When I was a kid, I had some fantasy about high speed trains… like the French TGV and Japan bullet trains; I actually thought that those trains could reach a destination faster than an aeroplane.
The fantasy kinda shattered when I took my first train journey to Kuala Lumpur from Ipoh (or Ipoh to KL, can’t remember correctly) when I was around 9 years old… and it took around 4 hours to reach the destination, as fast as a car could be.
I am still interested in trains though, and I always believe that a good train network is an important factor to build a modern country. I was more affirmed about the idea when I visited London for the first time 5-6 years ago, when I saw how good their Underground (sort of like our LRTs) system was.
Malaysia government do realize that the railways could make a difference, they have some projects on plan but too bad it’s never on top of their list… they preferred some other more extravaganza projects (like the recent Iskandar Project in Johor) rather than the basic infrastructures.
Speaking of TGV, I had the chance to see it when I visited Europe in 2005… and oh mine, it kinda brought back a bit of my childhood fantasies. The train was really fast, it’s like the Chipsmore advertisement… now you see it, now you don’t.
Btw, they broke their own speed record…
France’s high-speed TGV train broke the record for speed on a rail Tuesday in a much publicized test.
The train reached a maximum of 574.8 kilometers an hour, or 357 miles an hour, but fell just short of the record for all types of train.
That record is held by the magnetic levitation train of Japan, whose technology means it does not touch the rail. It reached a speed of 581 kilometers per hour in 2003.
But the Japanese technology is more costly, typically runs shorter distances and is less compatible with existing rail networks. [Source]
500+kmph is their maximum speed; from what I know they normally run at 280-320kmph.
April 5th, 2007 at 8:05 pm
wow, that would really mean that we can reach places in much faster time than we used to. I am still waiting for something like the technology from Star Trek to ever become possible
As Captain Kirk always said, ” Beam me up Scotty.”
April 5th, 2007 at 8:20 pm
Well, your dream is a bit beyond our reach… there is a recent project from YTL about a high speed rail from Singapore to KL (or perhaps further north), which I hope will work out well. Imagine traveling from KL to Singapore in 2 hours, should be pretty cool and beneficial for both country.
April 6th, 2007 at 12:07 am
agrre that our public transport is terrible now and shld b improved definitely …
government has to do something on this to reduce the traffic jam while moving towards our vision 2020.
April 11th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
Hi Jee,
“M’sia Boleh” believe it will eventuate sooner if not later. like the introduction of Nice 1 &2 to SIngapore & Penang, better bus, better entertainment with beverage on board, full air con. can’t complaint, man.
if we have the TGV or Bullet train, won’t the fare go up. and if it’s almost the same as airfare, wonder who will take train or plane.
I will go for train…much safer at least can jump off..can’t jump off a plane lol.
April 11th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
I will go for train as well. If it’s close to the speed of TGV or Japanese bullet, KL-Singapore vice versa could take just 2 hours… could be faster than plane considering the boarding and traveling to airport etc.
I am not sure what’s the train ticket price now, can’t jump into conclusion that the price might hike… but I am thinking that it could be cheaper than Nice.
Try jumping off a moving TGV… I bet your chance are not much better than jumping off a plane lol.