German high-speed trains too hot to ride

by Sean McLachlan on

Germany’s Inter City Express (ICE) high-speed railway system is suffering a major scandal as thousands of people have had to seek medical attention from overheated trains.

Temperatures on some trains have reached as high as 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) thanks to malfunctioning air conditioning. More than 2,200 people have had to go to hospital after their sweltering rides. Train operator Deutsche Bahn has paid out 500 euros ($645) and a refund to each as compensation.

Deutsche Bahn is blaming the company that built the trains, but the railway industry says poor maintenance is to blame. In other words, nobody is taking responsibility.

Photo courtesy Sebastian Terfloth via Wikimedia Commons.

China unveils world’s fastest high-speed train

by Sean McLachlan on

The Chinese government opened a new high-speed railway yesterday that is the fastest in the world. The Wuguang Passenger Railway links Wuhan, the provincial capital of Hubei, with the port of Guangzhou. The train runs an average of 350 kilometers per hour (217mph) and makes the journey in less than three hours. The old train took ten.

In test runs the train has made 394 kph (245mph).

As you can see in this video, the train looks like other high-speed trains but improved engineering gives it a superior speed.

The government plans to expand the existing network with 40 more lines and 13,000km (8078 miles) more track. The capital Beijing will get many of the links as it strives to improve connections with regional production centers.

More evidence that this will be China’s century? Yep. Perhaps instead of learning Globish we should all be taking Mandarin.%Gallery-73525%

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