A few points from a New York Times article earlier this week about Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's visit to Japan:
"Of particular interest to the Japanese has been a planned $1.25 billion, 84-mile high-speed link between Tampa and Orlando — the first leg of a corridor that state officials hope will eventually reach Miami. Twenty-two companies are bidding for the contract, and Washington is set to announce a winner this year."
"Central Japan Railway, which is based in Nagoya and is more commonly known as JR Central, is promoting its N700-I trains, which are in use in Japan and can run at a top speed of about 330 kilometers (205 miles) an hour.
"But JR Central has also been showing off its MLX01 maglev bullet train, still in its testing phase, which in 2003 clocked the world’s fastest trial run of 581 kilometers (361 miles) an hour. "
In case you're doing the math, the JR Central line in use in Japan today would make the Tampa to Orlando trip in 25 minutes. The MLX01 maglev would do it in 14 minutes.
For some reason people would rather sit in traffic for two hours and pollute the environment. Go figure.
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