Technocrat

Fastest Conventional Rail Service Opens in China

zogger
Mon Aug 04 15:34:00 -0700 2008
Science
manage

We have a new fastest regularly running train record set, and it is running many times daily in China. The new link spans the 70 mile distance between Beijing and Tianjin in 30 minutes and opened just in time for the Olympics.

ed.z.: Yes, I know, the numbers don't add up in the article exactly, perhaps the quoted top speed is just that, and the total elapsed time for the trip is speedup and slowdown time. Whatever, they claim the high end top speed record now. But as well as an Olympic showpiece, which will serve fans going to the 12 Olympic football matches being hosted in Tianjin this summer, the high-speed train service is good news for millions of commuters who have long struggled with a clogged expressway and overburdened train network between the cities.

Fastest Conventional Rail Service Opens in China
D. Hensley
Mon Aug 04 19:14:24 -0700 2008
 manage

Fastest Train... and due to firewalling, etc., the slowest Internet connections.

Not to mention the 9 hour wait in line for that 30 minute ride, due to all the Olympics driven security checks...

Fastest Conventional Rail Service Opens in China
Alan
Tue Aug 05 02:37:01 -0700 2008
 manage

Fastest Train... and due to firewalling, etc., the slowest Internet connections.

Not at all. Firewalling will just block, not slow a connection. Most Chinese are interested in Chinese language media, and there is plenty of that accessible in China, and for those with broadband, probably at higher speeds than most US users. Access outside of China is slow, regardless of blocking, because the connections between China and the rest of the world are generally lousy and overloaded.

Fastest Conventional Rail Service Opens in China
D. Hensley
Tue Aug 05 02:52:16 -0700 2008
 manage

Yes, I understand how firewalls work, I was actually just spinning a (forgive me, please) CNN news blurb about how reporters stories would likely be greatly delayed as they were planning ways to work around the block on the reporters sections at the Olympics that China had first said would be firewall block free (as in censored, loosely referred to as the Great Firewall of China), then changed their minds about --it was sort of old news, and I think talks with the China Government got it straightened out --at least to some degree (I confess to not following it closely).

And either way, as you point out, from our perspective it's almost always slow Internet time to/from China --firewall or not.

The real basic idea was a tad bit of humor, you know sometimes it just doesn't work for everyone. Sorry if it bothered you.

Fastest Conventional Rail Service Opens in China
Alan
Tue Aug 05 04:36:48 -0700 2008
 manage

The real basic idea was a tad bit of humor, you know sometimes it just doesn't work for everyone. Sorry if it bothered you.

Well, since it wasn't actually funny, I missed that tad bit. I guess it went over my head.

CNN news blurb about how reporters stories would likely be greatly delayed

Well, that's bullshit too, since it's sites outside China that were being blocked. CNN staff back in the US can look them up and copy them to their Beijing staff should it actually be relevant to breaking stories. And their outgoing stories would not be delayed at all.

Fastest Conventional Rail Service Opens in China
D. Hensley
Tue Aug 05 06:13:03 -0700 2008
 manage

Hey, get up on the wrong side of the bed did we?

Well that's OK, we all have days like that.

 

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