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Does a train go faster than a car?

With high-speed rail, train travel is always faster than driving. In many cases, it's even faster than flying, once you factor in the whole air travel song-and-dance. And if you do need to catch a plane, trains make it easier to get to the airport.



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With high-speed rail, train travel is always faster than driving. In many cases, it's even faster than flying, once you factor in the whole air travel song-and-dance. And if you do need to catch a plane, trains make it easier to get to the airport.

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High-speed trains can generally reach 300–350 km/h (190–220 mph). On mixed-use HSR lines, passenger train service can attain peak speeds of 200–250 km/h (120–160 mph).

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The fastest train in the world made it to 400 mph (which is about 10x faster than the fastest trains I get to take). The speed of sound is about twice that, or around 740 mph. So, not there yet.

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No. The speed difference between the fastest aircraft and the fastest trains is about an order of magnitude. The atmospheric density at ground level would generate too much drag for a train to go as fast as a typical jetliner, let alone go supersonic.

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Trains are statistically much safer than driving. In 2020, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics recorded 40,867 total deaths from travel, including in planes, in cars on highways and on trains.

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Public transportation can be very crowded, especially during rush hour. It can make for an uncomfortable ride. Cars are better than public transport because they provide more space and can avoid being cramped against other people. You might have to stand up or fight for a seat on a bus or train if it's crowded.

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As of August 2022, the fastest train on Earth, based on its record speed, is the Japanese L0 Series Maglev with a record speed of 603 kilometers per hour.

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China's first cross-sea, rapid line with bullet trains recently made its debut, traveling over bridges, across three coastal bays and hitting top speeds of 218 mph.

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How fast are high-speed trains in Europe? High-speed trains in Europe can reach speeds of up to 198 mph (320 km/h). Some of the fastest trains in Europe travelling at these speeds include AVE, TGV and Frecciarossa 1000.

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No. The fastest train in the world can travel about 267 MPH. At 1000 feet per second, which is common for a bullet, a bullet is travelling close to 700 MPH.

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A foundation of Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity is that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light in a vacuum; this is the effective speed limit for the Universe!

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Taken as a whole, urban transit averages 14.1 mph, less than half the speed of driving in most cities (and slower than many cyclists). This doesn't count the time spent getting to and from transit stops, waiting for transit vehicles, or transferring from one to another, all of which make transit even slower.

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For trains the wheels and the rail are both steel, and the steel-steel friction coefficient is around 0.25. So the stopping time and distance will, at best, be three to four times greater than a car.

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The average Swiss person travels 2,430 km by train each year (the highest in the world), almost 500 more than the average Japanese person (the second highest).

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As of October, the FRA has recorded 742 incident reports for train derailments in 2023. Additionally, railroads reported 59 collisions, 12 fires, and 138 highway-rail-crossing incidents, which could include cars or any other vehicles or people at the crossing site.

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According to the Federal Railway Administration's Office of Safety Analysis (FRA), the United States sees over 1,000 train derailments per year. In 2022, the total number of derailments reached 1,734—an increase of 88 compared to 2021.

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hsr delivers the safest transport High Speed Rail is the world's safest form of transportation proven by decades of operations all around the world. Japan was the first nation to build high speed rail in 1964, and has since transported 10 billion passengers without a single injury or fatality!

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“Generally speaking, traveling by plane is faster and more convenient, but can be more expensive and stressful. On the other hand, traveling by train is usually cheaper and more comfortable, but can take much longer.”

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The North American X-15 may be the fastest plane in the world, with speeds at 4,520 mph and Mach 5.93. It's an experimental aircraft used and powered by NASA and USAF.

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NYC No. 999 4-4-0 was quite the speed demon for its time. The first locomotive to travel over 100mph, 999 hauled the Empire State Express and hit a world record speed of 112mph!

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