Essay #2- Bullet Trains, Lacrista's Main Transportation (619 words)

In the world today, pollution is a major problem. But, with the rise of electronic technology, we hope to diminish this problem for ever. New inventions are in the works to tackle this major conflict. Some have already been introduced, such as hybrid cars, electric scooters, and other electronical machines. A big contribution to pollution is the gas from today’s cars and buses. But thanks to a new and efficient way of transportation, gas emissions will decrease: the electric bullet train.
A bullet train is a high-speed train that is shaped like a bullet. Bullet trains are streamlined so that they can travel faster. Electric-powered bullet trains offer amazing benefits: a quiet, high-speed mode of mass transportation with low environmental dangers. Usually, a bullet train’s body has a long nose and a circular shape that offers higher aerodynamic performance and less noise. Many other designs were newly devised to reduce environmental dangers and to increase passenger comfort: for example, wing-shaped frames make much less noise than traditionally-shaped ones, and aluminum panels for the wall and floor sections of the car body help reduce the noise in cabins because the material has low sound transmissivity.
In Japan, bullet trains are known as Shinkansen, the world’s first truly high speed locomotive. Japan train travel offers the fastest point to point service of any rail line in the world. Japan train travel is the high-speed way to travel between the major cities of Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka. The Japan bullet train connecting these four major cities is known as the Tokaido Shinkansen and started working in 1964. Back then the trains ran at about 200 km/h, now they reach speeds of over 300 km/h. The bullet train eventually spread to cover the majority of Honshu—Japan’s largest and most populated island. But the best addition of the trains in Japan isn’t their sheer speed, but their frequency. There are about six train stops in an hour; therefore you’re never late for you train, just early for the next one.
In France, the TGV train is a speed record holder. It has achieved the very high world record of 320mph, 515km/h; despite this, these speeds are cannot be used for commercial use, and may never be. There are problems encountered with pantographs contact and wear and tear to equipment is too high. And of course there are safety issues as well which prevent civilians traveling at such high speeds. The name "Train à Grande Vitesse" translated into English means high speed train, which is not really very imaginative, but seeing as it is french it tends to get away with it! The TGV project started in the 1960s where SNCF realized that if it was to compete against the ever growing automobile and air transport it had to offer better speeds. The TGV averages a speed of 254.5km/h or 158mph, the second highest scheduled speed in the world. Still other TGV services often have very high average speeds often over 200km/h or 125mph. So you can truly realize how fast these trains are, compare their speed with the general average speed of a car: 45mph or 72km/h.
Since Lacrista is an island nation (almost similar to Japan in a way), its space is limited. Creating too many roads and having too many cars and buses would crowd Lacrista, not to mention contribute to the world’s pollution. Since bullet trains are effective way of transportation, being that it is fast, almost noiseless, non-polluting, and luxurious, as well as not requiring a web of different roads all over the nation, Lacrista has made bullet trains the country’s main transportation. Lacrista's top priority is the safety of its citizens, and bullet trains are very safe; the train operates on a track that is used only for the bullet train, it does not share the track with freight or any other trains, it does not cross any roads or highways. It is Lacrista’s goal to help decrease pollution and become more advanced in electrical technology.


Sources:
1) http://geography.about.com/od/urbaneconomicgeography/a/bullettrains.htm
2) http://www.amazon.com/Bullet-Trains-Enthusiast-Brian-Solomon/dp/0760307687
3) http://tinyurl.com/jrne4
4) http://www.destination360.com/asia/japan/train.php
5) http://www.destination360.com/asia/japan/transportation.php
6) http://www.o-keating.com/hsr/tgv.htm
7) http://www.o-keating.com/hsr/bullet.htm
8) http://tinyurl.com/ltwdo