro running all night for the 300k + concert goers such as myself, but after all the bars shut down on Ku'damm it got kinda tedious roaming around the sleeping city, so I finally settled at the platform where my train would leave for Potsdam I think at 6:30am, but I got there more like 5. Anyway, I huddled on the little bench inside the plexiglass wind-screen box and shivered until the train arrived - it was remarkably chilly for a July morning.
> they've got to organize their schedule around that and then stick to it.
What happened to the old joke about Germany is where the trains run on time? Or was that Switzerland? Anyway, I suspect reunification didn't help their punctuality.
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Rich on Thursday July 03, @06:59PM
In Germany, it's a mess. According to the official report, for April and May 2025, 61.9/62.0% of all long-distance trains arrived within 6 minutes of schedule. Worst recent month was June 2024 with an amazing 52.4%. It's been going downhill since rail privatization and/or reunification. Before, in West Germany, it was pretty much clockwork precision, and I'd guess the East Germans were as good, though with rather vintage vibes.
So that must be Switzerland, their trains run slow but steady. Japan remains the reference. Although I just looked up some samples of information about China, and their rail seems to be very punctual, too, with the fastest high speed trains running at 350 km/h.