(C) BoingBoing
This story was originally published by BoingBoing and is unaltered.
 . . . . . . . . . .



China is testing a 280 mph bullet train while America can't build a rail line between two cities [1]

['Ellsworth Toohey']

Date: 2026-03-03  

China is testing a new bullet train that cruises at 250 mph, with a top speed of 280 mph — making it the fastest conventional rail vehicle on the planet, Executive Traveller reports. The CR450 prototype is already running laps in Beijing and on dedicated trial sections. Engineers cut 10% of the train's weight and reduced aerodynamic drag by 22%, which matters when you're pushing through air at commercial airplane speeds.

China already operates the world's largest high-speed rail network: more than 31,000 miles of track connecting 97% of cities with populations above 500,000. The current CR400 covers Beijing to Shanghai — about 800 miles — in roughly four hours. The CR450 would shave that down further, putting it in direct competition with short-haul flights on routes where flying often means longer door-to-door times once you factor in airport security theater.

Meanwhile, the United States has exactly zero miles of high-speed rail. Amtrak's Acela tops out at 150 mph on a good day across a tiny stretch of the Northeast Corridor, and California's long-promised bullet train has been under construction since 2015 with no end in sight. The country that put men on the moon can't connect Los Angeles to San Francisco by train at speeds China achieved 15 years ago.

Maybe we'd have faster trains if more of our tax dollars weren't being siphoned off as corporate welfare for the Epstein class — the 80-year-old pedophiles and pedophile enablers at the top of the food chain who'd rather fund another yacht than a rail line. American exceptionalism at its finest: exceptional at making excuses for why we can't have nice things while the billionaire donor class buys its way out of accountability.

Previously:

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://boingboing.net/2026/03/03/china-is-testing-a-280-mph-bullet-train-while-america-cant-build-a-rail-line-between-two-cities.html

Published and (C) by BoingBoing
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/boingboing/