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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: 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.