115
submitted 1 week ago by RandAlThor@lemmy.ca to c/world@lemmy.world
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] itslilith@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 points 1 week ago
[-] atzanteol@sh.itjust.works 14 points 1 week ago

First friggin' paragraph....

Six decades after the bullet train first whisked passengers between Tokyo and Osaka, authorities in Japan are planning to do the same for cargo, with the construction of a “conveyor belt road”.

[-] itslilith@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 week ago

The bullet train is wholly irrelevant here. It does not transport cargo now, does it? Build a fucking freight train line. Every time some tech bro suggests a solution involving pods, a civil engineer has a stroke

[-] atzanteol@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 week ago

Ah - you are correct - they don't use those lines for freight (I thought they may). Still - Japan has some of the best train networks in the world.

I expect this idea to die. People act like because a thing was suggested or being looked into that it will automatically be done. "Solar Frickin' Roadways" never went anywhere an this sounds unlikely to as well.

[-] nilloc@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 6 days ago

I’m still annoyed that solar frickin’ parking lots (canopies, not panels on the ground) aren’t mandated in all new lots.

With all the mandated parking on the sprawl we could probably solve at least EV charging anxiety. And with some grid storage it would make a perfect use of otherwise wasted land. Plus keep the cars parked underneath cool.

[-] atzanteol@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 days ago

That's a big upfront cost to add to any parking lot though.

[-] nilloc@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 5 days ago

The parking lots themselves are a big cost to the rest of us though. At least they could be offsetting some of the environmental costs of sprawl.

Plus the electricity production should offset it in a few years, especially in the places wheee shaded parking is most desirable.

[-] NeuronautML@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

They won't. Anything on a bullet train line needs to go at a speed of a bullet train. If it goes slower, it slows down the bullet trains on the line.

Cargo does not require bullet train speeds, only passengers do. The added expense does not translate to a better service. Cargo is not time sensitive like people are, so usually freight trains go under 100 km/h. This requires a whole lot less infrastructure and a whole cheaper locomotives and wagon compositions, as locomotives and wagons that go faster are more expensive and require more maintenance.

[-] atzanteol@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 week ago

They won’t.

They won't what?

[-] NeuronautML@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 week ago

they don't use those lines for freight (I thought they may).

They won't use the bullet train lines for freight.

[-] atzanteol@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 week ago

I know - I thought they did, but admitted that I was wrong.

[-] NeuronautML@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 week ago

Tbh i just took it as a chance to talk about trains, not so much with the intent to correct you. Maybe someone would be wondering about it, you know ? I didn't mean to come off as argumentative with you.

[-] tiredofsametab@fedia.io 1 points 1 week ago

I think it does have some cargo space, but not enough to matter in any significant way. IIRC it's mostly just mail and parcels, but I might be mis-remembering.

[-] 474D@lemmy.world 0 points 1 week ago

I like how you think you know better than Japan after skimming a simple article lol

[-] NeuronautML@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I don't know why OP is getting downvoted. This comment is correct. The economies of freight on rails are predicated on scale. The bigger the train, the better. It only requires a few locomotives that have the biggest maintenance costs. Cars are unpowered and require less maintenance. A train can transport thousands of tons. An average mid-size train in Europe would carry about 2000 tonnes of freight.

To add an electric motor per ton of cargo transported (as detailed in the article) adds an excessive amount of overhead costs to the cargo transported, in upfront costs, maintenance and environmental impact, making it less competitive than a regular freight line. With the space of the same infrastructure and probably the same investment, you could instead run a freight line, especially considering the distance between Osaka and Tokyo. Over time, the freight line wins out over the individual one ton self-propelled cargo wagons. Remember, every propulsion system breaks down and requires new parts and fixing. The more of them there are, the more complex your transportation system becomes, thus more expensive. An equivalent to a mid sized freight train in pods would require about 2000 electric motors, as opposed to one or two dedicated electrical locomotives.

They should instead improve the trains to be able to run mostly automated. This requires track sensors and advanced signaling.

this post was submitted on 06 Nov 2024
115 points (96.7% liked)

World News

39021 readers
889 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.


Lemmy World Partners

News !news@lemmy.world

Politics !politics@lemmy.world

World Politics !globalpolitics@lemmy.world


Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS